Lowdown
by Jojo A. Robles
Manila Standard
October 13, 2010
In the end, as President Noynoy Aquino promised, heads may actually get to roll. But they’re just not going to be the heads people expected, based on what really went down at the Quirino Grandstand.
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima says the thought of resigning has crossed her mind after the recommendations of the committee she headed to investigate the Rizal Park hostage fiasco were largely watered down or ignored altogether by Malacañang. De Lima didn’t say that just to get the attention of President Noynoy Aquino—the Justice Secretary is a principled, much-admired Cabinet member whose quitting will be a big loss to this administration and who is known (unlike other Aquino officials) to mean what she says.
But we can’t really blame the Justice Secretary for feeling insulted to the point of wanting to leave government. Her committee’s proposals to file criminal and even serious administrative charges against many of the officials involved in the tragedy were set aside by the two-man Malacañang review panel, which apparently took almost as long as De Lima’s committee to figure out how to clear the people involved.
And Aquino, who declared that “heads will roll” in the aftermath of the hostage-taking, must once again take the blame, this time for pretending to want to punish those who embarrassed the entire nation when all he really wanted to do was to protect his officials. The promise of so many heads rolling has since been replaced by the presidential statement to the effect that his officials are human, after all – with heads that remain securely connected to their bodies.
Clearly, this administration doesn’t deserve De Lima, who is not a member of any of the in-house factions in the palace and who is one of the most enlightened choices for the Cabinet made by Aquino. And unlike so many of her fellow appointees, De Lima will not have a problem finding a job outside of government—a job that will pay her more and give her the satisfaction of being trusted enough to impartially pin the blame on those who richly deserve pinning.
Early on, when Aquino said he would order a review of the report of De Lima’s committee, the Justice Secretary got an inkling that a whitewash (not an impartial probe) was what Malacañang was really planning. “I am aware of the fact that certain people from certain quarters have suggested, if not prodded me, that I tender my resignation as early as when the President directed a review,” she said.
De Lima’s suspicion that she was just being “played” by the Palace—along with all the rest of us—probably grew when the President, under pressure to act since the committee submitted its report, released only the De Lima panel’s narration of events, omitting its recommendations. The Palace could not give a sufficient explanation for this strange disclosure, especially after it was made known that the full report had been submitted to the Chinese embassy in Manila.
True to independent form, De Lima announced that while she respected the results of the Palace’s review, she certainly did not like the way the committee’s punitive recommendations had been watered down to mere slaps on the wrist. “Isn’t that obvious?” she said. “Some of the recommendations were substantially adopted but the degree like gross incompetence being degraded to neglect of duty and then no criminal case or charges...”
De Lima didn’t have to finish the sentence. She had become the latest victim of the “fine-tuning” experts of Malacañang —although she seems about ready to stop becoming a victim again and again.
* * *
It is to De Lima’s credit that she will not allow herself to be sent on a fool’s errand, to serve as window-dressing to an administration that says one thing and then immediately revises it to suit the whims of a President held hostage by his cronies and political backers. And even if she stays on, she will be less effective that she was, since Aquino now knows that he cannot trust his justice secretary to separate his propaganda from his actual intent.
(Late yesterday, De Lima told a press conference that she was not consulted by Aquino when he decided to grant amnesty to the Oakwood mutineers led by detained Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV. The exclusion of the Justice Secretary seems to have already begun in earnest.)
Even during the darkest nights of the Arroyo administration, De Lima —as chairman of the Commission on Human Rights—was able to shine. And Gloria Macapagal Arroyo had the good sense to know not to bypass and insult a valued official who knew exactly what she was doing, and who had both a stellar, unblemished record and a passion for improving the people’s lives by working in the government.
Of course, if he’d had his druthers, Aquino probably wouldn’t want to bitch-slap De Lima as he’s done, either. But Aquino, as we all now know, cannot free himself from the tight grip of his cronies, sycophants and all the other people who hold the presidential ear captive.
The length of time it took the President to “fine-tune” De Lima’s report speaks volumes about the problems he and his minions must have encountered just to make everybody in his close circle happy. But in the end, Aquino may not really have loved De Lima less—it’s just that he loves his cronies a whole lot more.
Can anyone really blame De Lima, then, for wanting to quit before she becomes the token righteous person in the circle of fools, knaves and incompetents that Aquino calls his Cabinet? How straight can a path be, after all, if De Lima gets off it as soon as she tries to do the right thing?
In the end, it’s not unreasonable to expect that the only officials who will remain in this administration will be those who cannot get jobs anywhere else, who are just looking to make side deals to enrich themselves and whose only real talent is staying in the good graces of the President.
And here we were nearly convinced by this new, big-talking administration that those were actually the hallmarks of its predecessor. What a letdown.
by Jojo A. Robles
Manila Standard
October 13, 2010
In the end, as President Noynoy Aquino promised, heads may actually get to roll. But they’re just not going to be the heads people expected, based on what really went down at the Quirino Grandstand.
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima says the thought of resigning has crossed her mind after the recommendations of the committee she headed to investigate the Rizal Park hostage fiasco were largely watered down or ignored altogether by Malacañang. De Lima didn’t say that just to get the attention of President Noynoy Aquino—the Justice Secretary is a principled, much-admired Cabinet member whose quitting will be a big loss to this administration and who is known (unlike other Aquino officials) to mean what she says.
But we can’t really blame the Justice Secretary for feeling insulted to the point of wanting to leave government. Her committee’s proposals to file criminal and even serious administrative charges against many of the officials involved in the tragedy were set aside by the two-man Malacañang review panel, which apparently took almost as long as De Lima’s committee to figure out how to clear the people involved.
And Aquino, who declared that “heads will roll” in the aftermath of the hostage-taking, must once again take the blame, this time for pretending to want to punish those who embarrassed the entire nation when all he really wanted to do was to protect his officials. The promise of so many heads rolling has since been replaced by the presidential statement to the effect that his officials are human, after all – with heads that remain securely connected to their bodies.
Clearly, this administration doesn’t deserve De Lima, who is not a member of any of the in-house factions in the palace and who is one of the most enlightened choices for the Cabinet made by Aquino. And unlike so many of her fellow appointees, De Lima will not have a problem finding a job outside of government—a job that will pay her more and give her the satisfaction of being trusted enough to impartially pin the blame on those who richly deserve pinning.
Early on, when Aquino said he would order a review of the report of De Lima’s committee, the Justice Secretary got an inkling that a whitewash (not an impartial probe) was what Malacañang was really planning. “I am aware of the fact that certain people from certain quarters have suggested, if not prodded me, that I tender my resignation as early as when the President directed a review,” she said.
De Lima’s suspicion that she was just being “played” by the Palace—along with all the rest of us—probably grew when the President, under pressure to act since the committee submitted its report, released only the De Lima panel’s narration of events, omitting its recommendations. The Palace could not give a sufficient explanation for this strange disclosure, especially after it was made known that the full report had been submitted to the Chinese embassy in Manila.
True to independent form, De Lima announced that while she respected the results of the Palace’s review, she certainly did not like the way the committee’s punitive recommendations had been watered down to mere slaps on the wrist. “Isn’t that obvious?” she said. “Some of the recommendations were substantially adopted but the degree like gross incompetence being degraded to neglect of duty and then no criminal case or charges...”
De Lima didn’t have to finish the sentence. She had become the latest victim of the “fine-tuning” experts of Malacañang —although she seems about ready to stop becoming a victim again and again.
* * *
It is to De Lima’s credit that she will not allow herself to be sent on a fool’s errand, to serve as window-dressing to an administration that says one thing and then immediately revises it to suit the whims of a President held hostage by his cronies and political backers. And even if she stays on, she will be less effective that she was, since Aquino now knows that he cannot trust his justice secretary to separate his propaganda from his actual intent.
(Late yesterday, De Lima told a press conference that she was not consulted by Aquino when he decided to grant amnesty to the Oakwood mutineers led by detained Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV. The exclusion of the Justice Secretary seems to have already begun in earnest.)
Even during the darkest nights of the Arroyo administration, De Lima —as chairman of the Commission on Human Rights—was able to shine. And Gloria Macapagal Arroyo had the good sense to know not to bypass and insult a valued official who knew exactly what she was doing, and who had both a stellar, unblemished record and a passion for improving the people’s lives by working in the government.
Of course, if he’d had his druthers, Aquino probably wouldn’t want to bitch-slap De Lima as he’s done, either. But Aquino, as we all now know, cannot free himself from the tight grip of his cronies, sycophants and all the other people who hold the presidential ear captive.
The length of time it took the President to “fine-tune” De Lima’s report speaks volumes about the problems he and his minions must have encountered just to make everybody in his close circle happy. But in the end, Aquino may not really have loved De Lima less—it’s just that he loves his cronies a whole lot more.
Can anyone really blame De Lima, then, for wanting to quit before she becomes the token righteous person in the circle of fools, knaves and incompetents that Aquino calls his Cabinet? How straight can a path be, after all, if De Lima gets off it as soon as she tries to do the right thing?
In the end, it’s not unreasonable to expect that the only officials who will remain in this administration will be those who cannot get jobs anywhere else, who are just looking to make side deals to enrich themselves and whose only real talent is staying in the good graces of the President.
And here we were nearly convinced by this new, big-talking administration that those were actually the hallmarks of its predecessor. What a letdown.
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