Following the milestone ruling by the Philippine Supreme Court (SC) yesterday deeming the controversial presidential slush fund known as the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) illegal on most counts, the reckoning has started. Several courses of action are being considered which may be undertaken in any number of combinations. The three standout items include:
(1) Impeaching President Benigno Simeon ‘BS’ Aquino III;
(2) Clawing back the more than one billion pesos in DAP funds that had been released to 20 Philippine senators over the period August 2012 through to February 2013; and,
| SUPPORT INDEPENDENT SOCIAL COMMENTARY! Subscribe to our Substack community GRP Insider to receive by email our in-depth free weekly newsletter. Opt into a paid subscription and you'll get premium insider briefs and insights from us. Subscribe to our Substack newsletter, GRP Insider! Learn more |
(3) Auditing and investigating all involved in the chain of command and control associated with the management of these funds and prosecuting those found to have violated the law.
Obviously the best approach is to do all of the above. Laws have clearly been broken, funds were evidently lost or stolen, and political agendas likely took precedence over the larger collective interests of the Filipino public. The real challenge is around how to mount a serious enough and deliberate enough program of activities to make these happen. The roadblocks that make up this challenge are formidable…
(1) Political will
The biggest hurdle is marshalling the political clout to mount such an offensive, and no less than Philippine Congress itself, the body of “representatives” regarded by a rapidly increasing number of Filipinos to be the biggest benefactors — and sponsors — of this unprecedented and vast act of national thievery, is standing in the way. It is, after all, Congress alone that wields the power to impeach a sitting President. But with the thieves themselves presiding in judgment over their own trial, the future, in this regard, does not look bright.
(2) Popular will
The short of it: Don’t hold your breath.
The tired old cliché that the “voice” of the people independent of their institutions speaks of what is best for the general public has long been discredited in the Philippines. Time and again it has been proven that the Filipino “vote” and notions of a “will” manifested in street antics, indignation campaigns, traditional activism, petition campaigns, and other mass actions do not necessarily translate to the right arguments winning the national “debate”.
Time to sell the house at Forbes Park! More than P1bn in illegally-released funds needs to be clawed back.
There will be no mass indignation this time to count on. No million-strong rallies and boycotts. No celebrity-endorsed “movements”. The project to nail all the crooks to the wall will have to be done by the book, within the framework of the law, and via institutional procedure. There will need to be a focused task force, possibly managed and funded privately, possibly with a good smattering of pro-bono services from the country’s best attack lawyers. Any effort to organise such an initiative will require the most innovative organisational management minds to pool their brains and come up with a new way to push reform from up the grassroots.
(3) Will to think
Filipinos are not renowned for their ability to think things through systematically. What the Philippines is today is a testament to that fact. But that does not mean that that sad situation cannot be changed. We just need to find better and different ways to make that change come about.
The mosquito presses and alternative media (you know who you are) running rings around the Big Three Media Corporates (you know who they are) will need to shape up, step up, and lead the Philippine intelligentsia down the right course of thinking. There is no counting on mood-obssessed self-proclaimed “thought leaders”, only intelligent and modern critical thinking.
* * *
A monumental challenge to say the least. But you know what they say about truly great countries:
Great countries achieve great things.
Perhaps the Philippines will never put a man on the moon or win a bloody war against a Goliathan global power. But it is in the hands of ordinary Filipinos to change the course of a massive ship that for so long has been steered by so few. It is no longer about the numbers brought to bear. It is about the smarts applied.
As Albert Einstein, one of humanity’s greatest minds say:
You cannot solve a problem using the same thinking that created it.
The Filipino can — but only if she thinks.
benign0 is the Webmaster of GetRealPhilippines.com.
Oh totally agree. We can’t even get the little things right. I have said many times I don’t understand pinoy pride since you can blame all this 100% on the people. Nothing else really matters in terms of our collective identity. I also don’t understand proud of my country ashamed of my government BS. Who do you think got them in there?
I have said before that this website is the most positive website since I don’t equate sugar coating lies as positive. You have to face your problem to beat your problem. Much of this country has yet to face that Noynoy and his posse are unethical morons.
‘Unethical morons’, you are too kind. Lying thieving weasels is a little more accurate, no?
Thom, I am known all over for my benevolence to all and my Doris Day type demeanor.
Lets see, these ‘SENATORS’ have each received about $2,200,000.00/each. This is not alot of money to be distributed among a large population BUT it is an enormous amount of money if only one person’s family is receiving it. In the Fail-ippines a person can live better than 90% of the population by having access to only P1million/year($22,500.00, USD1=P45). Multiply that by 90 million and whoever is getting that money is getting fabulously wealthy by Filipino standards.
add to matters that the same families have been receiving this amount of CA$H, or its inflationary equivalent, for frikkin decades!!! this is where the problem really lies. Over time this money could be used to make a better country and standard of living for all Filipino’s. To belabor the facts as to what has happened over the decades is to beat a dead horse.
Where does the country go from here? Even if all politicians where replaced would the replacements be any mor einclined to not do the exact same thing as their predecessors?
Seeing the lack of originality in the country and the copy-cat
nature of the entire population, it is doubtful.
You can see the Senators, who are rabid defenders of Aquino. Porky Drillon tops them all. He is an Hacienda Luisita Swine walking on his hind legs; feasting on the 100% Pork Barrel.
This is the reason, why we have political dynasties…they get their political campaign capitals on Pork Barrels. This is the reason politics is the way to get-rich-quick.
Only the people thru massive information shared to all citizens, can there be a deterent to this massive thievery. Peopele must initiate the investigation, themselves…It is their taxmoney after all. These are the blood, sweat and tears of OFWs, who work in foreign countries , and sell their dignities, like slaves…
I don’t believe in Congress and Senate; investigating themselves. I don’t believe in any government auditing agency…it is like a criminal investigating and judging itself…
I have lost faith on our leaders, a long time ago. They are all Crooks…
The list are those who connived with Aquino to steal the taxmoney of Filipinos. Porky Drillon tops them all. He is an Hacienda Luisita Swine, walking on his hind legs and feasting on Pork Barrel.
The people / citizens of the Republic, must initiate a full investigation on all those involved; including previous Senators and Congressmen.
Do not allow these Crooks, to investigate themselves; and judge themselves. Do not allow government Auditing agencies, to audit all the transaction.
This is a massive thievery of government funds; done by Aquino and his cahoots.
Martin Luther King once aspired for an impossible dream for his country and countrymen. Can an ordinary Filipino be similarly granted a wish for his country and countrymen. We dream and wish for a new beginning in Philippine governance: The entire incumbent government officialdom (all three branches) to resign and call for new elections in 60 days. They should be PERPETUALLY DISQUALIFIED FROM RUNNING/HOLDING PUBLIC OFFICE. They should issue a nationwide resolution and express remorse and DAP funds recompensed. The DAP implementors from the executive branch and recipients from the should henceforth be identified as HOLDAPPERS and as such should have receive a mark on their forehead using a cow branding iron. And all of them should be banished and exiled to Pag-Asa Island in the Spratlys Group of Islands and stripped of their citizenship. The exile will only be extinguished when China occupies the entire Spratlys. The former CoJ Corona should file an urgent motion from the SC to invalidate his Senate impeachment due to bribery but he should not reclaim his post as it is presently occupied (unless forced out of office by extrajudicial means). The former CoJ should assume COMELEC control and ensure that candidates for public office have never ran/held public office and must have not come from political dynasties.
Jail all the CROOKS. It is where they all belong. Let us let them all be sentenced to hard labor…