The Dark Side of Genes

Posted on | April 6, 2010 | No Comments

Oftentimes, it just doesn’t pay to be a sanctimonious person, or better still, a national candidate portraying himself as cleaner than clean and an anti-corruption presidential bet.

It doesn’t pay because for one, no matter the campaign spiel of no corruption and good governance, the reality is that it is impossible to eliminate corruption in government — no matter how well intentioned one is. In the end, even if one gets to sit in Malacañang, he will fail miserably in delivering on his promise, and he will leave Malacañang an utter failure.

Even a lesser official, who takes on the image of a graft-buster, can’t deliver on his pledge, and ends up with a worse tag, such as a protector of the corrupt. A good example of this is Sen. Joker Arroyo, who not only came to the staunch defense of the Arroyos despite all the scams and scandals that were bared, but also did not even come up with an anti-corruption law, even as he portrayed himself as a graft-buster during the campaigns.

For another, a presidential bet who portrays himself as cleaner than clean, such as Noynoy Aquino, will be hard pressed to explain the fact that, when his mother, Corazon Aquino, was president, he did take advantage of his mother’s position and power, which was also obviously tolerated by Cory, as Noynoy cannot deny the fact that he established a security agency that, during his mother’s time, was able to generate a lot of government security business.

Noynoy says he sees nothing wrong in this. This attitude alone creates a lot of doubt — at the very least — about his judgment on what is abuse and misuse of power, along with his judgment on what constitutes graft and corruption.

The truth of the matter is that if Noynoy’s mother was not the president at that time, even if he did establish that security business, he wouldn’t have been able to get any government contract. And that is the reality of things in this country.

The fact alone that after his mother left Malacañang, as he himself had admitted, the security business hasn’t been doing well for sometime. Precisely. He no longer has his mother as president in Malacañang, ergo, no more government contracts.

It is clear in the anti-graft law, that it is “unlawful for any person having family and close personal relation with any public official to capitalize or exploit or take advantage of such family or close personal relation by directly or indirectly requesting or receiving any gift or material and pecuniary advantage from any other person having some business, transaction, application, request or contract with the government, in which such public official has to intervene.”

If Noynoy, who even had the Arlegui House — which was his and his mother’s residence — as the security agency’s address, can even dare claim, with a straight face, and at the same time claim that he will not steal and that he will do away with the corrupt, how can he be believed to deliver on his campaign promise, when he himself claims that there is nothing wrong in capitalizing on his mother’s position in government?

If he has done that during his mother’s time in Malacañang, think of what other bigger businesses he and his relatives — also known as Kamag-Anak Inc. who transacted big business deals and benefited from the Cory Aquino presidency — will be transacting for himself and his family, if he ever becomes the new Malacañang tenant, since he himself admits that there is nothing wrong in these types of graft-ridden businesses?

Truth is, for all his claimed promises, he can’t deliver at all, since he can’t even do anything about Hacienda Luisita, which, incidentally, no longer belonged to them, as the court had already ordered the parceling of the land to the workers. His mother used her power and position to get that court order rejected and dismissed — not by going to the appellate court the regular way, but to even go to the extent of getting the GSIS, which was now controlled by her, along with the CB, which was headed by Jobo Fernandez, who has close personal relations with the Cojuangco-Aquinos, to desist from pursuing the case — even when government had clearly won it already. And guess who acted as Cory and the Cojuangcos’ personal lawyer, if not then solicitor-general Frank Chavez? That too, was a clear exampled of Cory’s abuse of power.

The LPs and Noynoy never cease to claim “the genes factor” in his presidency.

Look at his mother’s record for that. What she did by way of abuses and cronyism, plus her Kamag-Anak Inc., because that too, would be Noynoy’s record, and even worse than that, should he ever sit in Malacañang.

And that is what the sanctimonious Noynoy Aquino and his LP gang call genes.

Daily Tribune,
Tuesday, April 6, 2010

FRONTLINE

Ninez Cacho-Olivares

04/06/2010

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