The spectre of boom and bust once again lurks in the Philippine horizon. As President Benigno Aquino’s term comes close to an end as mandated by the constitution, the country teeters on the verge of instability and political turmoil. The situation is real test for Southeast Asia’s first democratic state which is still reeling from the effects of the Marcos dictatorship and mismanagement in recent years. The country has shown rapid recovery during Aquino’s term but recent events threaten gains.
In the centre of the present crisis is a woman who barely finished high school yet went on to facilitate the greatest scam in the history of the pledgling Asian nation: Janet Lim Napoles. She’s mere facilitator as many suspect someone else directs her actions. If not handled well, the present crisis can spiral out of control and scare away investors from one of the world’s most remarkable economic recoveries.
The Aquino administration’s narrative on the issue is failing. Despite efforts to put Napoles under a leash, she remains loyal to her patron suspected to be Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile. Months of keeping her in protective custody hasn't yielded gains for the Aquino administration. Why does the government accord her privileges meant for suspects turned state-witnesses when she hasn't at all helped the government’s cause?
Unless the government is trying to win her over and sanitize the damaging information she knows to implicate only the opposition senators, there’s no logical reason for the government’s kid glove treatment of Napoles. If such is the case, the government has obviously failed for by the time she and her camp (meaning, her husband) were ready to speak up, what they said were far from pleasant to the ears of Aquino’s allies.
On the contrary, it's the opposition who seem to have gotten their way to Napoles despite her tight security. Napoles' affidavit is far from being a disinterested account as it suspiciously tries to get back at Justice Sec. De Lima, Sen. Jayvee Ejercito and Budget Sec. Butch Abad.. The opposition's unseen hand seems everywhere.
The opposition’s line of defense is simple: everybody is guilty. Call it squid tactics but it has the potential of containing damage due the opposition senators as back court negotiations become the next avenue for resolution of the pork barrel scandal.
Napoles’ affidavit and list need further scrutiny as they lump truth with fiction. Senator TJ Guingona who has inherited his father’s sense of integrity needs to sift through the information and establish which is true and which is pigment of Napoles or her patron’s imagination.
It’s up to Guingona to come up with a credible resolution of the investigation into the pork scandal as the President’s men and Senate allies become suspect themselves. Proven or not, in this telenovela-crazed nation, mere insinuations of wrongdoing can take time to correct.
As for Malacanan, guilty or not, it is prudent for Butch Abad to do Pres. Aquino a service: leave the post as budget secretary. Cory Aquino, the president's mother fought for him when Ramon Mitra’s house refused to affirm his appointment as Agrarian Reform secretary for being too left-leaning. It may not be wise for Aquino to keep him this time if only to protect the gains the country made with Abad's help.
As for Aquino, why is Napoles not afraid of the state apparatus at his disposal? Is Aquino now lame duck as 2016 nears? That seems to be what Napoles' actions are saying. Like in chess, Aquino ought to be careful as it is in the end game where Kings are trapped and felled. The game has a term for it: checkmate.
