PGMA's Pandora's Box

Lo and behold!

Another scandal is rocking the Arroyo Administration! It would seem that the string of controversies for this administration would never end. NBN-ZTE Deal can be compared to the Pandora’s Box, that once opened would release all the demons and skeletons from PGMA’s closet.

The key person that unlocked all this foul smelling issues is Mr. Jun Lozada… He is a commendable man for facing sure iron clad adversaries. He is not only against political giants but also against the very established and systemic bureaucratic graft and corruption.

But after listening to Mr. Lozada and all the honorable Senators at the hearings, I realize these things:

…Mr. Lozada can only share with the public a glimpse of what may be really going on in our government. Mr. Lozada admittedly had been involved in three government projects. Only three of the numerous government loan projects… only three projects and we have been hearing sky high prices for bribes ranging from 60 Million to 130 Million U.S.D.

…The revelations of Mr. Lozada are nothing new. Tell me something Jun Lozada had stated that the entire Filipino nation do not know of. What is chilling and mind boggling is that, the country is reacting very calmly about these matters. I do not know if this is a sign of political maturity on our part or had Filipinos gone so sick of the system that we just do not care any more?

…After Lozada’s initial testimony at the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee Hearing, more questions are left hanging than answers. But the worst part is, this body assembled to hear Mr. Lozada’s testimony is more like a circus at best. We can see politicians trying, trying very hard to get a piece of media exposure through this event. Its okay if they really want the truth to surface but then we ask this question “With the 2010 Presidential Elections well underway, who are really in the hearing for the people’s benefit and who are there for the free publicity?”

…The opposition, I am sure is in high spirits with the current ammunition they have for the Arroyo Government. But will they really be up to the task this time? We had seen the “Hello Garci”, “Money in the Bag” and other scandals that could have been reasons well enough to catapult the opposition and end the Arroyo administration. But at the end of the day PGMA still sits in Malacañang.

Then there are questions that I would like to raise.

…If this controversy would be in full throttle and an impeachment case would be launched again will it simply result to more expenses of public funds similar to the Hyatt 10 impeachment crisis? Let us remember that during the 8 July 2005 Hyatt 10 call for PGMA’s resignation there had been an alleged large scale DBM payola operation to Congressmen, Senators and Governors quite similar to the crude Panlilio incident. It may well be inferred that if another impeachment would be mounted public funds may be spent yet again to buy the silence and favor of these greedy legislators and local executives.

Will the Church and all other religious denomination call for her resignation, considering the closeness of Arroyo to the Cardinal of Manila and the CBCP. It is even rumored that PGMA has a Religious Affairs Operators that have the Bishops firmly in their "donation" graces, as again manifested by the quick rebuttal of the Mindanao Bishops' of the call of their fellow bishops in Luzon who where calling for the resignation of Arroyo just after Arroyo gave them a visit in Mindanao.

Will the AFP top brass, all indebted to Arroyo for their position and the perks that go with their position, demonstrate their loyalty to the people? We have seen the AFP’s twisted loyalty to PGMA with their willingness to detain, remove from the service and even shoot their own men for voicing out their legitimate concerns regarding the corruption and moral authority of their Commander in Chief. It is a sad spectacle to see the respected warriors of the Marines & Special Forces rot in jail with their ideals, while their men are dying even without receiving the measly P150 per day combat pay that was promised to them by Arroyo due to lack of funds & generals gets a gift bag similar to those given to the governors and congressmen just for having dinner with Arroyo the day after that infamous breakfast & lunch meeting where bribe money flowed scandalously free.

Will the Media stand up for their professional responsibilities? Or ill they simply wither in the torrents of cash and favors similar to how the Hyatt 10, Hello Garci crisis were killed in the media headlines and Radio& TV coverage. Although there are still a handful of Journalist with integrity, will that handful of these mavericks withstand the hordes of paid lackeys of Malacanang?

Will the Business Sector support the call to oust PGMA? When surely this move shall rock the boat of the current economic uptrend?

Can the Civil Society muster enough strength to sustain and finally succeed in outing PGMA? The Civil Society is now tired of mass actions after witnessing two failed EDSA revolutions, that Civil Society is now afflicted with a "Rally Fatigue" and cannot muster enough public outrage to denounce Arroyo's "corruption with impunity". In relation to what was said earlier, the middle class is now indifferent to the corruption that goes around them, not realizing that the middle class are the ones mainly carrying the burden of the loan payments for these corrupt deals. It would seem that the middle class are more interested to become an OFW & to leave this country leaving their family and children behind, and may not care anymore about the crimes being committed against their country by its own President.

Are the “masa”, the students, and the workers willing to take on more sacrifices just to overthrown the dark regime upon us? Or are we now too poor and impoverished to be able to afford the time to join mass actions against the abuses of the Arroyo administration, that these former vanguards of mass actions in the country are now completely dependent on financial resources of professional organizers and have turned themselves into a "Rally for hire" groups rather than a true and genuine political gathering shouting for reforms.

It is wrong for us to think and believe that we can cure corruption by simply replacing Arroyo with another person.

We have to focus also on the institutionalized nature of the source of corruption in this country. We must not espouse change for change sake but be concern to the plan on how to correct the root causes of corruption in the country.

Bringing this government down would be difficult, but establishing a new order that is a much much more difficult task.