Hello and Goodbye Malacanang

            Look who’s coming? Riding on the crest of people power, President Noynoy Aquino is finally ready to get set and occupy Malacanang. Will he make true his promise of Bagong Pilipinas na  “kapag walang korupt ay aasenso ang bayan.” Will he really  leads us to tama at matuwid at hindi sa dating baluktot na daan . . . “ In effect, no detour and short cuts. Hmm, familiar rhetorics here. Fine but subject still to reality check. Beware then as you might still be enjoying as if in cloud nine inabriated too much by the euphoria of festive past election. 

Catchwords are legitimate battlecry. But unless they are qualified and addressed might end up as merely passing  contentment and fleeting as the wind. That no matter how great those words are  up there in the air, they could  not  stay there forever that long. Whether we like it or not, they will still go back to the earth. Ergo, the better to draw  the battle line  this early as shown that addressing this problem is easier said than done, hard to pin down in the past administration. Doing that would definitely not  allow us to be taken lightly as in joyride.  Despite having been critical on his term as my loyalty to the country begins  when  my loyalty to the party ends so to speak, this column therefore wishes him the best of luck and hopefully get there not necessarily  breaking   all failing records past earned  by his predecessors instead  registering at least dent of change toward attaining   revolutionary trend of total development and liberation from corruption.

 Corruption in the first place is a generic term and comprehensive beyond race, nation and creed. All dishonesty and  inconsistency is corruption. In short, identity crisis. As you suffer amnesia who you are and what to do, you succumb to corruption. Adam started it all. Undergoing countless ramifications through the ages, it leads to far more lethal today it is already institutionalized than in the past. As such it requires very ambitious approaches to have    its foundation uprooted or we’ll still be  restless if we’ll only after the  form not attacking its substance.  Besides, what we only see is  merely tip of an iceberg. Not addressing then its root cause will only complicate the matter. It’s futile digressing from the issue.

Unless there will be desirable results for this crusade, what we would have are merely  sound and fury Soon the more foreign investors would pull out their money out from the country what with lion’s share going straight to the pockets of high ranking officials. Put therefore in jail the culprit.  That’s what leaders of tiger economies did. No less, what face anyway you could show to the investors if we don’t mean business here.

 Such therefore is Pres. Noynoy Aquino’s  precious moment. Damn to the past as  in a song. He should rally the cause he rightly identified with  in his campaign  moving  on and most importantly, vindicating that “yes the Filipinos can” indeed change for the better Philippines. Or we would reap whirlwinds from rhetorics and excuses.

As he starts today of that crusade hopefully translating that  oft repeated and much abused term into simple economics.  Chance or opportunity. That’s another term for economics, I recall my mentor back then at Land Reform Training Institute, Taipei, allowing us participants squeezing our creative juice to discover another term for economics. Sadly, we all  miserably failed until we collectively gave up surrendering “Hirit na!” It is then behooved that President elect would have that  word in focus as he is starting his  term. Afterall,  he himself is  an economist though not in the mold of his predecessor.  But who knows if a student is brighter and better in practice than his mentor.  The playing field anyway is even. She had nine years in doing that. Noynoy  has six. Let’s see who will perform  better.

The momentum is definitely  on him. He has all resources – people and money- at his disposal  in addressing them. Add the mandate of more than fourteen  million Filipinos rallying him behind  putting him in office. The pressure is just too strong. I don’t know how he’ll do it. He himself don’t need unsolicited advice when he would fetch her in Malacanang and take her for a ride in a limousine as protocol demands before she too would proceed to second district in Pampanga for her own oath of office.

  It has been every President’s battle cry anyway  ever since. Her predecessor, a distinguished Economist did her own way and look what she got – ZTE deal, Macapagal anomalous extension road, Hello Garci and all that.  She too is leaving roughly P50,000.00 debt for each and every Filipino as pabaon that on top for having grandstanded that her administration had accomplished more than her previous predecessors combined ever in terms of infrastructure projects, Gross Domestic Product, Billion of Investments, RORO and lately poll automation among others.

Wanting even more not leaving any stones unturned at least before she’ll be leaving her office, she even filled up sensitive vacant posts in the judiciary and government corporations from her select spin doctors in the media through midnight appointment. And to appease the restlessness among cause-oriented groups that sparked their ire, she have  all lawyers ordered and given equivalent career officer rank in government service to possibly deter of  serving her countless lawsuits.

The list is long. But are you not wondering why  she is practically moving heaven and earth never mind last ditch effort purportedly leaving  such legacy effort drumbeated in full throttle in media  that incoming administration would be benefiting the  most from such bequest? Your guess is as good as mine.  There will be an onrush and avalanche of lawsuits dragging her into Court. She would then  have her day full as soon as she steps out from Malacanang. Bayan Muna, Anak Pawis and Garbriela are all set, eager and rarin’ to sue her for countless irregularities accounted to her administration. It’s a sad refrain of course for PGMA. But what could she do. The people whom she might have faithfully served might have also equally good reasons of filling those lawsuits. What a sad refrain  bidding her adieu out from the palace with conditions attached.