Imelda in Mike, Marcos in Arroyo

This administration hangs precariously on a precipice as the First Gentleman is involved in another scandal yet to be uncovered. His name is obviously another stain that besmirches the besmirched reputation of Mrs. Arroyo. If former Senator Salonga sees Marcos in Arroyo, I see Imelda in Mike.

The parallelism between the latter is not as apparent as the former. Imelda, to others, is seen as the cause of Apo Ferdie’s eventual downfall. Former US Ambassador Henry Byroade remembers how Imelda used to ask for her cuts in deals. Thus, Rafael Salas, one of Marcos’ brilliant technocrats resigned from his post: “It’s very bad. The corruption is unmitigated, it has continued, if not increased in volume, despite the worsening situation.” About Imelda running for 1969, he said: she “will probably ruin the country.”

Now with Mike Arroyo, he is rumored to have deposited a $500 million account in a German bank. In 2004, he allegedly has to do with the diversion of farmers’ fertilizer fund worth P 728 million through Joc-Joc Bolante to spruce up his wife’s campaign funds. He was linked to funding a post-election “special operations” in Lanao. In 2003, Senator Panfilo Lacson identified him as Jose Pidal involved in money-laundering activities. As early as 2001, he was accused of accepting a million dollar-bribe to save a vetoed telecommunications deal. In one of these charges, he filed 11 libel cases against 46 journalists, which he later withdrew.

With all these controversies that he faced, he is known to have one response – to go abroad and hide from media flaks. This time with the ZTE national broadband deal raging in the Senate, he, without delay, took a flight to Hong Kong.

It is not yet clear from Joey de Venecia’s testimony before the Senate hearing of what constituted Mike’s participation in the deal. Did he endorse ZTE’s bid? Was his endorsement necessary for the approval of the contract or was there more to it than meets the eye? Did he receive part of the pay-off? One thing is somewhat sure that Abalos sought a kickback from the contract. What is anomalous is that ZTE, as alleged by Lacson, is banned in many countries because of acts of bribery. Still, we are dealing with these people in a so-called executive agreement, which is still debatable, with Beijing. Corrupt people appeal to corrupt government.

Three years from now, Arroyo’s unprecedented nine-year term ends, which is less than half of Marcos’ authoritarian rule. During these remaining years, we Filipinos must be vigilant. Every contract, every deal, every loan agreement should be watched closely. They are racing against time and so they will use every opportunity to milk the government. There is every reason to believe that this Arroyo government is corrupt because crony capitalism is back with vengeance. If we fail to do so, then we will confront another nightmare as horrendous as the Marcoses.

[First published in People's Digest Newsweekly (Dagupan City) (September 25-October 1, 2007)]