E·N·Q·U·I·R·Y
DEMAREE J.B RAVAL
DEMAREE J.B RAVAL
A nascent disappointment?
Sunday, 03 29, 2008
If there is one issue that should galvanize the nation - and the recurrently fractured opposition - at this time, it is the ZTE-National Broadband Network (NBN) scandal. Already, all presidentiables in the opposition, except one, have lent their voices to the rising crescendo of denunciations against those involved in the scandal. And these denunciations have even gone to the extent of calling for the resignation of the sitting president, to be replaced by her vice-president until the next elections in 2010.
And we have to credit Makati City Mayor Jojo Binay - and Senators Ping Lacson, Manny Villar and Manuel Roxas, all presidentiables of the opposition - for having shown a healthy respect and empathy for the people’s sentiments surrounding the scandal. After all, anyone aspiring for the presidency in 2010 should, at this time, be candidly outspoken enough to articulate what the people want now. Let 2010 take care of itself - the present imperative is being in touch with the people’s clamor.
Binay, in addition to being the tireless drumbeater for transparency and accountability over the scandal, has opened up Makati City as the venue for the people to air their views. Lacson continues to do what he does best: rooting out the maggots of corruption surrounding the NBN deal and springing up reluctant heroes and witnesses like Rodolfo “Jun” Lozada and giving them protection. By themselves, Villar and Roxas have done considerable sleuthing, and have ostensibly forged a common stance in protecting the integrity of the Senate as the only credible branch of government in a milieu of massive corruption. Even an erstwhile ally of the Arroyos – Sen. Francis Pangilinan, who could put a damper on Roxas’ inevitable bid as Liberal Party candidate in 2010 - has initiated a drive that now probably is raising the hackles of Malacañang: a Sanctuary Fund for witnesses who know where the skeletons are closeted.
From this view, Binay, et al. appear not to care whether they are putting their chances in 2010 in jeopardy by taking now all these bold moves that could change the constitutional order of succession, and thereby put their chances in 2010 at risk. The media is lapping up the ZTE-NBN scandal, and Binay, et al. have wisely taken advantage of this by going public with their positions over the issue; they have taken every opportunity to make their stand known to the people. They are getting a free ride to airtime and column inches, and it is good for their image as it is good for whatever it is they are angling for in 2010.
Which brings me to ask why Sen. Loren Legarda has chosen to keep silent on the brouhaha over the ZTE-NBN scandal. Despite the opportunity that has opened for her and the rest of the presidentiables to take center stage - and place themselves in contraposition to Gloria Arroyo in terms of public perception over the honesty and uprightness indices - Legarda has chosen to take the safe and well-worn path of other issues such as electoral reforms, women’s rights, environment, peace in Mindanao and others. This is not to say that she should abandon these other advocacies. Surely, she can very well pursue these concerns serially or even simultaneously, and still have time of her own choosing to join in the chorus of those denouncing the scandal and corruption in government.
If the other presidentiables can, why can’t she? On the other hand, and perhaps more importantly, the question might be: Why should she?
A recent survey asked: “Who do you want to replace Arroyo in 2010?” And the results, which showed Legarda losing ground to Binay, Lacson, Villar and Roxas in the race to replace Arroyo, is a telling indictment of Legarda’s silence on the most current issue bedeviling the nation and the government. Surely, if Legarda cannot even say a word over all these, there are people out there who would be reactive enough to change their perception of her sincerity to address their concern for justice and truth, and her current stand on corruption in government. If she cannot be perceived at all as a virtual opposite of Arroyo, then she would trail behind the choices for replacement when the intelligent, or even popular, vote is cast.
Make no mistake about it: the ZTE-NBN scandal is here to stay, despite the government’s scrapping the deal. The roots of the people’s outrage - the involvement of the presidential spouse, the gargantuan bribes, the references to “Ma’am,” the kidnapping of the star witness, the invocation of executive privilege, etcetera - are there to see, and they cannot be ignored. Anyone eyeing 2010 should not ignore all these. The people want to know where anyone wishing to lead them stands on all these.
I am not one to speculate on the reasons for Legarda’s silence, one of them being malicious as it is baseless, which many, if not all, refuse to believe in or even dignify. But I do wish her to consider this advise: “C’mon out and denounce Arroyo and her government!”
Two and a half years to the 2010 elections is too short a period to rehabilitate or re-invent one’s self. The time for Legarda to be consistent is now. She cannot straddle the politics of her latest affiliation, the Nationalist People’s Coalition, and the opposition color she has donned since 2004.
Legarda should deliniate herself now, and let the people know where those parameters lie.
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