This early, they are extinguishing presidential hopefuls. It doesn’t matter if the insinuations or allegations are downright silly as long as they end up in prime time news or on front pages.
Take the charges filed by Bulacan rice trader Jomerito “Jojo” Soliman that Interior Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II and former senator and now presidential assistant on food security Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan “asked” P5 million each (“NFA chief faces extort raps,” Front Page, 8/15/14) in exchange for reopening his warehouse.
I think, Soliman has been badly advised on raising such an allegation on Secretary Roxas. Absolutely no basis, because such misdeed is way beyond his character. His enviable track record easily speaks for itself. It tells of a man of unquestionable integrity, honesty and dedication to public service. His love of country has inspired countless Filipinos to be in the frontline of President Aquino’s drive to curb corruption. So, why tarnish such an unblemished record?
What Secretary Roxas did (in padlocking the warehouse) is indeed very laudable. If you are the interior secretary, that is a very hard decision to make. And when confronted with very hard decisions, a secretary must exercise his will. When faced by a very serious situation, a secretary must try to sift through the facts to determine the truth, especially so since the issue concerns the welfare of the Filipino people.
In this case, Secretary Roxas not only has showed an interest in safeguarding the wellbeing of our countrymen, he took stern, concrete actions to stop such illegal trade practices. Thus, Secretary Roxas was absolutely right in putting the interest of the people over and above those of a few misguided, ill-motivated individuals. Such nefarious trade activity weakens the nation’s agricultural sector and aggravates poverty. If Secretary Roxas acted otherwise, the consequences would have been utterly grave, and the Department of Interior and Local Government will always be questioned, its acts constantly under a shadow of doubt.
With this, it is clear that this allegation against Secretary Roxas was designed to tailor fit the black propaganda campaign against him, as the 2016 presidential poll is just around the corner. Actually, more often than not, plain common sense tells us that besmirching the reputation of one who is known for his unassailable integrity doesn’t do the trick.
As ever, Secretary Roxas remains steadfast, clear and consistent to his commitment to the Aquino administration’s avowed goal to take the straight and righteous path toward stamping out corruption. For short, the allegation thrown at the grandson of the illustrious late President Manuel Roxas is outrageous, ridiculous, politically motivated and bereft of truth, to say the least.
—FLORITA G. NARCIZA,
Baguio City