Malaya (07/29/96)
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Suggested Subhead: "The megadike is like an untried boxer. It has done well
against three-foot high lahar. Let us see what the next opponent is like."
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Lee, Joma, Jude, Lahar
by Ducky Paredes
According to Singapore's Senior Minister Lee Kwan Yu, their cabinet
ministers earn US$36,500 a month or P936,000 a month. Because of this, he
says, Singapore has one of the most honest governments in the world.  It is
also significantly more efficient than most. In contrast, he says, the more
corrupt bureaucracies such as those in the Philippines and India pay their
top men peanuts.
A Cabinet Secretary takes home less than P25,000 in the Philippines. Many,
however, have come out of government service with huge mansions, fat bank
accounts, terrific investments and an unbearable attitude. In fact, the
richest politicians in this country are those who made their money the old
fashioned way: they stole it.
All in all, if one had a choice, being a Philippine Secretary would still
be far better than being a Singapore Minister. In spite of the truth of
Senior Minister's Lee's observation of rampant graft in this country, no
cabinet member has ever gone to jail for graft or corruption. In Singapore,
if no one yet is in prison, it must be because there have been no crooks
among their ministers.
In fact, the difference between them and us is that they are serious about
prosecuting their crooks. Most of those in our bureaucracies are more
interested in getting their fair share of the crooks' loot.
* * *
Columnists, editors, broadcasters and other opinion-makers are often the
target of intense lobbying by public relations practitioners. Because of
this, sometimes accompanied by arm-twisting and not a small money, you, as
the readers and listeners are assaulted by a barrage of negative opinion
about particular issues.
At the time when I was still in the government service, a project that
merited extensive negative editorial comment was the Simba, an armored
personnel carrier that would be built in the Philippines for our armed
forces by a British firm.
It was untried, overpriced and unsafe, among several other things wrong
with it, said the opinion-makers. Well, the Simba project went on, just a
few months behind schedule because of all the sniping. The final approval
went through just before the 1992 elections.
Now, the Simba has proven itself. The soldiers who use it find it more
practical and safer than the U.S. made APCs they were using before. In
fact, there is a lot of interest coming from other countries. The Simba
could actually become a hot export item.
Since the lobby money before the approval of the project came from the
Americans who had a stranglehold on the APC market before Simba came in,
perhaps, when we begin exporting the item, the lobby will start up again.
Some opinion makers are hopeful.
* * *
After giving hell to Aniano Desierto in my radio program yesterday morning,
I received a call from a mutual friend to say that Ani was listening to my
program and wanted to correct one thing. He was not the one who wanted to
investigate the CDF of the senators. the one who made the announcement was
he Over-all Deputy Ombudsman, Francisco Villa, not Desierto.
As for the charges against him, Ani says that the real truth will
eventually come out so that whatever is said in the interim is just fine
with him. In the meantime, he sought to reassure me, he still considers me
a friend despite the drumming that he was given on the radio.
* * *
Actor Dranreb Belleza self-confessed homosexual lover of Jude Estrada says
about the charges that the Vice President's son beat up an old woman and
stole money and jewelry from her home: "There's something that's going on.
I don't know what it is but I have an idea. I hope he gets arrested. And
don't give me that shit that he's the son of the Vice President because
nobody is under the law."
That may well be the problem: no one is under the law. Paraphrasing a sign
courtesy of Mayor Alfredo Lim in Quiapo whose exact wordings escape me:
Either the law is for all, or for none at all.
Of course, what Dranreb meant was the exact opposite. But, isn't that what
you get when you wear a name inside out?
* * *
Former Communist and current Columnist Dick Malay is correct. Jose Ma.
Sison will stay in the Netherlands forever, or at least as long as he
wants. Besides there being a lot of legal maneuverings available to Joma,
Malay points out that the decision of the Justice Ministry is that Sison
must find a country that will take him, other than the Philippines (where
the Dutch think he will be jailed) within the next 25 days.
But, of course, no country that Joma wants to stay in will have him. The
ones that could take him in -- the Communist ones -- are no fun to be in.
Which brings us to the smart move by Speaker Jose de Venecia. Joe has
offered a sectoral representative's seat, including CDF, to Joma. In fact,
if Joe talks to the other politician's they could even make that a
permanent seat with just as permanent a CDF.
Joe knows that what he will get from his efforts to help a fellow
Pangalatok is only a heap of abuse from an unsmiling Joma. What the Speaker
has achieved by his gesture, however, is to prove beyond any doubt that the
Justice Ministry is wrong. Joma will not only be safe in the Philippines,
he will even be called an "Honorable."
Eventually, Joma may find himself trapped with the Dutch willing to let him
come back home to suffer a fate worse than exile: being a Congressman.
* * *
The megadike is like an untried boxer. It has done well against three-foot
high lahar. Let us see what the next opponent is like. And hope to God that
it can stand up to the 20 and 30-footers.
* * *
The Vice President is acting like an overindulgent father in his handling
of the case against his youngest son. He is losing support among the
electorate for his actions. Since Jude's accusers apparently are willing to
settle the case amicably, he should just do that, as quietly as possible to
stop all further discussions. Then, Jude should be sent off somewhere he
cannot do any more harm to his father's candidacy.
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hvp (07.26.96)