E·N·Q·U·I·R·Y
DEMAREE J.B. RAVAL
DEMAREE J.B. RAVAL
5 million = 25 million = 2 billion
Sunday, 03 14, 2004
No amount of mathematical acrobatics can one make out of the title of this piece. But ask candidate Gloria Arroyo, and she can rattle off the most improbable reason why these figures all add up to something that could guarantee her winning the elections in May by some five million votes. The boast made by her spokesman’s figures.
A group of young lawyers and law students advocating strict adherence to constitutionalism and observance of the rule of law, styling themselves under the name “pro-Con(stitution),” is at the center of a storm of the numbers they have ranked up: The filing of criminal charges against the heads of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) and the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO), for various election offenses related to the implementation of the “5 million = 25 million” program of the PhilHealth.
Pro-Con lawyers claim that they are out to protect their interests as taxpayers and as voters, against the continued illegal and scandalous use of public funds for election purposes. This is the first known criminal complaint against heads of government agencies, who are being criticized for their use of public funds to support the candidacy of Arroyo (The heads of the DPWH, DA, DoTC and OWWA should be next, if you ask me).
This is the second case filed by the pro-Con. Two weeks ago, the group filed a petition with the Supreme Court questioning the issuance of temporary appointments to Comelec commissioners Garcillano and Barcelona.
The “5 million = 25 million” program seeks to enroll five million families (for a total of 25 million individuals), at a cost of P6 billion, in the Medicare program not later than April 6, the birthday of candidate Arroyo. The program is funded by both the PCSO and PhilHealth.
On the charge of vote-buying, pro-Con alleged that PhilHealth and PCSO officials caused the expenditure of public funds to be made to persons of voting age, by way of enrolling families (and their members) in PhilHealth for one year, for free, at a premium cost of P1,200 per member-family. They say the free membership is obviously intended to induce the member-enrollees to vote for Arroyo in the May 10 elections.
Indeed, the name, mechanics and timing of the membership drive betray the intention to favor Arroyo by inducing member-enrollees to vote for her, or else their membership will not be renewed next year if he loses: The membership drive is dubbed as “PCSO GMA Program;” the PhilHealth card distributed to enrolled members prominently displays the picture and name of Arroyo on both sides of every card; the distribution of the cards was, and is being made through favored politicians sympathetic to Arroyo; expensive tarpaulin streamers, bearing her face and name have been distributed (pro-Con members claim they have secured thousands of these streamers as evidence); the starting date for the distribution of the cards coincided with the start of the electoral campaign for the May 10 elections, and is slated to be finished not later than April 6, to coincide with the birthday celebrations for Arroyo.
Pro-Con members claim that the head of the PhilHealth personally gave the regional members of PhilHealth a list of loyal local politicians supporting the candidacy of Arroyo, with whom the managers should coordinate in the distribution of the PhilHealth cards. Let us see how Dr. Francisco Duque III disputes this. Obviously, the pro-Con lawyers did their homework thoroughly: They have the documents showing the hand of Duque all over the place, including his fax number and personal memos claiming political mileage. Hubris!
The intervention of the heads of PhilHealth and PCSO using their office, personnel, resources and funds is pure and simple partisan political activity by public officer, electioneering to non-lawyers like PhilHealth member Dan Pinto, meant to benefit the incumbent running all over again and guarantee her victory.
The Law department of Comelec, where complaints of this nature are filed in accordance with the Omnibus Election Code, should immediately issue a cease and desist order against PhilHealth and PCSO with regard to this partisan political activity of theirs, and confiscate all prohibited election propaganda generated under the “5 million = 25 million program.
A day after the criminal charges were filed, Arroyo in a supreme display of arrogance and insensitiveness, bused in thousands to a venue in Angeles City and proceeded to distribute PhilHealth cards bearing her pictures and name. She was even quoted as saying those who filed the criminal charges are anti-poor.
Anti-poor, my foot! My informants say the indigent member-enrollees are even outnumbered by those who do not deserve to be members for free, principally because the “means-test” for membership – to determine whether they are indigent – was not observed in the rush to generate the 25 million new members. Indiscriminate, all in the name of election.
Arroyo misses the whole point, and she could be in a lot of trouble from the young lawyers of pro-Con with her arrogance. She is, in fact, riding along with the illegal acts of the heads of the PCSO and PhilHealth. A disqualification cased based on her not only being the beneficiary but also the prime mover of the scandalously illegal membership drive may not be far behind. A Comelec officials has even telegraphed such a move.
The brazenness with which public funds are being used to benefit Arroyo’s running for a new term is an argument for a prohibition against a sitting President’s running for a subsequent term. She has all the advantages to use with impunity that borders on reprehensible obscenity – in complete disregard of election laws – of public funds otherwise earmarked for other purposes. Arroyo does not know decency, the way she ignores illegality and scoffs at civility. Let her suffer come May 10, if she is not chastened by the crusade of the pro-Con.
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