A threnody for Romy

E·N·Q·U·I·R·Y
DEMAREE J.B. RAVAL

A threnody for Romy
Sunday, 03 02, 2008

I wonder if Romulo Neri, the disgraced director general of the National Economic Development Authority, can sleep even a wink through the night, as the furious gusts of the gathering storm of the people’s discontent batter down the portals of his mind. I wonder how long he would be able to tough it out before he unleashes everything that he has kept dammed up and which by now must be a great burden on his conscience.

His best friend, Rodolfo “Jun” Lozada, has painted for us a sickening picture of the deals and misdeals that accompanied the ZTE-NBN contract, none the least of which was how Neri had allowed himself to be used by the evil forces of corruption. His erstwhile patron, former Speaker Jose de Venecia, Jr., has already joined the chorus by calling for the resignation of the Evil One. Still, Neri has turned a deaf ear to the calls for him to reveal everything he saw, heard, was instructed on, or participated in. All in the name of executive privilege.

This stonewalling is perhaps dictated by the extent of Neri’s involvement in the ZTE-NBN Scandal and his knowledge as to how high up in the Arroyo government the slime of corruption has reached - a disastrously uncomfortable situation that makes him vulnerable to an elimination method that is euphemistically termed in some shady sectors as “executive action with extreme deniability.” And when one who fears you might see the light puts this mortal dread in you, the basic instinct of self-preservation kicks in and prompts you to clam up. So for the time being, we will hear from Neri nary a squeak. He has opted to stick it out with the evil forces of corruption, perhaps finding himself better off as a co-conspirator, enjoying the bounties of that astronomical bribe.

By staying in the protective gloom of the Dark Side, he has given himself a reprieve from the dire consequence of an “executive action.” But for how long? As long as the Evil One (his own coinage, if we are to believe the testimonies of those who heard him perorate in an exclusive meeting held someplace within the Asian Institute of Management) is safely ensconced in that Palace by the stinking river, the gathering storm notwithstanding, Neri can keep silent. But not forever. Imagine if the Evil One is cast out of office tomorrow, where would Neri cast his lot then?

It was not so long ago when we thought that Neri had mustered sufficient courage by psyching himself up to stand up and be recognized as the revealer of the whole truth about the ZTE-NBN deal. The whole untarnished truth of that tarnished, slimy deal. But what we got were tantalizing morsels, which nevertheless were corroborated by the testimonies of Lozada and Joey de Venecia. The warm heart that the public thought Neri had in regard to the Senate investigations has been replaced by cold feet and tight lips. He has refused to say anything more. He has become a pawn willing to be pushed around by the Evil One.

Neri has lost the strength of character he once had. He has turned his back to the truth. Neri no longer cares about what the people call him now - a pawn of corruption, a lackey of the Evil One. He has burned his bridge to the side of truth and decency. He is now a stooge of the evil forces of wholesale and untrammeled thievery.

There was a hopeful time in the past when the nation, as the scandal unfolded, saw Neri as the spark that would ignite an explosion that would rock the foundations of a corrupt Malacañang. Not anymore; that hope was dashed when Neri failed to seize the moment of his deliverance from Malacañang. On a compassionate level, we commiserate with him for having become the victim of his own wrong decision, the hostage of his personal infirmities and, possibly, the casualty of an unacknowledged albeit moderate greed for power and pelf.

Look at him in that contrived picture of the Unity Walk at the Malacanang grounds. There he is together with the Evil One and the pack of wolves who have fed on the carcass of a plundered nation. I wonder how much that half-smile of Neri had cost him. Was it worth the truth that now lies heavily in his heart and nightly screams for release? Did it soothe the dull, ugly ache he feels in the dark night of his soul? But why should these qualms matter - Neri has found solace and succor among the minions of the Evil One.

Neri is not to be pitied for what has become of him for his wrong choices. The time for that is past. It grieves us to recall, however, that there was a time that Neri did well at the House of Representatives as its Director General for the Congressional Budget and Planning Office.

I wonder when and how Romy - that’s how we called him then, in endearment - lost his genuineness as a decent bureaucrat. Why he has become the poster boy for corruption is beyond many of us who worked with him.

Romy, you have lost your chance at greatness. Yet, while the tempest simmers, there is always a chance for you to join Lozada where he is now - and prove all of us wrong for having lost faith in you as a decent, patriotic Filipino.



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