Reso 1472 an exchange deal?

How transactional Philippine politics is, you ask Mang Isko? I will refer you to Senate Resolution 1472, that piece of document purportedly signed by twelve "See-Nay"-tors and allegedly cleared the name of Nacionalista party president bet and billionaire Senator Manny Villar.

The Resolution, which was purportedly written and pushed by no less than Liberal Party member Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan, expressed the "sense of the Senate" and bore the signatures of Aquilino Pimentel Jr., Alan Peter Cayetano, Pia Cayetano, Lito Lapid, Gregorio Honasan, Joker Arroyo, Miriam Defensor-Santiago, Ramon Revilla, Jinggoy Estrada, Loren Legarda, Francis Pangilinan and Villar.

The "see-nay" tors who signed based their "sense" on oral testimony instead of overwhelming documentary evidence linking Villar to the mess which was presented before the Senate of the Whole.

Resolution 1472 was released to the media a few days before yesterday's (November 17) announcement of the Villar-Legarda tandem. It had impeccable timing. Yet, like all dastardly deeds, it stinks to the highest heavens.

Shortly after it was released, Senate president Juan Ponce-Enrile was apprised of the sneeky reso and threatened to resign. His colleagues prevailed him.

Eventually, Enrile learned that there was an element of deception here. Most of those who signed the Reso, omitting of course the familiar names of Pimentel, the Cayetano siblings, Pangilinan, Joker and Jinggoy and of course, who else but Loren, are claiming that they signed the reso purportedly after being told that it has the expressed support of the Senate president.

Enrile denied supporting Resolution 1472 which he, in fact, viewed as a direct affront to his leadership. That Reso, says Enrile, violated Senate rules and smacks of fraud. And who else to defend it but the venerable See-nay-tor Francis Kiko Pangilinan, whom pundits say, was the one who lobbied the others to sign.

Strange that a non-Nacionalista party member would push for a Resolution exonerating Villar when it is clear in the Senate rules that it is now the Senate of the Whole who will release the final report on the C-5 controversy.

Wagging tongues cannot but say that maybe Resolution 1472 was an "exchange deal" between the Nacionalista and the Liberal Party, ahead of the expected filing of an ethics case against Liberal Party presidential bet Noynoy Aquino, this time, on another "C-5"-like road controversy involving of course, the conversion of hectares of land in Hacienda Luisita for SLEX.

Remember that it was Cong. Crispin Remulla, a Nacionalista, who "exposed" the supposed complicity of Senator Aquino in that alleged overpricing of Hacienda Luisita land used for SLEX.

Seems like the Nacionalistas used Remulla's expose as a "bait" for the Liberals to enter into an "exchange deal"--tit for tat---your overpriced C-5 in exchange for my overpriced SLEX. Sounds logical right? And with a Liberal (PANGILINAN) leading the pencil pushing and lobbying, all the more suspicious.

And it seems like the Nacionalista got Loren Legarda not because the beautiful environmentalist shares a common goal with their presidential bet Villar. Legarda was one of Villar's rabid commenter at the Senate. And Legarda admitted that it was "all for show", part of the "daily grind" of "usual questions", of "common parliamentary debates".

Statements such as these can't prevent one from asking---did Loren baited Villar to make her his VP in exchange for one signature in that Resolution? That signature might have cost Villar a hand and a limb. Such political prostitution extraordinaire, if you ask me.

The sad thing about this---that Reso 1472 was junked. And the obvious loser was of course, Manny Villar, who mobilize all his resources just to make that Reso happen. Poor Manny. He tried to sneak himself out of the C-5 mess only to learn that, in the end, he still stinks and worst, left holding an empty bag (of tricks?).

As they say, when it stinks, it stinks really bad.