Monday, November 9, 2009

Fidel's boy makes a bid for the presidency & 40 years of disservice to the Motherland


And so we were proven true once again---former DPWH secretary Hermogenes Ebdane is serious after all. Ebdane is running for president. And he's courting the endorsement of former president Fidel V. Ramos.

The former poster boy and "umbrella" kid of the former AFP Chief of Staff who successfully became president, is courting Ramos' endorsement. And of all people, it is Ramos whom he wants as his backer. And will he be the one whom Ramos said would be his candidate for 2010? What's wrong with Gibo, Mr. Ramos?

Ebdane boasts of his 40 years in public service. I know somebody who dedicated fifty years of his life for public service and he died without ever changing anything. I was referring to my grandfather, who once worked as a janitor at the DPWH.

Anyway, that's not the way to convince us, Mr. Ebdane, of your eligibility for the presidency. In fact, your 40 years is a liability. Think about it. You have been in the public limelight for 40 years yet, you did not even lift a finger to arrest the further slide down of this country in terms of graft and corruption and even poverty.

You fought the insurgents, yes. But, is that what you call record? The insurgency is still here. And it's even growing. Anything worthwhile to say about how you did when you were a young lieutenant in Mindanao?

Ebdane boasts of his knowledge of the system. Well, being part of this decrepit system for more than 40 years makes him really, an expert AND part of the rotten-ness of it. Ebdane did not even lift a single finger fighting and killing those big-time gamblers, big-time jueteng lords and big-time corrupt gangs and syndicates. Ebdane did not even prosecute those big construction firms who formed the DPWH mafia.

Is Ebdane saying that he knows how to fight them because he once count himself as member of this humongous mafia? In his years as DPWH secretary, did we ever hear of a single big fish jailed or even killed? I know of some killed for spilling the beans.

And what's the relevance of Ramos in the scheme of things except leading a series of corrupt deals, of billions of pesos spent and stolen for projects which did not happen or of frustrations and spurned idealisms?

Ebdane wants Ramos' blessing and anointment, a sign that he adheres to the principles of the former general who betrayed his cousin. Good if he just wants that old cigar-thumping gang who propelled Ramos to the presidency to be his backers, but they are, as I said, old and still thumping.

Electing Ebdane as president is like expressing preference to the decrepit and humongous monster called Philippine system. Ebdane, with his forty years, is the epitome of 40 years of frustration, tears and blood. He personified the system which every single one of us wants out of our lives.

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