PHIC, DOLE, DPWH, DA, GSIS, DAR, MWSS, PAGCOR, DDB, PCSO, ETC.

E·N·Q·U·I·R·Y
DEMAREE J.B. RAVAL

PHIC, DOLE, DPWH, DA, GSIS, DAR, MWSS, PAGCOR, DDB, PCSO, ETC.
Sunday, 04 04, 2004

They are not mere letters in the alphabet; they are powerful endorsers of the candidacy of that lady with a mole deathly obsessed with staying six more years in that Palace by the stinking river. They are agencies of the government, whose heads owe their fat paychecks to the lady, and so they must support her if they also want to stay for six more years.

The unfortunate thing here is that these agency heads do want to stay for six more years like the lady. How to secure it? Promote and advertise the candidacy of the lady, by allocating extraordinarily huge amounts of public funds.

But they cannot do it that easily. They have to contend with the voting public that detests any advertising of agency accomplishments cleverly disguised to seek votes. The surfeit of criminal complaints filed against the agency heads – for electoral offenses ranging from electioneering, undue influence, use of public funds for election campaign to distribution of prohibited election propaganda, should already deter them from committing similar acts in support of the lady. They do not seem to mind, though, believing perhaps that the lady will win anyway, and they will be absolved eventually. Let us see.

And they are putting their candidate in deeper trouble. Already, she is facing 11 disqualification cases, many of them arising from the overzealousness of these agency heads to support her.

Take for instance the disqualification case for “Premature Campaigning” filed last Thursday by Mike Planas of the pro-Con(stitution). The filing understandably did not get full media coverage – anything against the lady these days is not newsworthy, considering the lack of worth (in pesos) to cause publicity ranged against the PR war chest for the lady, P400 million, I am told – but the lady should not sit easy. She has a fight in her hands.

Mike Planas and Pro-Con have documented the violations. From Jan. 5 to Feb. 9, before the start of the campaign period on Feb. 10, the lady had already logged 466 spots equivalent to 314.25 minutes in television advertising for her candidacy, courtesy of the agency heads beholden to her. Pro-Con estimates these ads to cost a staggering Php78,562,500.00 of the people’s money.

What is most telling about the case is that pro-Con appears to have everything covered against the lady. Pro-Con claims it has in its possession broadcast logs, tapes on air, placement orders, etcetera. Which means, for example, that pro-Con can tell the lady she appeared for one minute in a PAGCOR/MWSS “Patubig” ad on Channel 13 on Jan. 25 at 2:48;22 p.m., or for the same ad and duration on Channel 5 on Jan. 26 at 7:07:29 p.m.. These young lawyers really did their homework before they filed the disqualification case.

The print media advertisements by the alphabet agencies are even more scandalous. The endless full-page ads trumpeting the so-called achievements of the lady in patubig, pa-eskwela, pabahay, pautang, pa-droga, pa-sugal, atbp. make one wonder when these will all end. Pro-Con detailed all these in the petition for disqualification. As one undersecretary quoted in the Philhealth disqualification case was heard to have uttered: “Nakakasuka na ito!”

Premature campaigning is what the lady candidate and her minions in government are engaged in, without regard to decency and the law, and without any reservation as to its ill-effects on the bureaucracy and the state of funds of the government she is supposed to lead.

Another despicable attempt to fawn on the lady is the open letter of the DoLE secretary to her 6,842 laborers in her department. She mentions the questionable litany of achievements of the lady, and makes her appear as the only one capable of giving out employee benefits. The message of the DoLE secretary is clear, according to pro-Con: “Vote for candidate Arroyo in order that you, as a civil servant, will reap the benefits of Arroyo’s presidency, who is very much concerned for your welfare. Nobody else can give out the same benefits. Vote for her, and make her win, or else….” She ends her letter by exhorting the laborers to make the right decision, which she said must be the one who has “tunay na malasakit sa mga manggagawa ng pamahalaan.”

The DoLE secretary now stands charged by pro-Con for undue influence, use of public funds for an election campaign, and use of prohibited election propaganda material.

The lady candidate is blatantly skewing the playing field in the May 10 elections. To advance her candidacy, she has used and continues to use government funds, resources, facilities, equipment, vehicles and personnel in quantities and extent that transcend the limits of unmitigated avarice, to the greatly lopsided disadvantage of her fellow candidates who are unable to equal her humungous money war chest for the campaign.

The lady is unperturbed. She now goes around the country with her taped message to all graduates, courtesy of the Department of Education. The distribution of 25 million PhilHealth cards bearing her “ina ng bayan” image continues. The millions of blue billboards with “Gloria” inscripted in yellow continue to pose danger in every street and highway. The phony claim to “education for all” under her presidency is still an ad that sees print in every newspaper. Everyday, everything is still much the same. Her name, picture, or image and every conceivable achievement hog every available space and time to trumpet her candidacy.

Arroyo misses the point, and she could be in a for a lot of trouble with her arrogance. She is riding along with the illegal acts of the heads of the agencies whom she appointed. All of them will have to answer for all these.

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