A retired Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, well known for his integrity and independence condemns the misuse of the pork barrel funds. Ex-Chief Justice Reynato Puno speaking on September 21, 2013 before a gathering of Methodist Churches at the Good Samaritan Church in Quezon City denounced the pork barrel as an evil that people should fight to abolish. He added that the “pork barrel scandal is all about abuse in the exercise of powers of government over the money of the people”.
In his speech, Puno used the “North Star” to illustrate the unchanging and unchangeable position in the abuse of governmental power. “Our North Star has always been and will always be the Word of God. We maintain that government derives its power from God; that it is the sovereignty of God that counts, it is the sovereignty of God that controls. It is the sovereignty of God that should dictate the direction of human destiny”, Puno emphasized.
Instead of using the President’s slogan of “Matuwid na Daan” (Straight Path), Puno used instead a different battle cry in urging the Filipino people towards moral regeneration. Why the North Star then? The North Star or Polaris is the brightest star in the constellation Ursa Minor or the Little Bear. Since it steadily appears in the northern hemisphere, it is often used by navigators since ancient times in determining directions. One who follows directions based on the North Star never gets lost along the way. Many believe that the Divine Wisdom created the North Star as a never failing beacon that would guide all his creations in all generations towards the right path.
What about the “Matuwid na Daan”? Many would say that it is just like one of the many empty political slogans of previous administrations such as the “New Era” (of peace and prosperity) of President Diosdado Macapagal; “Isang Bansa, Isang Diwa” of President Ferdinand Marcos; or the “Walang kamag-anak, Walang Kumpare” pronouncement of President Joseph Estrada in his inaugural speech.
There had been a lot of criticisms lately on the so called “Matuwid na Daan” because of its selective application. The President is observed to immediately condemn and will go out of his way to remove an official that he dislikes or those who were closely identified with his predecessor as in the case of former Chief Justice Renato Corona and former Ombudsman Merciditas Gutierrez. There were allegations that he released some PHP24 Billion to “bribe” congress to impeach Corona (and another PHP25 Billion for the passage of the Reproductive Health Bill).
Many people wonder why the congressmen came up with a verdict in the Corona impeachment proceedings so fast and within a record time that it would have been impossible for them to read the voluminous documents relative to the case. It did not also give them enough allowance to weigh out their decisions on such a very important matter that would destroy the career and life of a high government official.
The most damning of all these accusations/information was that of former Senator Kit Tatad, who is a journalist by profession. In his September 23, 2013 article with the Manila Standard Today, he claimed that the bribe money of PHP 24 Billion for the Corona Impeachment were coursed thru Janet Lim Napoles and were facilitated by House Majority Floor leader Nepthali Gonzales II for the Congressmen and by two Cabinet Secretaries close to Napoles for the Senators. This report was earlier bared by another columnist of the same paper although the amounts were not divulged.
Since the start of the pork barrel scandal, several groups advocating for change in our government have sprouted. The North Star was one. Another such group is the United Front for Good Governance (UFGG) which started as a discussion group but has transcended into a solid front with its first organizational meeting on September 21, 2013 in a restaurant in Malate. The group is a hodgepodge of former RAM members, Marcos Loyalists, coup plotters against the Arroyo administration, members of the academe, active and retired soldiers, the judiciary, student groups and the business and the religious sectors. The group advocates peaceful and non-violent ways of reforming our government but a lot of things can happen if these methods would not work as they appear at present.
A more radical group called the Reformist Officers Union (ROU) has replaced the Young Officers Union (YOU) of the 80’s fame which figured prominently in several bloody coup attempts against the Cory Aquino administration that almost toppled her government. This group of young officers are not happy with the manner in which the present President is running the affairs of the country especially in his obvious double standard application of his “Matuwid na Daan”, his penchant for fault finding amongst those identified with former President Arroyo and his mishandling of the peace efforts with various groups such as the MNLF. The ROU has gained momentum when senior non-commissioned officers of the AFP signed a manifesto supporting the objectives of the organization. From here, we do not know what would happen next. A few of its members are agitating the group by chiding them members of NATO (not referring to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization of the same acronym) to mean “No Action, Talk Only.” As to the of actions they would undertake no one can say. The fact remains that the already passive members of the AFP are now again restless with the political situation in our country.
Other than the three groups mentioned are about 6 or more loosely organized ones, all advocating for reforms in government. These include the Filipinos against Corruption; Filipinos for Better Philippines; North Star Movement for the Youth; Ulat sa Bayan, Una sa Mamamayan; Defenders of Freedom and Democracy; the Philippine by Jury Trial Movement; and the Plunder Watch Group.
From this unfolding scenario, Juan dela Cruz would ask. “Where do we go from here?” Do we continue following the so called “Matuwid na Daan”, rough and rugged one beset with ruffians that would make travel uncertain and whose direction is unknown? Or should we follow the path that is illumined and guided by simple truth and morality devoid of all hypocrisy that appears to be the mode of the day? Should we be guided by the North Star as former Chief Justice Puno subscribes or should we just sit and watch our country going towards damnation?
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