No matter how Antonio Trillanes brags about pursuing the impeachment of President Arroyo the much bigger majority of our people are convinced that the President would be able to complete her term until 2010. With her allies in the House of Representatives all the more increased after the last elections there is no way the impeachment case could get to the Senate, unless perhaps the present speakership row gets out of hand and the coalition is shattered.
This is, in fact, the reason why men in the Cabinet like the arrogant and presumptuous DILG Secretary Ronaldo Puno has to shut up and stop meddling in the affairs of the House of Representatives if he would not want the President herself imperilled. Obviously wanting to gloss over the debacle of the Team Unity senatorial ticket whose campaign he was said to be one of those who managed with all the gargantuan funds at his disposal, he had barged into the speakership problem committing Kampi to Speaker Jose de Venecia without even consulting with members of party. And in a very unusual show of high-handedness that affected President Arroyo herself as KAMPI founder, Puno threatened to expel from the party those who did not bend to his caprice.
But the implications of the speakership dilemma aside, President Arroyo should have very little problem coasting toward the end of her term. She must thus inevitably look forward now to leaving legacies by which she could be remembered by.
Within the next three years, the best that President could do aside from her much bruited 12-point agenda is minimize if not totally eradicate corruption in all branches of the government, not only on the national level but in the local level as well where corruption is as much horrifying.
The notorious reputation of the Philippines as one of the most corrupt countries in the world is an stigma that not only shames every Filipino but also sends tremors to investors.
Lack of political will if not sincerity on the part of the government has clearly exacerbated corruption. Paradoxically, graft-busting agencies have been installed but these same entities according to some litigants also swarm with corrupt personnel ready to fix graft cases for fat fees. The same agencies known to be very corrupt appear to have been emboldened under the Arroyo Administration according to an SWS survey.
People are groaning under increasing taxes. But much of this blood money of the people go largely to the pockets of corrupt men in the government, some of whom may be close to the President herself.
Indeed, the President and some people around her could be blamed for the proliferation of corruption, maybe not because they are involved but because of sheer complacency and laxity.
Has Malacañang for instance gone to fi nd out if funds intended for vital projects are spent judiciously? Perhaps, it is the task of the Presidential Management Staff or whichever, but the President must have a routine update on every significant project especially those with her personal commitment and involvement. For instance, does she know what has happened to the P8-billion rehabilitation fund intended for the whole Bicol Region? Much of the amount had gone to desilting projects that never happened.
Twice recently the President was here in Bicol, first during the oathtaking of her son, Congressman Dato Arroyo in Libmanan town in Camarines Sur, and then for the Cabinet meeting in Albay. Did she ever try to find out what is happening to some of her pet projects here?
Indeed, President Arroyo may even abandon other grandiose plans and simply focus on stamping out corruption but still she would have done the best thing any President has done for this country.
Unless the President is able to minimize – just minimize – corruption her administration would not just be lackluster. It would not be worth remembering.
