Consumers Domain
By Ian Seruelo

The Truth (?!)

“The best liar is (s)he who makes the smallest amount of lying go the longest way.”

—Samuel Butler

An article circulated in the emails caught my attention. It is entitled “The Truth” and it attempts to defend the lies, dishonesty and corruption of Gloria Arroyo. It is a long article and starts with an enumeration and description of opposition personalities in the expose' of the Gloria tapes and how their selfish interest figures in the call for her to step down.

Then it proceeds with many assertions, which are mostly false and intellectually empty. Well I know that most thinking Filipino will see the flaws of the discourse but I just feel I have to react on this propaganda by the administration. Clearly the objective of the said lengthy article is to cloud the real issues.

What is the truth? Yes most of the information mentioned in the article about the opposition are true. But it seems that it is a one-sided truth, as it is only a dossier of the accusers and those that call for Gloria's ouster. Yes, those people in the opposition are all trapos or underlings of the trapos – politicians whose priority are their pockets and who act with their personal interests in mind and not the interests of the nation.

But let us not fail to see and scrutinized those who are being accused especially Gloria. Are the people in the administration honest and dedicated public servants? How Gloria plundered the people's money for her electoral campaign is one of the greatest show on trapo-ness! We all remember the billions-worth sham called “trabaho sa kalsada” used in Gloria's electoral campaign.

The article questions the motive and credibility of the opposition as guided by the “individual aspirations of these people to grab power”. While that is true, the fact still remains that the most credible witness, one who has ample knowledge of a crime, are those who are part of the crime themselves, or those who have committed the same crime. Tell me who is familiar with the tactics and modus operandi of criminal syndicates, isn't it the very people who are members themselves or are once involved in their operations?

So the credibility of the accuser is not much as the issue here as the issue itself -- the issue of massive cheating, of betraying of public trust and the depth of corruption in the country. There is enough evidence against the accused. In fact Gloria has admitted the crime already! So there is in fact no more big reason to examine the motive, interest and credibility of the accusers and the witnesses.

The fact is, the centerpiece of the political crisis our country is in right now is another battle between (at least) two factions of the elite in the country. One faction wants to grab power, the other wants to hold on to it. The bottom line is both factions want power.

Now we shouldn't be trapped in this infighting between these two factions. We should rise up to a higher level and think about the greater good, about the country and the interest of the Filipinos. Let us not allow ourselves to be used (again) by any of these power-hungry factions so they may continue to plunder this country.

Let us utilize this opportunity not only to change the face of the person sitting in Malacañang but make sure that needed reforms will be put in place -- that after this crisis, wherever it may lead, it is the Filipinos, especially the marginalized, who will win gains – not another set of trapos!

Then the article underscores the following thought: “Now, lets say for instance that it is in fact PGMA in the tapes, and it is Garcillano that she was talking to, MERON BA SIYANG SINABING MANDAYA!?! MERON BA SIYANG SINABING IBAHIN ANG RESULTA? MERON BA SIYANG SINABING DAGDAGAN ANG BOTO NIYA? MERON BA SIYANG SINABING SIGURUHIN ANG PAGKAPANALO NIYA? It is very clear... SHE WAS ASKING QUESTIONS ANY POLITICIAN WOULD.”

The one who drafted the article either haven't read the full transcript of the recordings or he/she only underestimates our intellect. You don't even need to be an elementary graduate to understand what “Ma'am” and “Garci” are talking about. Take for example the following exchange: “ Hello Ma'am?/ Hello, meron tayong statement of votes, ERs para sa Sulu?/…Oo Ma'am meron po./ Nagco-correspond?/ Oo Ma'am./ Kumpleto?/ Oo Ma'am.”

Now what do you think is the contextual meaning of “nagco-correspond” and “kumpleto”? Clearly it means that “Ma'am” is making sure that the dagdag-bawas scheme implemented was done clean and “COMPLETE”, and that the numbers in the lower-level count “CORRESPOND” to the higher-level canvass.

Here is another example of the exchange: “So will I still lead by more than 1 M overall?/ More or less, but it is still an advantage, Ma'am. Parang ganun din ang lalabas./ Oo, pero it will not be less than 1M?/ Pipilitin ho natin yan. Pero, as of the other day, 982./ Kaya nga eh./ And then, if we can get more in Lanao…”

“Pipilitin ho natin yan”. Now for heaven's sake, don't tell me that that is just merely to protect Gloria's votes! Well, these are only two examples and there are many other parts of the recordings that clearly incriminate Gloria to massive cheating and other election fraud.

Then the article proceeds with this: “DOES PGMA REALLY HAVE TO CONFIRM IS (sic) SHE WAS THE ONE IN THE TAPES? ITS REALLY UP TO HER. WHAT'S MORE IMPORTANT NOW? DEAL WITH WHAT SEEMS TO BE AN OBVIOUS DESTABILIZATION ATTEMPT (IN A TIME WHERE THEY KNOW PGMA WOULD BE VERY VULNERABLE AND WEAK DUE TO VERY LOW RATINGS BROUGHT ABOUT BY HER UNPOPULAR BUT NEEDED PASSING OF VAT? INCREASE IN FUEL? ETC?)... OR FOCUS ON THE COUNTRY'S ECONOMIC RECOVERY AND PROBLEMS ON POVERTY???”

What kind of question is that? Why should it boil down to only two scenarios – Save Gloria or the economy will collapse? Didn't it occur to the writer that the reason our economy is deteriorating and poverty is swelling is primarily because of the very policies and the culture of dishonesty and corruption of this government!

Come to think of it, the issue of the recordings only broke the last straw of patience among the poor Filipinos who has been reeling in poverty and even greater hardships under this administration with meager government spending for social and economic services, increasing cost of living, increasing taxes, unemployment, low wages and what have you.

But even granting that Gloria is the greatest economist who is the best candidate to eradicate poverty, that will never be enough reason to exempt her from liability, criminal or otherwise, from her violation of the country's constitution and electoral laws. The electoral exercise is supposed to be a sacred pillar of our democracy. Anybody violating such, may it be from the administration or from the opposition, should be prosecuted.

Yes, Gloria has to go! What lesson will we want to teach the Filipinos, especially our children, that it is OK to cheat, just say sorry (or pretend you are sorry) and you can get away with it?! That it is ok to lie because you will not be punished when you get caught anyway?!

As this column previously asserted, Gloria's crime is not just a simple lie or as she say a mere "lapse in judgment”. If Gloria can't even recognize the difference between "lapse in judgment" and the gross violation of the constitution and our election rules, she does not deserve to be the country's leader!

There are still several points in the article that can easily be refuted, but I think this will be enough to demolish “The Truth” as proclaimed by the same article.

(For comments and reactions send SMS to 0919-348-6337 or email to ianseruelo@yahoo.com.)