Only one-and-a-half years is left before President Aquino steps down but until now, the Filipino people cannot figure out what kind of legacy he would be leaving behind. How sad that the “daang matuwid” has been turned into a crooked road by selective justice and by politicians, among them Cabinet officials of the Aquino administration, and even with great help from unscrupulous private citizens.
For instance, the President seems more interested in prosecuting members of the political opposition but is protective of his allies. For example, former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and three opposition senators (Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada and Bong Revilla) are held under arrest, but not one of his administration allies facing serious corruption charges is.
P-Noy had the time to personally accept Janet Lim Napoles’ surrender in the late hours of the night, even escorting her soon after to Camp Crame in Quezon City. In contrast, and even more baffling, he neither condemned the brutal killing of transgender Jennifer Laude by a foreigner nor attended her wake despite emotional appeals from the bereaved family.
But the most glaring was, in Bali (Indonesia), in Beijing (China), and lately in Busan (South Korea), he always found time to repeatedly defend Philippine National Police Director General Alan Purisima from charges of ill-gotten wealth. And as if Purisima’s legal counsel needs more legal pointers, P-Noy made this unsolicited suggestion: A possible defense that Purisima might raise was that his role was only ministerial, that somebody else accredited the supplier and he had to implement the deal (“P-Noy backs OIC, starts looking for new PNP chief,” News, 12/13/14). P-Noy has started looking for a new PNP chief. Is this intended to preempt the decision of the Office of the Ombudsman after it placed Purisima and other police officials under preventive suspension for six months?
Poor Health Secretary Enrique Ona! He may not deserve the same zealous defense accorded to Purisima by the President but neither does he deserve the vague additional charges raised against him while on extended leave, apparently because he has adequately answered the issue on the alleged anomalous purchase of vaccines.
No wonder P-Noy’s daang matuwid, which could have been his best legacy to the Filipino people, is now under serious question. There is limited time left to straighten what has been rendered crooked. Daang matuwid looks like it’s headed to become meaningless and empty.
—ARMANDO LIBRANDO ALPAY, c/o judithalpay@yahoo.com