Cocktail Mix

By Rolo B. Cena

Hushed Poppies
Dumaguete Star Informer

15 September 2013

Juxtaposed with other priorities this administration has on its plate, the pork barrel scam authored by Janet Lim-Napoles is by far the most disquieting of all.  For one, it has tainted the image of the non-government organization (NGO) community; two, it has painted a bizarre mural of corruption in the high walls of the two chambers of the Congress.

And while the former is somewhat relatively new; the latter is absolutely an old concoction re-engineered to produce the same punch but this time with different zing. 

One thing this country of fun-loving Filipinos doesn’t actually know is that Ms. Lim is a good driver, too.  For one, re-routing the transport of the red meat called “pork in a barrel” is damn harder than re-routing the Erap-Sa-Mahirap jeepney trips within the major thoroughfares of the Imperial Manila Metropolis.  Two, Ms. Napoles was never apprehended by traffic officers even when recklessly driving the transport of this “red meat” from the nautical highways of Ate Glo to the Tuwid-na-Daan road links of P-Noy in the last ten years.  Interestingly, it was an ordinary citizen who grabbed the whistle of the traffic officers and did the first blow.

Thanks to Benhur Luy, her cousin.  After all, he ain’t heavy; he is a brother! 

The calculated driving which resulted to ten-billion-peso damages, notwithstanding the damages Ms. Napoles caused to the one-hundred-million hungry Filipinos, is an act of betrayal.  Betrayal in the sense that these publicly elected congressmen and senators infringed their own oaths and pledges to protect the interest of the state and the government and their constituents.

Dumb if you do; dumb if you don’t.   After all, everyday does it!

What added confusion in the minds of the public is when one national daily published the photo of P-Noy and Janet Napoles taken in November 30, 2012 at the dinner party in Shangri-la Hotel.  What business does P-Noy have with Napoles?  If the allegation of Talent Manager Lolit Solis holds substance, then the Chief Executive is liable to his “boss” - the Filipino people.

Thinking out loud, are P-Noy, Enrile, Estrada, Revilla, Reyes et al in the same boat?  Are they synchronically paddling towards the same coastline, or are they thinking of the same end in mind?

Most recently, the Supreme Court issued an order to temporarily stop releasing and using the pork barrel while they hear petitions to abolish it from different personalities and groups.  There have been attempts before but these petitions had never succeeded.  For one, this is money; it makes the world alive and crazy.  Two, the pork barrel is their lives.  Senators and congressmen would die protecting their interests in the guise of helping the majority poor Filipinos. 

Sadly though, we kept on singing the old song.

The author of the pork barrel during the heydays of Aquino administration must have been inflated with cholesterol, if not filthy rich.  Too much red meat is unhealthy and therefore unsafe and dangerous to health; and so with consuming too much of the pork barrel; it is addictive and paranoiac. 

And addiction paralyzes; it just did to the petite lady who formerly occupies the Palace.  Worse, paranoia kills.  It just did to one defense secretary years ago.

Several personalities have been linked to this newest and hottest primetime sensational drama.  Showcasing a different twist of elements, the episodes dramatically depict a new dimension of greed mixed with power and the abuse of it, incest and betrayal.  It is a powerful fusion of two sets passionately fashioned to produce a glaring inter-connection of several subsets.  This inter-connection becomes the cross pollination process that brings to the fore dramatic political conflicts, which should bring about a grandest action plan of looking deeply into authority and accountability, and the application of these, at the end of the day.  

Truly, what a cocktail mix!