Asked about the position of Malacañang on the sticky Naguiat-Okada-Wynn affair, presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda replied that it is entirely up to Pagcor Chairman Cristino Naguiat, Jr. to decide whether he wants to resign or go on leave.
That says a lot about what Noynoy Aquino means by Daang Matuwid or Straight Path, the principle that is supposed to guide his governance.
First of all, we have now been made to understand that our expectations should not be too high. We should allow for some exceptions. We should also make allowances for cultural nuances and “industry practices.” And, finally, we should understand that Daang Matuwid refers only to Aquino and not to the people who work with him.
Noynoy Aquino is and will remain as honest as can be. But, heck, we’re not supposed to expect him to answer for the dishonesty or lack of scruples of his people.
It’s pretty much what we saw during the administration of his mother. Cory Aquino was also the epitome of honesty. And we were supposed to be happy with that, even if the integrity of Kamag-anak, Inc. left much to be desired.
Secondly, we should make allowances for the beautiful Filipino trait of undying loyalty to friends and relatives. Thus, Daang Matuwid should allow for some liko-liko and some baku-bako when it comes to them.
After all, what are friends for? Besides, as one influence peddler put it, “What’s a little corruption among friends?
[It] reminds me of the classic quip of the unlamented Senator Jose Avelino in the 1940s. Said he: “What are we in power for?”
Avelino made one of the most honest statements a politician could have made in those days, when the birds, the plants and the dead voted in Lanao. That kind of candor has been matched only once in recent times and that was by Miriam Defensor-Santiago.
Remember what her response was when she was asked why she did not jump out of a plane to the Luneta, as she had threatened?
“I lied,” she said. And that was the truth!
Thirdly, we should stop comparing our country, our people and our leaders to Singapore and Lee Kuan Yew or to the United States. Otherwise, we will always end up being frustrated and disgusted with ourselves.
I recall a confrontation I had with then Comelec chairman Benjamin Abalos at the Philippine Consulate in San Francisco. He had boasted that while Virgilio Garcillano (yes, THE Garci) had “committed” to make certain candidates win in the last elections, it did not happen.
For that, Abalos expected the audience to applaud him for “keeping the election honest.” But when I asked him if he had taken steps to sanction Garcillano, Abalos insisted that the man had done no wrong because “the candidates did not win.”
It was obvious that Abalos’s understanding of right and wrong was different from what we all learned in grade school.
I then bluntly told him that if the same thing had happened in America, he and Garcillano would have landed in jail. At which Abalos protested that the Philippines should not be compared with America. He meant that the strict adherence to the law and to ethical standard demanded of officials in the US could not be expected in a Third World country like the Philippines.
“No wonder elections in the Philippines are a mess,” I said, as I walked out of the meeting.
Similarly, Lacierda, speaking on behalf of Aquino, may have implied that we should not set such high ethical standards for Philippine officials but give them more flexibility. What greater flexibility is there than to leave it to an official to decide whether he should resign or go on leave, or whether he should lock himself up in jail or commit suicide?
I can almost see the “It’s more fun” campaign of DoT’s Mon Jimenez being fed to the criminal grapevine overseas: “Come to the Philippines. It’s more fun breaking the law.”
In sum, I think it’s time to stop the farce. We now know what to expect from Aquino. Those of us who had visions of a New Philippines just around the corner should now rethink the timetable and push back the dream a couple of generations.
And now that we’ve had our reality check, we’re supposed to stop talking about the mistakes of Aquino and focus on the sins of Renato Corona and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
It’s wrong, very wrong for Corona to accept free trips from Philippine Airlines, because a chief justice of the Supreme Court has to avoid any suspicion that he can be influenced by such freebies.
But it’s okay for Naguiat to accept royal treatment from casino magnates planning to set up operations in the Philippines, because that is “standard industry practice.”
With that rule of thumb made clear, if any of Aquino’s Cabinet secretaries are wined and dined in the course of negotiating contracts, we’re supposed to understand that it’s standard industry practice.
Come to think of it, bribery is standard industry practice for folks wanting to land contracts with governments.
But, frankly, it’s better that we understand where Aquino is coming from. We can now view him, not as a super hero but simply as an honest president who can’t help being loyal to friends and relatives.
Maybe we should be happy with that. Or would we rather have a president who is loyal to friends and relatives and is dishonest, as well?
We should make our expectations more realistic. Just like Defensor-Santiago: after she told the truth about lying, people made allowances for her bluster and lowered their expectations, too.
That was the same attitude that the citizenry had begun to take towards the presidency of Erap Estrada. After it became clear that his dramatic vow, “Walang kama-kamag-anak, walang kai-kaibigan!” was all “for effect,” the masses were willing to bear with him for the rest of his term.
But the pesky civil society do-gooders and the scheming Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo went ahead and staged EDSA Dos and kicked Erap out of office. As a result, the country went from bad to worse.
So, watch it guys. If you don’t give Noynoy Aquino a little flex, you might end up with Bongbong Marcos as president.
Kayo din! (gregmacabenta@hotmail.com)