A political brushfire

November 2, 2007  --  Got something to say?
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Nestor MataMANILA - The death of democracy in our country is not likely to be the result of political assassination. It will be a slow extinction from the apathy of the public to the innumerable cases of official corruption in Gloria Arroyos government.

The latest despicable case, as the whole world knows by now, is the handing out of oodles and oodles of crisp pesos, from P200,000 to P500,000 to congressmen and governors in one single day inside Malacaang.

Journalists in both print and broadcast media have exposed the new scandal. Senators, particularly from the Opposition ranks, plan to investigate it. Businessmen have voiced their grave concern about it.
And Catholic bishops have assailed it as moral bankruptcy.

And yet, people appear to be indifferent to it. No angry outbursts, no outrage, no show of indignation to the shameless bribery, disguised as Christmas gifts, right there in the corridors of power in Malacaang, once upon a time called the Palace of the People.

It seems that 90 percent of the people dont give a damn anymore about scandalous shenanigans in the highest levels of government. And all that the remaining 10 percent could do is bewail, curse the corruptors, the bribers and the bribed, and cry out to high heavens. Alas, their protests fall uselessly on feigned deaf ears of the powers-that-are.

Ordinary folks see the scandal as nothing but business as usual, as one perceptive observer of current state affairs put it, disappointingly.

They have become calloused already by the series of reports on graft and corrupt practices, as Bishop Emeritus Teodoro Bacani called it, in a radio broadcast over the Catholic-run Veritas 846. He noted that broadcast journalists and columnists have continuously discussed the issues, but it appears the general public has not reacted vigorously, although he added there were only a few who expressed frustration with the so-called distribution of cash gifts in Malacaang.

Oh yes, after the scandal was exposed in both print and broadcast media, Gloria Macapagal, according to two of her Palace satraps, became angry and hurt” by insinuations that she had a hand in the giving of bribes to the favored 190 members of the House of Representatives and provincial governors. And they also reported that their Big Boss has ordered an internal investigation of who distributed the envelopes and bags of lucre to those congressmen and local officials.
Many observers in media, the most critical and cynical, dismissed the report as the usual puerile attempt by Gloria factotums to divert the publics attention from the awesome allegations of high level corruption. They had done that many, many times in the past, and they expect to put out the political brushfire caused by the massive, wholesale bribery of officials.

Nobody believes them and Gloria Arroyo anymore. They may not be able to quench the political brushfire, as they had succeeded before, this time around.

What is not remote is the possibility of that the new scandal would ignite public unrest, at long last. That is, if the mass media will not stop in their collective efforts to follow up this new scandal to the end, and to expose the endless cases of graft and corruption in the already tainted Arroyo administration, along with those of the Catholic bishops who have been shocked by what has been happening ever since Gloria Arroyo came to power six years ago.

They have denounced it all, saying that theres a time for everything, a time for silence, a time for speaking.” Thats why they are no longer silent, and are urging the lay people to take the cue from the Church hierarchy.

Indeed, they are speaking out, and the first one to do so, without any prompting, is Pampanga Governor Eddie Panlilio, who unhesitatingly publicly revealed that he had been handed out bundles and bundles of newly-minted bills in Malacaang.

The hardest blow, which should jolt the current illegitimate resident in the Palace, came from no less than the head of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, Archbishop Angel Lagdameo. He bluntly declared: With the sort of thing happening, our country is suffering not only from economic bankruptcy but also moral bankruptcy, disappointingly being shown by our national leaders.”

Now, will these words inspire our long suffering people to go out into the streets and shout at the top of their lungs, Enough, enough, enough!” and compel the Palace occupants, their minions and subalterns to flee for their lives?
Let all good Filipinos remember well these words from the mouth of a great statesman: The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men and women to do nothing!”


Posted by News Team | Filed Under Nestor Mata 

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