Despite controversies, Palace sees silver lining

THE MANILATIMES 2010 YEARENDER

The bungled Manila hostage crisis, jueteng allegations, excommunication threats and differences with the judiciary were among the controversies that rocked the 6-month-old administration of President Benigno Aquino 3rd.

The Aquino administration was first put to test when eight Hong Kong tourists died and several others wounded from the botched August 23 hostage-taking fiasco.

The ties of the Philippines with Beijing were strained as a result of the hostage-taking, which was triggered by dismissed police officer Rolando Mendoza who was desperate to get his job back.

Reported infighting among different factions in the Aquino Cabinet allegedly caused the mishandling of the hostage crisis but Malacanang denied the allegation.

Reports said that officials, who belong either to the “Samar” or “Balay” group, did not communicate well with each other during the August 23 hostage drama.

The Samar group is composed of Herminio Coloma, the head of the Presidential Communications and Operations Office, Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. and Interior Undersecretary Rico Puno, while the Balay faction has Secretary Ricky Carandang, the head of the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office, and Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo as its core movers.

The Balay faction is made up of Liberal Party and “Hyatt 10” group based at the Balay Aquino-Roxas campaign headquarters in Cubao, Quezon City.

The Samar group, named after its headquarters on Samar Street also in Quezon City, is composed of close allies and loyalists of the Aquino and Cojuangco families.

Besides the bungled hostage crisis, the other issue that rocked the new government was the allegation of former Archbishop Oscar Cruz that some of Mr. Aquino’s trusted officials received jueteng payola.

The issue fizzled but the President did not lift a finger to replace the officials allegedly involved in the jueteng payoffs.
Mr. Aquino was also threatened with excommunication by the Catholic Church because of his reproductive health policy — to provide couples informed choices on family planning.

After a brief exchange of statements by Palace officials and key figures in the Catholic Church, the two parties agreed to hold dialogues on the issue.

EOs in question
But President Aquino said that the biggest challenge that his administration had faced came from the judiciary.

He even complained that the Supreme Court seemed to have been “singling out” his government.

Three of his orders were actually questioned before the Supreme Court for their constitutionality.

Among them was Executive Order (EO) 1 that created the Truth Commission, which would probe and resolve all controversial cases of alleged corruption that rattled the Arroyo administration.

Recently, the High Court ruled as unconstitutional the creation of the Truth Commission.

The other directives under question were Executive Orders 2 and 3.

EO 2 revoked all midnight appointments made by then-President Gloria Arroyo for violating the ban on appointments before an election.

EO 3 also revoked the Arroyo administration’s EO 883 that automatically promoted lawyers in government executive service to third-level Career Executive Service Officer ranks.

Billions in investments

But the young Aquino administration is seen as having made significant improvements and accomplishments—business confidence is now back and the economy is getting stronger.

Barely six months in office, Mr. Aquino was able to secure billions of dollars’ worth of investments from his various foreign trips.

He was able to secure $2.4-billion new investments, which would create about 43,560 jobs, from his first official foreign trip as President to the United States in September.

Mr. Aquino said that among the companies that have committed to invest in the country are Coca-Cola, Pfizer, AES Corp., Hewlett-Packard, J.P. Morgan Chase, Sutherland Global Services and General Electric.

During his visit to Hanoi in October, he witnessed the signing of four agreements between the Philippines and Vietnam.

The agreements, the President said, would further enhance the two countries’ cooperation on education, defense, oil-spill preparedness and response and search-and-rescue at sea.

Mr. Aquino was also able to hold talks with various leaders of neighboring countries at the sidelines of his state visit to Vietnam and his participation in the 17th Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit.

The President brought home $5.45-billion worth of investments from his five-day trip to Japan, where he attended the 18th Asia-Pacific Cooperation Economic Leaders’ Meeting in November.

Amnesty issues

Mr. Aquino, also in his first six months in office, granted amnesty to soldiers, including detained Sen. Antonio Trillanes 4th, who rebelled more than once against the Arroyo administration.

Proclamation 75 granted amnesty to active and former officers and enlisted personnel of the Armed Forces, the Philippine National Police and their supporters who joined the mutinies against the Arroyo government.

During the celebration of the International Human Rights Day on December 10, the President ordered the withdrawal of criminal charges against the “Morong 43,” a group of health workers arrested and detained by security forces in Morong, Rizal, in February on suspicion that they were members of the communist New People’s Army.

Some political experts may be hard-pressed to judge the Aquino administration’s performance during its six months in office in 2010.

But one thing is sure—more Filipinos want the controversies that rocked the young administration not to happen again since much hope has been placed on Mr. Aquino to deliver on his “walang corrupt, walang mahirap” [no corruption, no poverty] promise made during the campaign of the May 10 polls. –CRIS G. ODRONIA REPORTER, Manila Times