THESE days tell you what kind of government we have. It was quite unfortunate because the Filipinos voted for a UniTeam, where the president and vice president were supposedly together, helping each other, solving the issues of the day and making the lives of Filipinos better. But all that went to naught because of a plan to stay in power way beyond 2028. This plan was hatched as early as August 2022, and it has been a slippery slope for the Marcos Jr. administration.
After starting the persecution against the vice president through a carefully planned trap via the confidential and intelligence fund (CIF) and the use of left-aligned members of the House of Representatives, key party-list members as well as neophyte legislators, the grand design to destroy the Dutertes, both the former president and the incoming vice president, commenced. The alacrity was very alarming because CIF is in every agency in the bureaucracy.
Then the House leadership decided to concentrate all its resources in two committees focused on former president Duterte and the vice president. The quad committee focused on the ex-president and is now in its 12th hearing, citing 12 individuals for contempt, while the Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability focused on the use of CIF by the vice president. This committee has cited five individuals for contempt.
CIF is not new; it has been in the budget post-EDSA. It has increased over time because of the changing terrain. Today, the president has P4.5 billion. In FY 2024, the total CIF was P12.38 billion.
Based on a 2015 joint circular, confidential and intelligence funds are \"lump sum allocations set aside in the national budget for expenses that involve surveillance and intelligence information gathering activities.\" As its name suggests, confidential funds are for confidential expenses related to surveillance activities in civilian government agencies that are intended to support their mandate or operations. Intelligence funds are for intelligence expenses related to information-gathering activities of uniformed and military personnel and intelligence practitioners that have a direct impact on national security.
From the Committee on Appropriations, beginning in 2022 to the present, it never focused on the plans of the OVP but went back time and time again to the use of the CIF by the Office of the Vice President. Acting like the Commission on Audit, not understanding the procedures of COA laid down in the Audit Code of the Philippines, the House consistently attacked only the OVP on the use of its CIF. The notice of disallowance (NDA) is different from the notice of finality of decision (NFD). The audit observation memo (AOM) is different from the NFD. The process of reconciliation and appeal runs for six months, and that is not new at the national and local levels.
A lot has happened since the House went on the offensive, questioning every step of the way how the OVP used its CIF. And the president was never asked why he approved the request of the vice president. The president further authorized the release of the allocation from his contingency fund. The issue has been raised repeatedly on the use of the P125 million in a period of 11 days, but people should know that confidential funds are different from regular funds. In fact, operationally, that amount is, on average, used in three days if there is no plan at all. But the VP had a plan, and it was given to the president.
And the private exchange between the president and a House member became a propaganda tool since it was made public by a broadcaster: \"In the larger scheme of things, Sara is unimportant. So please do not file impeachment complaints. It will only distract us from the real work of governance which is to improve the lot of all Filipinos.\"
The following day, the president answered a media huddle, \"Well, it was a private communication, but na-leak na, yes, because that's really my opinion. This is not important.
This does not make any difference to even one single Filipino life. So, why waste time on this? What will happen if somebody files an impeachment? It will tie down the House; it will tie down the Senate. It will just take up all our time and for what? For nothing, for nothing. None of this will help improve a single Filipino life. As far as I'm concerned, it's a storm in a teacup.\"
And this retort shows a great disconnect because it took him two years and six months to realize that what the speaker and the House have been doing does not serve the country at all. How do you stop the madness? Isn't it too little, too late? The phrase \"too little, too late\" is a common idiomatic expression used to show that a response or action, although proper, is insufficient and has come after the time when it could have been effective. It conveys a sense of missed opportunity or inadequate effort. When the persecution started, nothing was heard from the leader. That the president was set aside by people without mandates is too alarming.
If Inday Sara was unimportant, why the script? Why persecute? Why the use of money to sustain the theater that is the House? Why the actions taken by the chief of the Philippine National Police and the chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in terms of the security detail of the VP? Why the cases filed against the security of the VP by the Quezon City police department? Why issue a subpoena to beat reporters of the OVP and others? Why would an undersecretary of the Department of Justice issue such an alarming statement against the second-highest official of the land? Why is there no respect for the second-highest official, the constitutional successor?
A \"storm in a teacup\"? A lot of unnecessary anger and worry, a matter that is not important? To be drug-free is not important? The budget is unimportant? When taxpayer's money is disappearing? You yourself heralded about flood control projects and what did nature teach us? The P1.5 billion is gone not because of the typhoon but because the infrastructure was substandard. There is the smuggling and 50 percent kickbacks!
A wise man said one should \"sublimate personal desires, interests and disgusts for the common good?\" How? It is easier said than done when the very elected representatives of the people gamed every government service and pocketed too much. The avarice is revolting. There is no playbook for regime change. It changes depending on certain elements present in the landscape. Yes, it is a zero-sum game; either you win or lose. But there is also a choice between vengeance or moral leadership. To the wise man, you once were in the same situation, right, sir? The people defended you and protected you. Wasn't that the ultima ratio, then? But it was clear then, as it is clear now, \"anything under the sun except the leader,\" right?
When asked if his relationship with the VP was irreparable, Mr. Marcos replied: \"Never say never.\" Mr. President, if you stir up the madness of the world, then that madness will eventually come back to bite you. Sad.<\/p>","article_custom_fields":"{\"\":[\"\"],\"seo_meta_keywords\":[\"\"],\"seo_meta_description\":[\"\"],\"seo_meta_title\":[\"\"],\"sponsored_flag\":[\"\"],\"offer_flag\":[\"off\"],\"featured_article_flag\":[\"\"],\"drupal_json\":[\"{\\\"type\\\":null,\\\"properties\\\":{\\\"PUBLISHED\\\":0,\\\"PROMOTED\\\":0,\\\"STICKY\\\":0},\\\"fields\\\":[]}\"],\"wp_custom_json\":[\"{\\\"type\\\":\\\"\\\",\\\"fields\\\":[]}\"],\"article_tags\":[\"\"],\"show_image\":[\"off\"],\"Disable_Ad\":[\"off\"],\"disable_player\":[\"off\"],\"column\":[\"\"],\"kicker\":[\"\"],\"edel\":[\"on\"],\"delu\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/tmt.ph\\\/DE20241203A4\"],\"delt\":[\"Read this in The Manila Times digital edition.\"],\"premium\":[\"off\"],\"Redirect_URL\":[\"\"],\"Registration_required\":[\"off\"],\"background_image\":[\"off\"],\"user_needs\":[\"\"],\"page_number\":\"0\",\"initial_publication\":\"\",\"date_created\":\"2024-12-02 21:26:20\",\"date_modified\":\"2024-12-03 13:24:39\",\"last_modified_user\":\"Riechmann De Guzman\",\"section_color\":\"\",\"target_page\":\"0\",\"cxense_metatags\":null}","cms_type":"live","author_id":1844,"section_id":13,"seo_meta_keywords":"Too,little,,too,late","seo_meta_description":"","seo_meta_title":"Too little, too late","publish_time":"2024-12-03 00:06:00","related_articles_ids":"","article_tags":"","sub_section_id":6,"visit_count":460,"sponsored_flag":0,"offer_flag":0,"featured_article_flag":0,"media_gallery_flag":0,"video_gallery_flag":0,"highlight_flag":0,"top_story_flag":0,"is_updated":0,"is_old_article":0,"old_article_id":0,"article_byline":"Ma. Lourdes Tiquia","ts":"2024-12-14 10:07:14","last_edited":"2024-12-03 13:24:39","alt_publish_time":"2024-12-02 21:28:26","image_path":"{\\\"image_path\\\":\\\"manilatimes\\\\\/uploads\\\\\/images\\\\\/2024\\\\\/12\\\\\/02\\\\\/480975.jpg\\\",\\\"cms_type\\\":\\\"live\\\",\\\"small_image\\\":\\\"\\\",\\\"is_updated\\\":\\\"0\\\",\\\"image_cropping\\\":\\\"{\\\\\\\"original_image\\\\\\\":{\\\\\\\"image_original_width\\\\\\\":1920,\\\\\\\"image_original_height\\\\\\\":1008,\\\\\\\"icd_image_type\\\\\\\":\\\\\\\"original_image\\\\\\\"},\\\\\\\"main_image\\\\\\\":{\\\\\\\"image_main_width\\\\\\\":1200,\\\\\\\"image_main_height\\\\\\\":630,\\\\\\\"icd_image_type\\\\\\\":\\\\\\\"main_image\\\\\\\"}}\\\",\\\"is_copied\\\":\\\"0\\\",\\\"media_type\\\":\\\"0\\\",\\\"image_caption\\\":\\\"Ma. Lourdes Tiquia\\\",\\\"image_alt_text\\\":\\\"\\\",\\\"image_count\\\":1}","author_name":"Ma. Lourdes Tiquia","section_name":"Opinion","sub_section_name":"Columns","slide_show":0,"breaking_news":0,"visit_count_update_date":"2024-12-14 10:07:14","old_cms_article_id":null,"permalink":"2024\/12\/03\/opinion\/columns\/too-little-too-late\/2014286","show_image_in_thumb":0,"api_status":2,"a_custom_data":"{\"exclude_from_gallery\":null,\"lead_image_id\":null}","publication_id":2,"max_publish_time":"2024-12-03 00:06:00","page_number":"","homepage_article_flag":0,"article_shortlink":null,"cropped_image":0};
