1:28 am |
Friday, August 1st, 2014
CANBERRA—President
Aquino’s fifth State of the Nation Address last Monday signaled a back-down
from the confrontational course on which his administration set out starting in
mid-July against the Supreme Court. It embarked on that course after the high
court struck down as unconstitutional on July 1 the controversial Disbursement
Acceleration Program, or the presidential pork barrel.
In his Sona,
the President not only did not defend the DAP but also refrained from raising
it as an issue worthy of national debate in his annual report to the nation.
His speech was notable for its conciliatory tone, in stark contrast to his
pugnacious defense of the DAP in two nationally televised speeches two weeks
ago, which locked the two constitutionally independent branches of Philippine
democracy, the presidency and the judiciary, in conflict. The omission of the
DAP issue from the Sona defused the tensions between the two great
institutions.
Whatever
prompted the President to change his confrontational course, it cannot be said
that it was due to his deep-seated devotion to the system of checks and
balances. He had, after all, warned in his TV speeches that the Supreme Court’s
decision invited intervention from the third branch, Congress, to overrule it.
It was not an empty warning because the President’s coalition in the House of
Representatives led by his Liberal Party, controls the majority in the chamber.
The
presidential tour de force in the Sona appears to have reduced the risk of a
constitutional stalemate over the DAP. The President has indicated that he is
not taking an activist stance to retaliate against the Supreme Court, to the
extent of instigating administration allies in Congress to file bills
transferring the administration of the high court’s multimillion-peso Judiciary
Development Fund to the Bureau of Treasury. The fund was created 30 years ago
under a Marcos-era decree that authorized the judiciary to generate its own
funds in order to help augment its budgetary requirements for the benefit of
its personnel and to help ensure its independence.
Opposition
lawmakers noted the conciliatory tone of the Sona, which made no mention of the
plunder and graft cases filed against three of their own—Senators Juan Ponce
Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada and Bong Revilla, who are all in detention. The cases
had been held out as a trophy of the administration’s “daang matuwid” campaign.
The three senators have been charged in connection with the P10-billion scam
allegedly masterminded by Janet Lim Napoles, in which their pork barrel
allocations were supposedly funneled to a syndicate of fake nongovernment
organizations operated by the businesswoman in exchange for hefty kickbacks.
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In explaining
the President’s change of focus in his Sona from highlighting corruption and
emphasizing his administration’s accomplishments in economic growth and poverty
reduction—about which the administration has come under growing criticism for
giving priority to the criminal prosecution of officials involved in corruption
cases—Cabinet Secretary Jose Rene Almendras said Mr. Aquino “wanted to show he
was a statesman.” Although the President has downgraded his bashing of the
Supreme Court and of the previous administration, Malacañang admitted that
criticisms had taken a toll on the administration’s popularity ratings, which
plunged to record low levels in the past few months.
The criticisms
have centered on the DAP, which is seen as an abuse in the disbursement of
public funds that were claimed to have served as stimulus to economic growth.
This argument was earlier shot down by Senator Estrada who, in a privilege
speech, charged that millions of pesos in DAP funds intended to ramp up
economic growth were used to provide additional allowances to senators who
voted to convict Chief Justice Renato Corona during his impeachment trial in
the Senate.
In glossing
over the mention of the DAP in his Sona, Mr. Aquino removed the fund from
public scrutiny, into which Budget Secretary Butch Abad, its ingenious
architect, has been drawn as the official accountable for the unconstitutional
program. There is public demand for the dismissal of Abad. Mr. Aquino has
rejected his resignation and Abad hangs on to his post, saying he still had the
confidence of the President.
The removal of
the DAP from the hot seat is thus a self-serving act of political survival.
The Sona,
through its nonmention of the DAP, has become the crucible on which the
administration’s self-righteous declarations of transparent governance are
being tested. It was clear that the President is smarting from criticisms, and
referring to those who air them as “those who have turned public service into
business” and “those who have no other goal but to overthrow government.”
There is very
little in the Sona to justify accomplishments in poverty alleviation and job
creation beyond the overzealous criminal prosecution of officials accused of
corrupt practices. Governance is more about productive activities and creating
jobs to bring incomes to the poor. It is less about not being nasty to the
critics of government.
