|
If his survey numbers shoot up even further, his foes would only
have themselves to blame
Manny Villar allied himself with some
administration senators to get himself elected Senate president in
July. However, his critics—and likely rivals in 2010—not only
allied themselves with pro-Arroyo senators; they also chose a Malacañang
ally to lead their chamber.
His foes thought that the Senate presidency was
an unfair advantage for Villar because it kept him in constant
public view. Toppling him was their idea of leveling the playing
field. But what did they really accomplish?
The redistribution of committee chairs is bound
to affect the Senate’s ability and determination to undertake
inquiries. The Palace has dismissed the conduct of those probes as
“in aid of election,” rather than in aid of legislation.
Nevertheless, would the public have grasped the full impact of the
Joc-joc Bolante, “euro generals,” NBN-ZTE and other scandals
without those inquiries?
The new Senate President, Juan Ponce Enrile, has
been candid about his objection to the way Senate committees have
been conducting inquiries of controversies involving Malacañang. In
a recent radio interview, Juan Ponce Enrile said that he would
continue fighting government corruption, but added that “the
investigations must be well prepared.”
Enrile explained, “We have to ferret out
corruption but you cannot ferret out corruption by suspecting or
rendering an opinion without any valid, concrete evidence.”
Those words must have been music to the ears of
the administration, which has long realized that the much-publicized
and nationally televised Senate inquiries have contributed to
President Arroyo’s consistently abysmal popularity ratings.
Although Enrile has assured that the Senate
would continue conducting its investigations, observers fear that
the chamber has lost a measure of its independence.
Vendetta victim
Far from hobbling him in the run-up to 2010,
Villar’s removal from the top Senate post could even further boost
his political stock.
Already, a growing number of Filipinos are
beginning to see him as the victim of vendetta—especially after he
refused to put a stop to the investigation into the fertilizer-fund
scam, which probably earned him the Palace’s ire.
Villar has consistently been scoring high in
surveys. But thanks to the intrigue of his enemies in the Senate and
the machinations of Mala-cañang, he now has the added advantage of
looking like the underdog who has been kicked around by his rivals
and by the administration. If his survey numbers shoot up even
further, his foes would only have themselves to blame.
His resignation as Senate chief also gives
Villar the chance to better focus on his presidential bid. He is,
after all, the first candidate to be officially nominated by a major
political formation, the Nacionalista Party, as its standard bearer
in 2010.
He has also cut his ties with the
pro-administration flank of the fractious Senate alliance that he
had cultivated. Without those ties, Villar no longer needs to treat
the administration with kid gloves.
He is no fire-breathing agitator, but Villar is
no patsy either. When the situation required it, he stood up to be
counted. As House speaker in 2000, it was he who opened the doors to
Malacañang for Mrs. Arroyo.
Villar’s measured manner is the sort that
leads to great accomplishments. The worst thing that his rivals can
do is to underestimate him.
Endangered lake
Laguna de Bay, with an aggregate area of 949
square kilometers and a shoreline of 220 kilometers, is the third
largest inland body of water in Southeast Asia.
A multipurpose resource, the lake—along with
its tributaries—is a navigational lane for passenger boats, source
of water for a hydroelectric power plant, food support for the duck
industry, aquaculture, recreation, fishery, flood control, source of
irrigation water and a virtual cistern for domestic, agricultural
and industrial effluents.
In recognition of its role in the development of
the communities that line its shores, water quality and general
condition of Laguna de Bay are closely monitored by the Laguna Lake
Development Authority (LLDA). Or at least the Laguna Lake
Development Authority is supposed to do so.
Secretary Joselito Atienza of the Department of
Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has noted, however, that
over 40 percent of the lake is still “choked by fishpens,”
contrary to the Laguna Lake Development Authority’s mandate to
allow only 10 percent of Laguna de Bay to be occupied by fish pens.
Atienza said the unhampered fishpen operations
have accelerated the degradation of the lake. He accused the Laguna
Lake Development Authority of “deliberately stalling” the
demolition of illegal structures in the lake.
“We have repeatedly asked the LLDA to
intensify the dismantling of illegal structures in Laguna de Bay,”
Atienza told newsmen recently. “But it seems they have done
nothing but to delay the clearing-up work.”
In defiance of Atienza’s orders to clear the
lake of illegal structures, Laguna Lake officials “are asserting
their authority over all the activities in the lake, including our
right to protect the lake’s environment from pollution and
degradation.”
Atienza cited a letter addressed to him by
Laguna Lake Development Authority general manager Edgardo Manda
dated August 25, informing the DENR chief that the Laguna Lake
Authority has the “exclusive jurisdiction” over the dismantling
of structures in the lake.
Atienza pointed out, however, that the
Department of Environment and Natural Resources has authority over
the Laguna Lake Development Authority, as provided for in Executive
Order 149.
Former President Fidel Ramos, who issued EO 149,
never meant to create an independent fiefdom in Laguna de Bay for
the Laguna Lake Development Authority.
dansoy26@yahoo.com
|
