By Niña Terol
Editor’s Note: This contribution has been posted in the author’s blog. We’re re-posting it here with her permission.
AND now we face yet another hundred-million-peso scandal, unfolding in real-time in the august chambers of the Philippine Senate, involving yet another fall guy who is now the country’s hottest topic (and butt of jokes) but who will later on be forgotten. The moment I heard his name — a few years ago, when my mom casually mentioned the name of the Rotary’s then-District Governor — I immediately felt that there was something fishy about a man named Jocelyn, who called himself Joc-Joc. I think that any public servant who respects his position enough should at least find a more suitable nickname upon assuming a position of great responsibility. Don’t trust a man who calls himself a joke — or, perhaps more accurately, a two-faced joker.
But I digress. This latest scandal to rock the Philippine shores — er, fields — paints yet another ugly caricature of this present administration and its cohorts and once again makes the Filipino nation look like a bunch of idiots. How can anyone justify distributing funds for agricultural inputs that are of the wrong kind, given at the wrong time, for the wrong districts? (And, oh yes, they were grossly overpriced, too.) I felt a brief moment of admiration for Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago when she admitted that, although she is an administration ally, Joc-Joc Bolante was simply “defending the indefensible.”
Former Agriculture undersecretary Jocelyn Joc-Joc Bolante at todays Senate hearing. (Inquirer.net)
There is simply no way of getting around this. And we cannot let these corrupt, unscrupulous officials get away with it. If I were a guy, I’d say that “nakakalalaki na ‘tong gobyernong ito (this government is challenging my manhood–or something to that effect).”
This whole episode reminds me of Dr. René Azurin’s book, aptly titled Power Without Virtue. In his introduction, he exhorts us to exact accountability from government, saying that “their powers should be strictly limited, constantly monitored, and held always in check.” Allow me to share some excerpts from his book’s introductory essay:
“… Tremendous discretionary power over public funds, public resources, and public policies is vested in those who capture control of government, and that power has been consolidated, increased, refined, guarded and avariciously used over the years by the nation’s politicos for their own private and personal gain. Irrespective of any labels or party names that presidents, senators, congressmen and local government officials have attached to themselves over the more than hundred years since [Mabini’s time], all have been joined… by the notion that the positions they occupy are opportunities ‘to grasp’ and not ‘to serve.’
“By its very nature, of course, it is inescapable that power is vested in government and, by extension, in government officials. Because, however, it is not reasonable to expect that our public officials will be as moral or as ethical as the ‘sublime’ Mabini [whom Dr. Azurin refers to early on in his essay], their powers should be strictly limited, constantly monitored and held always in check. Discretionary allocations in the national budget — like the huge presidential discretionary funds and legislative pork barrel — should be eliminated altogether. The decisions to award public projects should always be minutely scrutinized, publicly justified and never cloaked in ‘executive privilege.’”
Joc-Joc Bolante has yet to invoke “executive privilege,” but he has asked that his right against self-incrimination be upheld, even if this is a right extended only to the accused and not to witnesses. He insists that he never knew who recommended him as Undersecretary of the Department of Agriculture, even if he later on admits that the only one he knows from the upper echelons of Malacañang is First Gentleman Mike Arroyo, a “good friend” of his. He apologizes for having made the Senate wait for three years for him to surface and offer his testimony, even if he has had plenty of opportunities to surface before his incarceration in the United States. Moreover, he is adamant that the President had nothing to do with this scandal, although incumbent officials acknowledge that Mrs. Arroyo is a micro-manager who dips her fingers (or those of her husband) in practically every matter in this government. Nobody believes that P728 million could be disbursed to over a hundred districts in the country without this president’s knowledge.
Clearly, what we have in front of us is a joker who cannot be trusted or given the benefit of the doubt. He is one of those avaricious men whose primary motivation for joining government is to enjoy its many under-the-table perks. Now that he has surfaced, we will have to bear with days– possibly even weeks — of a live telenovela that makes the Filipino people look tanga (idiotic) in the worst possible way. How much more of this will we take? Aren’t we tired of scandal after scandal, and of government officials who think that we’re stupid, apathetic and callous, even?
More importantly, what are we going to do about it? I once more refer to Tito Rene’s introduction to show an alternative I do not want to see:
“In theory, the extent of government power is specified by the role the people assign to it. In practice, that role is actually determined by the latitude the political class is given to arrogate powers unto themselves. Unfortunately, ‘the people’ — being a dispersed, diffuse mass — have no real ability to limit that latitude. It is therefore left to other organized institutions of society — such as civic groups, business groups, advocacy movements, professional associations, religious institutions, academic institutions and media — to try to circumscribe (if they are so inclined) the role of government and the powers of government officials, and then hold them to account.
“A community holds together, I believe, largely because there are reasonable expectations that a system exists for ensuring that each member of it will be treated fairly and justly by the community itself, if not necessarily by every other member of it. Without this conviction, I think that communities will inevitably break apart (unless held together by force, in which case a revolt will eventually become inevitable). If the privileged few who exercise power in the community use this power to plunder and exploit, and they vulgarly display themselves as exempt from the rules imposed on the ordinary many without power, there is no compelling incentive for the powerless and unprivileged to stay within the community or, if they do, to follow its rules.”
If we want to keep intact what is left of the Philippine community, we need to demand accountability from our public officials NOW. The jokers in government have already taken too much from us — what else are we going to allow them to grasp?
Niña Terol, 28, is an officer of Team RP and YouthVotePhilippines and a member of other reform-oriented groups. She hopes to make real, positive change happen in the Philippines within her lifetime.
16 Feedbacks on "Within the Joker’s Grasp"
DOM
The prophet Quezon is proven right all the time that we are governed incessantly in hell…
Ric
Nina, of course something will happen during your lifetime, it only depends on how long you will live.
At present, where the most important matter of lawmakers is to kill the impeachment for to protect GMA of any real investigation into the numerous allegations, there is no chance yet.
Even a people power will not succeed. In RP, all is only happening in Manila, the provinces just look at it. And in Manila, police and military will simply block provincial protesters from entering Manila and Manila protesters from getting together to form a big force. For sure, they will not hesitate to shoot at protesters, just remember Mendiola.
So, the way will be to have a prime minister GMA and later an Arroyo dynasty, no matter what the consttution says about this. Anyway. it just needs some more amendments….
With an opposition that never will become a solid bloc, with again several candidates for 2010 who just will divide the power of opposition, there is no doubt who will win. The more, as there will be money in the multi billions and as shown during all the past elections, voters are the same corrupt and vote for money. Not even wise enough to accept the bribe but still voting for those they really wanted. Nobody could blame them without to confess that ballots have been checked illegally. Poor Philippines…
anak t. salit
I beg to differ with Nina Terol, consistent with my previous comment that as one man once said, “kill me, but hear me first.” Well, JocJoc or Joker was given due process in the Senate. Now Nina Terol cites her belief or disbelief on what JocJoc said. Let us hope that in the next hearing, JocJoc will be confronted with contrary evidence on what he said, and to be proven that what he said in the Senate hearing were not true. Otherwise, Senator, now Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile would be turn out to be right: Surmises and circumstances do not establish a fact; what we need is solid evidence, not “haka-haka” or personal beliefs.
Filidiot
I resigned a long time ago. we are a nation of idiots. I’m jumping off the boat as soon as it warrants.
taxj
The queen has bishops. When the people were highly agitated by the Hello Garci and ZTE-NBN scandals, they defused the threats by calling for a dubious and timid call for communal action and a redundant search for truth. She has horses that deliver mortal kicks from behind. And so we have mysterious deaths and disappearances. Her rooks are intimidating. Their mere presence evokes awe and fear. Yet anyone of them can be made sacrificial pawns, as in the case of one of the euro generals. What is Joc-joc Bolante? A joker is an anomaly in chess. What can we expect? The government itself is an anomaly. As we all are.
AGBJR
I do share your views. I also once advocate political and constitutional reforms. And through our collective efforts of peaceful and non-violent means, we disposed a dictator to achieve these reforms that every Filipino held very dearly. Unfortunately, to only ascertain corruption will persists when greed and selfishness triumphs. Reforms will have to start amongst ourselves, man is a creature of self-interest when presented with incentives to benefit themselves, motivates corruption.
Father of Economics Adam Smith wrote ” How selfish soever man may be supposed there are evidently some principles in his nature, which interest him in the fortune of others, and render their happiness necessary to him, though he derives nothing from it, except the pleasure of seeing it” Basically, Smith argued that people are generally good even without enforcement.
I did see a small spark of hope shimmer and in an instant was extinguished. I lost the will. I have given up for any educated and judicious solutions to country’s widespread corruption. Reality sets in, and theories based on facts will not necessarily lead you to the truth. One morning you will wake up to find out reality is different from the world you perceive it to be. The deeper you go in the rabbit’s hole the more you get frustrated to find out how far this rabbit hole goes.
lance
the on-going senate investigation of the fertilizer fund scam, to me is an exercise in futility - it’s a waste of precious time, (senators have nothing to do anyway), money, & resources. like all the previous senate investigations, they ended up to naught. puro lang sila naglolokohan, nagta-tanga-tangahan to the very obvious. you dont have to be a senator, let alone a schooled man not to discern the glaring lies & absurdities this “joker” is flying around.
what i cant understand is the ineptitude of the agency w/c is supposed to prosecute this bastard - the ombudsman! is she really that callous & kapalmuks to ignore this gargantuan graft & corruption right into her nose? to hell w/ her & her evil “sponsors” @ the palace.
wonderwoman
I admire Jun Lozada over Mr. Joker Bolante for the following reason.
First, just like Mr. Joker Bolante, Jun Lozada was belong to the inner circle of the prime movers in our government. When I say prime mover, it means that these people are the ones who makes or concoct plans that affects the public majority. We have the Cabinet Secretaries like the National Security Advicer, Mr. Norberto Gonzales, and other political allies like former Mayor Atienza, Mike Defensor, and DILG Secretary Mr. Puno.
But someone who was then called the “bagman” of FVR, a PMA graduate, who is well verse on the mechanics of how to cheat on hard earn people’s tax through rig bidding This guy collects for his boss so much kickback on big government projects. All projects worth over a million passes through Malacanang and rigging the bidding, these corrupt people gain through kickback, overpricing and ghost delivery.
I have mention the inner circle because I would like to emphasis that had Jun Lozada tow the line, which means that he never interfers on the cheating, he could have amass so much wealth beyond his wildest expectation.
Yet, after having unravelled the whole scheme where cheating was so extensive in magnitude where billions and billions of pesos was involve, so damaging to the ordinary citizen, he reach the final crossroad of his life. He either tags along and tows the line by cooperating with these corrupt people, almost surrendering his soul to the devil, or completely detaches himself completely. He could have lost his life on the process of setting free. The airport incident could have caused his life. The desperate move by these corrupt people to intimidate him by driving him around from the airport instead of his home, the carrot and stick approach like the bribery of a misly Php 50,00o, the interferance of his corrupt friends was there to pressure him to remain silent during the Senate investigation. all these was an episode in his life wherein he has decided that, ones and for all, he has to bring out the truth in the open regarding government anomalies. His crusade against corruption is a very steep uphill battle and very dangerous, yet, he was unperterve.
June Lozada, unlike Joker Bolante, belongs to a different breed. He succrifice the good life, the financial security of his children and up to his grandchildren, yet he is unrelenting. As he said, “What ever little respect I still have to myself, I would like to keep it.” Such a simple statement, yet profound with meaning. He is a rare gem amids mosaic of human rapacity. He is comparable to a lone diamond among pebbles and sand on the seashore.
He gave hopes where there was none.
abstract
JocJoc is not a joker, he is a PALACE CLOWN. Now that the FERTILIZER scam is not so hot as it was used to be, he is now spinning lies and getting GMA off the HOOK. The SENATE inquiries do not do us any good for they cannot put JOC behind bars, instead, he has a chance to escape all of this…In our country, being CORRUPT is rewarded, being HONEST is punished, I wish if JUN LOZADA did not talk, his life was ruined, and nothing happened, no one was punished, the perpetrators are still at large!…A medal of honor cannot suffice to put food on JUN’s table, his new found fame cant pay his children’s tuition.
If you are corrupt, you get a free businees class round trip ticket to any hiding destination, when you come back, you can check in any specialized hospital with an illness of your choice. you get to bully the senate, you have the right to bully the senate, you have the right to steal millions of money converted into EUROS and hide them inside your wive’s underwear….the list goes on….
however, if you fight or crtiticize the government, you will be held for treason by Raul Gonzales, The Government will make you disappear like Mr. Burgos and others…
On a lighter side, Pres Secy Dureza’s ambitious prayer says it all, 2010 and beyond…I wonder why Mr. Dureza was not hit with a lightning, his prayers were more inclined to GMA than to the Supreme Power…and it the end, he called it a joke, what the HELL is he joking about!
AGBJR
An editorial caught my attention, the hypertext link says “Obama of the Philippines” written by Carlos Quiros. How can you not resists clicking on the link with a caption like that, and not feed your curiousity. Well, anyway it tallks about aspiring presidentiables followig on the footsteps of Obama. He facetiously contemplated that Binay could be our Obama on the basis of comparison by skin color, “the first black man of Malacanang”. When you come to think about it maybe Binay is even darker than him, looks Binay might have just out-blacked Obama. The reason I brought this up, is our country does not need an Obama type President. We need someone darker and stronger that can clean up this widespread corruption just like it cleaned up Gotham City. Yep, a dark knight , “Batman of the Philippines” “the first bat man of Malacanang”. The setting is perfect, we got Joker also known as Jocelyn Bolante. President Arroyo can be Two-Faced, she used to be a promising leader, educated in Economics and could might have turned our economy around. I did had high hopes for her but ended up just like the rest of our leader, eventually succumbing to the dark side. You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become a villian.
What do meretricious quacks just like Joc Joc “Joker” Bolante, and Pres. Gloria “Two-Faced” Arroyo have in common? If you answered, “They all make antihumanist hermits out to be something they’re not,” then pat yourself on the back. To plunge right into it, I am convinced that there will be a strong effort on Two-Faced part to let 700 million scam in the hands of the most loud hypochondriacs you’ll ever see eventually. This effort will be disguised, of course. It will be cloaked in deceit, as such efforts always are. The Joker and Two-Faced are currently limited to shrieking and spitting when they’re confronted with inconvenient facts. When you least expect it, however, Two-Faced is likely to switch to some sort of “promote the lie of demagogism” approach to draw our attention away from such facts.
At the risk of repeating myself, I must reiterate that we can no longer afford to do nothing about Two-Faced and Joker’s incessant corruptions, instead, we must strike while the iron is hot and advocate social change through dialogue, passive resistance, and nonviolence. We all know they are guilty. Whether or not its true, she alleges that truth is merely a social construct. Naturally, this is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.
The Filipino people are suffering while the rich keeps getting richer and the poor are getting poorer, majority of the filipino people are being marginalized. Our country’s dim future does not promise hope for the younger generation. The poor and young Filipinos of this generation dont make plans anymore for the future, they just live life one day at at a time, breathe in and out, just like a dog chasing cars, they wouldn’t know what to do with one if they caught it. An aleatory life, dependent on chance and luck, with no certainty on what lies ahead for them
Our government has plans, the rich have plans, Jocelyn “Joker” Bolante got plans. The fact is, they’re schemers. Schemers trying to control our worlds. The Filipino people are not schemers. The few hopeful, honest and vocal Filipinos try to show these schemers how pathetic their attempts to control things really are. It’s the corrupt government officials that put our beloved country to where it is now. These are the same schemers, that claims they had plans, and look where our country was led to. Maybe we should take this plan of theirs and turn it around and maybe we can put our country back to the right path.
I have noticed lately the people it seems have given up, tired of reading the same negative news over and over and again and again and again. Can I blame them? The sad thing is the public does not react, panic nor protest for these type of scandalous news, even if the scam is horrifying. If tomorrow the media reports, a robber gets shot, or another government official steals billions of dollars from our treasury, or a drug dealer parttime cop get killed by an honest cop , nobody panics anymore, because it all became part of everyday life. Although, it amazes me if a news, let’s say that of a popular star celebrity actor everyone idolizes dies of unexpected death, everyone loses their minds and goes to mass hysteria, it like you introduce a little anarchy, it upset the established order, and everything becomes chaos. ( LOL, exagerrated to much). Although, you will be amazed the thousands of people that shows up in the funeral sharing the same sentiments.
This country just shows that it’s full of people ready to believe in good. Until their spirit breaks completely. Until they get a good look at their popular idol like Erap, then they realize that all the ideal and heroic deeds it potrayed in the movies are not the same in real life. We thought these elected presidents could be decent men/women in an indecent time. But we were wrong. The world is cruel, and the only morality in a cruel world is chance. It’s Unbiased. Unprejudiced. Fair.
Whyyy Soooo Serious???
Ooops, napahaba, sorry got carried away
Tolits
“QC Cops Want to Patrol UP”
I noticed during now-a-days that criminal elements always out-smarted the cops. The will rob a certain establishment and complete their heist without any cop being aware of what’s going-on. As soon as the thieves are gone, the cops arrived. This is the common scenario during robberies and hold-ups in many places in Metro Manila and other parts of the country. The criminal elements are always one step ahead of the cops when they perpetrate their criminal acts. It goes to show that they are better planners than the police.
What we want from PNP is for them to respond to any crime on a short notice probably while the criminals are still in the crime scene and to neutralize them at the earliest possible time. Strengthen and make efficient their intelligence gathering to detect in advance the plans of the criminals. Of course police patrol is one way to scare the criminals from executing their plans but, also this bad elements will determine the time of the movement of the police patrolling the area. Once there is no police visibility, a signal to commence the robbery will be coordinated among themselves that can easily be done especially with the availability of high technology in communication. Sometimes I even feel bad when I knew that some of the criminals are former or present members of AFP/PNP. What a shame commited by these hoodlums in uniform.
Tolits
“Tolits @10″
Sorry for the error, I place this blog in the wrong site.
taxj
Governance is our problem. Our leaders failed to govern the country. And as Niña Quirol and AGBJR say a point is reached when we even fail to govern ourselves. We look forward to elections for relief even if experience tells us that such mode of changing leaders bring no relief, only false hopes. Nor does unconstitutional means as Edsa 1 & 2!
As correctly pointed out by federalists, the fault is in the system. It is too centralized. We place our stakes on the national leadership hoping that they would be as Captain Barbel or Darna for indeed the task is too much for ordinary mortals. And when they fall short of our expectations… when they go buddy-buddy for themselves rather than for us… all we can do is bash them with words, as though it would dent their thick skulls, until our cries of anguish are drowned by the loud thunders in our empty stomachs. A sense of hopelessness seals our fate.
Common sense tells us that the load becomes lighter when shared. Kayang-kaya kung sama-sama. Indeed, imperial Manila has too much responsibility, power and wealth than it can judiciously handle. Why not unload some of it to our provinces and cities? This does not reflect our trust in local government officials. We don’t. But at least at that level the task is less than Herculean. It is something any Grace Padacas, Among Eds, and Jess Robledos can handle. At that level, NGO’s and civic minded individuals can more effectively participate for good governance, or less corruption. At that level Ombudsman may rule. Now it is obviously ruled.
Simple as this may seem, it would need no less than a revolution to implement. Congress can do this through a simple legislative process but doesn’t. What can move our lawmakers to part with their control over our destinies? This is the challenge.
Monsi Serrano
The call of Rotary International for the media and other people to stop linking Rotary with Jocjoc Bolante is not only absurd but also idiotic.
If Jocjoc Bolante had done something good, for sure Rotary wouldn’t mind being linked to Jocjoc.
You don’t leave someone who is in a deep *&^% simply because he is an embarrassment to your organization.
People will always link him up with Rotary, and that’s inevitable because he once brags about being a Rotarian
I suggest, better prompt Jocjoc to truly embrace the 4 Way Tests and not to hide in the (in)justice system of this current government.
There’s a famous axiom in law, “Res ipsa loquitur”. (The thing speaks for itself.) In the height of controversy of fertilizer scam, ocjoc ran aawy and sought political assylum in the US. Fortunately, he was not granted.
Flight is guilt, Rotarians. Now, why did he run away instead of confornting the issue. Where is the 4 Way Tests that Rotarian spouses? As Albert Camus said and I quote, “A taste for truth at any cost is a passion which spares nothing.” And if I may add, “even to the point of spilling the beans on GMA and her tentacles!”
wonderwoman
After all what have been said and done on the Joc jok investigation, I doubt if there will be anything that will come out of it. Sounds pessimist?
Well, this is the case. Wasn’t his case been filed in the Ombudsman two or three years ago? What happened to it?
Merceditas Gutierrez just sat on it. It never prosper. We all know that our Justice system is nothing but partial when it involves PGMA.
In fact, I sear what JDV senior is thinking, that even with solid proof, the impeachment will not prosper because our Congressman Representative is more loyal to their leader than to uphold transparency.
It is really a numbered game.
aar0nmcgu1re
Yeah, let’s give Rotary International a break.
Please,please don’t put the name of Rotary in the same sentence as that of Joc-joc Bolante.
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