MANILA, Philippines--When Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile moved to declare Rodolfo Noel Lozada in contempt of the Senate, thus paving the way for his arrest, it?s safe to assume he did so with the permission of the Palace.
Now, the Palace has never been inclined to do the Senate favors, unless by so doing it makes possible even bigger favors to itself. This it surely did.
So the rest of us may either find it deliciously ironic, or disgustingly obvious, to see the Palace and the Senate united, for once, in targeting the causes of their grief. The Palace, because Romulo Neri came perilously close to giving evidence genuinely harmful to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, and the Senate, for Neri keeping the country in the political equivalent of a perpetual state of coitus interruptus with his sly non-testimony; and both, for Lozada threatening to give a second wind to the whole scandal.
However, we should remember that both institutions pursue power so relentlessly as to make them blind to such nuances as irony or moral disgust. We could, for example, debate whether Sen. Allan Peter Cayetano was simply being stupid, or had sold out, when he revealed that there would be a surprise witness. (If Lozada was a voluntary one, why the need for a subpoena?) And we can continue to do this, until the witness comes home. This would be to personalize, as the Palace loves to point out, a more universal problem.
The universal problem is, who will lead us come the magic date of June 30, 2010? And it includes further questions: Who will be in the best position to influence either a changing of the guard or the retention of the existing ones? Who will remain influential not only on that date, but beyond? If there is one thing that unites our political leadership, on any side of the fence (including those planted firmly on the fence itself), it is these questions.
And if money is what lubricates the greasy pole of power, and if the best kind of money is the kind that?s free (because it comes from the public treasury and not private fortune), then we have to look beyond the posturing in the Senate and look at the larger battle for resources.
Buried in the business sections of the newspapers or carried on the front pages of the small-circulation business papers is a battle going on over the P1.2-trillion national budget and an administration proposal for a one-time-only P75-billion ?stimulus package.? The Business Mirror editorial Wednesday argued that Congress (both Senate and the House) have given up on their former tactic of holding the budget hostage, because the President, armed with the power to realign the previous year?s appropriations, got even more leeway to spend as she pleased.
So this year, Congress has been more cooperative in passing the budget. The Palace, though, has begun to dangle the prospect of using its veto power to remind Congress who?s boss. Congress appropriated goodies for itself by saying the appreciation of the peso has freed up P16 billion intended for interest payment on foreign debts, but the Palace argues that Congress can?t realign that amount. But can either one really risk the showdown that overriding a veto would entail?
As for the Palace stimulus package, supposedly the brainchild of Gov. Joey Salceda of Albay province, its details are as follows: P16 billion for middle-class working family tax rebates; P8 billion in discounts for those who consume no more than 200 kilowatt-hours of electricity a month; and increased spending -- P15 billion more for agriculture, P6 billion in food-for-school projects, P6 billion for education, P4 billion for health, P4 billion for housing, P16 billion for infrastructure. The money for this one-time-only package, Salceda said, would come from the privatization of government shares in San Miguel Corp., the Food Terminal Inc., and ?other government assets.? The power rate discounts would be made possible by reducing government royalties from Malampaya.
Salceda says his brainchild is suited for a ?sharp but short? US recession. In other words, a gamble. Newsweek asked 15 economists for their opinions on what the magazine calls the ?US Economy at the Guillotine.? Referring to the Bush package, on which the Salceda package is modeled, Kenneth Rogoff of Harvard says, ?The US fiscal package, besides tying the hands of the next president by making the budget problem worse, is not likely to help.?
But that isn?t the point: The buck can be passed, since no one will take the heat if the stimulus package fails, and everyone can share the credit if it works; regardless, that?s P75 billion the President can control as a kind of super budget, above and beyond the actual budget already passed in principle.
No one will argue against tax rebates, snacks for kids, infrastructure spending, and so on. As one observer remarked to me, the proposal has the further advantage, politically, of seeming to be in lock-step with Bush?s own stimulus package for Americans. And at the same time, it opens up opportunities for commission-taking as government engages in selling assets, and for everyone to be on best behavior if they?re going to get a slice of these billion-peso pies.
It?s in the context of these budgets -- the national and stimulus spending ones -- that everything going on has to be viewed. The battle over the speakership, for example, is a battle over who will be first in line for the disbursements outlined in the budget. The Lakas-CMD party wants dibs, the Kampi party wants to be bumped ahead (it has to come first, if it is to grow to sumo wrestler-size in time to matter either for a constitutional plebiscite next year or the presidential derby in 2010).
Incumbent senators, some of them angling to be presidential or vice-presidential material, or simply to run for reelection, need to start fattening up, too. No one wants to prematurely advance the period when spending, and not just promises, will be required.
More Inquirer columns
Previous columns:
Individualistic yet part of the whole ? 1/28/08
A familiar passage ? 1/23/08
Defeat of the will ? 1/21/08
Mixed and muddled dates ? 01/17/08
A colonial rule of law ? 01/14/08
