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By Maila Ager INQUIRER.net MANILA, Philippines--âThatâs his karma.â This was how lawyer Aquilino âKokoâ Pimentel III described the controversy houn ding Commission on Elections Chairman Benjamin Abalos regarding the allegedly a nomalous national broadband network project. According to dictionary.com, karma is âthe action, seen as bringing upon onesel f inevitable results, good or bad, either in this life or in a reincarnation.â Pimentel, who lost his senatorial bid in the last May elections, used a forum i n Quezon City to ventilate his sentiments against Abalos, who he claimed had âm astermindedâ the alleged cheating in the elections last May. He said the NBN contract between the government and the ZTE Corp. was one of th e continuing âinjusticesâ that the country has been facing under this present a dministration. âAng dami pa ring injustices hindi lamang sa aspeto ng human rights, pati na ri n sa [There have been a lot injustices not only in the aspect of human rights b ut also in the [stealing the peopleâs mandate and the latest one is the ZTE inv olving the same person, who maneuvered, masterminded the stealing of an electio n, is the same person now involved in this anomalous ZTE contract,â Pimentel sa id, referring to Abalos. âSo good for him [Abalos]. So thatâs his karma. Nobody believes him kahit anong gawin niyang paliwanag [no matter what explanation he gives],â he said. In the House of Representatives, Akbayan Representative Risa Hontiveros pressed for the filing of an impeachment complaint against Abalos following a detailed testimony by Jose âJoey â De Venecia III in the Senate regarding the chairman âs role in the NBN fiasco. De Venecia is the son of Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. and a major shareholder of the Amsterdam Holdings Inc, one of the proponents of the NBN project. Hontiveros said De Veneciaâs sworn statement was enough to impeach Abalos. âThe statement, which was given under oath, would make Comelec Chairman Abalos accountable for violating the Anti-Graft and Corruption law and betrayal of pub lic trust,â she said in a statement. âAt the very least, the minority should meet and discuss whether the testimony is enough to impeach Abalos. Since Iloilo Vice Governor Rolex Suplico has not f iled his complaint yet, the minority might tackle the possibility of linking up with Jose de Venecia III about the matter,â she pointed out. Meanwhile, Bayan Muna Representative Teodoro Casiño and Gabriela Womenâs Party list Representative Liza Maza were no longer surprised by the younger De Veneci aâs mention of First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo and his supposed role in the deal. âIf First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo is the mystery man, it doesnât take too much to conclude who the mystery woman is. Above all, she could be held account able in the NBN-ZTE deal,â Casiño said, referring to President Gloria Macapaga l-Arroyo. Manila Representative Bienvenido Abante, an administration ally, joined calls f or the First Gentleman to address the issue confronting him. âI think, Iâve been always supportive of the administration but this time, I ho pe he [Mr. Arroyo] will address the allegation against him,â Abante said. But Cebu Representative Pablo Garcia, also an administration ally, said the Pre sidentâs husband could choose not to appear in a congressional inquiry since th e Constitution provided that only a judge could issue a warrant of arrest or co mpel a person to participate in the hearing. Unlike Abante, Garcia was more interested in what the Speaker has to say about his sonâs exposé. âHe [the Speaker] should not keep quiet. The people also expect to hear somethi ng from him,â he said. The Cebu lawmaker would not say however how this latest exposé against Mr. Arr oyo would affect the political alignment in the House.

HISTORY repeats itself like a broken record. Before, it was conjugal dictatorship and cronies. Then, it was Kamag-anak, Inc. Now, we call it political dynasty. Really, there's nothing new under the sun. The Estradas had set a bad precedent when mother and son won simultaneous seats in the Senate. In the recent election, we saw senatoriables with kin already s itting in the Senate. That's one the reasons why I did not vote for Alan Cayeta no, Vic Magsaysay and Koko Pimentel (See my previous blog entry: http://inquirerbloggers.net/eleksyon2007/2007/05 /16/why-i-did-not-vote-for-pichay-cayetano-et-al/). In our country, we see fathers sitting as mayors with their children sitting as congressmen. In one city, four brothers ran for mayor, congressmen for both of its districts, and party-list representative. When the local official finishes his third term, he makes his wife run for the position. Then we also discover that some of the nominees of the party-lists are children of congressmen. Why do we tolerate this? Before the election I went to Bicol. I asked a pedicab driver why he would vote for Dato Arroyo. He answered, "Siyempre anak siya ng pangulo. Eh di mas malakas sa taas." (Of course, he is the son of the president. So he must be well-connected up there.) What if Dato loses this ele ction? Does that mean the President will neglect that district in Bicol? That i s why political dynasty is so unfair. Now, these politicians claim that there's no law against it. Granted, it may no t be illegal. But it is immoral. Democracy is about equality. Where is equality in political dynasty? Is there equality when power is concentrated on just a f ew influential families? I heard Alan Cayetano say that kings pass on power to their sons. Mr. Cayetano, we are not under a monarchy. Well, at least in a mona rchy, the king dies first before the prince takes over. Why not wait for your s ister to step down before you run for senator? How can siblings (or father and son as in the case of the Pimentels) be a fair representative of the entire cou ntry? Where's equality in that? They claim that they are qualified. Fine. "Sila lang ba ang mga anak ng Diy os?" (Are they the only children of God?) Are they the only ones qualified ? Plus, they are not just banking on their qualifications. They are taking adva ntage of name recall. That's undue advantage. Did they focus solely on their qu alifications in their campaign? Really now? Did the voters vote for them solely because they are qualified? Senator Aquilino Pimentel Jr. claimed that political dynasty is not prohibited by the ten commandments. Well, Mr. Senator, it is. God said, "Thou shalt no t steal." Isn't political dynasty stealing the opportunity to serve from o thers? At least, Senator Panfilo Lacson had the moral courage not to allow one of his sons to run for a local elective position. He told his son not to run while he is a senator. It seems to me that it's all about power. I believe they just could not let go of power, that they just want to perpetuate themselves in power, that they lust for power so much that they want more of it. That's why any anti-dynasty bill is doomed to failure even before it is put on paper.

I THINK that since the election is now over save for the counting we can now do a post-election evaluation. Maybe candidates can learn a thing or two from thi s. I did not vote for Pichay because he apparently spent so much for his political ads. This worried me. Where will he get the money to recoup his "investments"? Also, there were so many ads that I feel it backfired. I got fed up hearing hi m promise that he dreams of fulfilling my dreams. But it seems the only way for him to do that is that I must first fulfill his dream of becoming a senator. I did not vote for Sonia Roco because of her "para silang autistic" re mark aired over national TV. That's a very callous statement. She claimed in he r apology that she was not poking fun at children with special needs. But the f act that she used the word autistic had hurt me. By the way, autistic is not th e politically correct term. It's "children with autism." Because we have to see the child beyond his or her autism. I did not vote for Alan Peter Cayetano. Every time I hear him, he always attack s. What will he do in the Senate? Attack some more? He got suspended in the las t Congress for his false accusations against the First Gentleman. My dear lawma ker, "tsismis" (or gossip) should have no room in a lawmaker's mind. L eave that to showbiz gossip writers. You cannot make laws based on "tsismis ." Verify your facts first. Gather evidence before calling for an investig ation. That way you will save us taxpayers our time and money. Cayetano came ac ross as a witch hunter, not a fiscalizer that he tried to package himself. Plus, I cannot stomach his arguments against the political dynasty issue thrown at him. He claimed that, before he ran, he challenged PGMA that if she will no t allow her sons to run for Congress, he will also not run as senator. That's b aloney! If he really thinks that political dynasty is wrong, he should not run. Period. This political dynasty issue is also the reason why I did not vote for Koko Pim entel and Vic Magsaysay. They already have relatives sitting in the Senate. Can 't they wait for their relatives to step down before running for the senate? I did not vote for Loren Legarda for she came off to me as someone out to be in power no matter what's the price. Whenever I see her, I see ambition written a ll over her face. She cried when the envelope was not opened in the Estrada im peachment trial. But during the campaign, I saw her all smiles while Erap is ra ising her hand. Where's her convictions? Were they for convenience or expedienc y? I did not vote for Antonio Trillanes not only for the Oakwood mutiny but also h e came across as arrogant. First, he claimed it would be a slap for PGMA if he wins while campaigning behind bars. But then he applied for bail. It appeared to me that it was all for media sound bites. Well, some of these candidates may have won in this election. I just hope my pe rceptions are wrong. But I think I will not regret dumping them. It's my vote. It's my choice.