The admirable strength of the President in his resolute pursuit of 'Daang Matuwid' shines through despite the obstacles hurdled in his path. After almost three years in office, PNoy remains unblemished by any scandal while his performance is generally appreciated by the constituency . So while I might agree with Richard Gordon that initially, PNoy's political clout had been largely subsidized by his mother's goodwill, the situation today is totally different. He has become his own man.
The road to exacting reforms still stretches far, but for sure, some proportions of progress have been achieved, foremost, the return of trust in government institutions. This confidence build-up is seen to have precipitated the unprecedented economic growth and an upbeat view of the international community on the country's progress. However, items hogging the headlines of late, gnaw at the gains of the regime.
As an example, eclipsing all other news is the incursion of Filipino Muslims into Sabah that has deteriorated into a raging firefight, placing the Aquino administration squarely in a vulnerable position. The on-going situation threatens both the peace initiative in Mindanao and Malaysian-Philippine diplomatic relation. Meantime, thousands of illegal migrant Filipinos face deportation and unemployment as another result of the fracas.
How can such a large group just sail out of Tawi-Tawi without the intelligence community getting wind of it?
No less dangerous is the polarizing effect of the partisan politics that the catholic church assumed in its continued opposition to RA 10354 also known as the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012 . Because intense canonical arguments in the interpellations failed to stop the bill from becoming law , the church continued to lambaste the policy in the pulpit . Now they're taking to campaigning against the law's proponents. Apart from the divisive nature of the action, it waters down the credibility of not just the government but the church as well. The church strikes a pose of infallibility which we know is not true. I hope the church desists from continuing its political drive and let the faithful assess for themselves their own situations. Faith cannot be legislated.
Sharing the front page with the Sabah incident is the misuse of the Priority Development Fund in the amount of over P100M by three senators namely Enrile, Revilla and Estrada. If no action is taken, specifically corruption charges against the three senators, it will be viewed as a whitewash. I wonder what happened to the Commission on Audit personnel stationed at the different levels of the bureaucracy when the PDAF money were being slipped into the hands of private organizations? Aren't there prohibitions of such acts?
Buried in the inside pages, Rabusa, whistle blower on the AFP fund misuse had been cleared of charges for turning state witness. The decision of the ombudsman departs from the Lozada case. In time it could explode into another controversy with Lozada backed by the clergy. Another case that conflicts with another decision is the Abadilla 5 conviction upheld by the supreme court which situation resembles that of the suprisingly overturned case against Webb et al for murder in the Vizconde massacre. Both case stood on the testimony of a lone witness; a security guard in the Abadilla 5 while Jessica Alfaro for the latter.
All these transfer efforts from initiatives to fire fighting. Definitely two step backwards were taken.
The jagged trek of daang matuwid would certainly cause some missteps towards bringing about the egalitarian and a truly democratic society promised by 'walang wang-wang' and 'kayo ang boss ko' pronouncements. I can only hope PNoy continues to put up the good fight.
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