Are Senate pledges to come clean on the multibillion-peso “maintenance and other operating expenses” scam mere “CYA”? “Cover your ass” is jargon for tactics to shield oneself from penalties for shady dealings. Will “CYA” smother Concurrent Resolution No. 10? CR10 has so far blocked audits of MOOE and other funds, so taxes wouldn’t morph into “dark money.”
Senator Panfilo Lacson deserves credit for proposing that graft charges be filed against senators found to have misused Senate funds, including the millions of pesos in maintenance and other operating expenses or MOOE for their respective offices and staff (“Lacson wants senators charged for fund misuse,” Inquirer, 1/19/13).
The insults, revelations, accusations being hurled or insinuated on the Senate floor have riveted public attention, which of course is to be expected, because who can resist all these juicy tidbits after all? But the concentration on the trees should not distract us from what is or has been happening in the forest. Let’s not forget the big picture, please.
“It is honored by tradition,” Sen. Edgardo Angara stressed. He meant Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile’s “Christmas cash gifts” of P1.6 million each to 18 “friendly” senators, including Angara. At year’s end, Enrile ladled “maintenance and other operating expenses” (MOOE) savings. Why did it ignite today’s brawl?
