Senator Juan Ponce-Enrile going to Camp Crame

Senator Juan Ponce-Enrile has just left his Dasmarinas Makati residence with a convoy of about six vehicles. Enrile decided to surrender to CIDG chief Benjamin Magalong. The Sandiganbayan has ordered his arrest following the court's findings that the case filed against Enrile has merit.

Enrile is one of about twenty senators charged with profitting from the PDAF and DAP. Enrile's Chief of Staff, Gigi Reyes, was likewise ordered arrested.

The octogenarian senator has declared earlier that he is willing to voluntarily surrender to the authorities the minute the Sandiganbayan 3rd division issues a warrant for his arrest.

Jack Enrile, my good friend and Katrina, her sister tried but failed to persuade their father for them to accompany him to Crame.

Political implications of jailing three incumbent Senators--linked to the passage of the Bangsamoro basic law and Cha-Cha?

The Department of Justice has recommended the filing of graft charges against three incumbent senators. The Ombudsman is expected to follow suit. In the first of three expected "filing surges", three senators have been charged---Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada and Bong Revilla. These people are being accused of using their PDAF that funded bogus NGOs established by pork barrel scam queen Janet Lim-Napoles.

Senator Chiz Escudero and his colleague, Bong Bong Marcos expressed contrasting views on this, symptomatic of how divided the middle and upper middle class forces are when it comes to this issue.

Marcos, a political ally of Enrile and Estrada, called for sobriety. Marcos used the presumption of innocence card, saying that these senators ought to be given their day in court and should be treated not as criminals, but as "innocents." They haven't been adjudged guilty yet of the crime charged and therefore, as "innocent" as any other citizen out there.

Well, this is partially true. For one, a governmental agency has already found sufficient evidence to support the previous charges of graft. It will be now up to the courts, meaning the Sandiganbayan, to determine if these charges do satisfy the requisites of the crime as charged.

Escudero has expressed a view far away from the "adjudged innocent until proven guilty" view by saying that these senators deserve "common jail cells" instead of special ones. I simply dont know what Escudero means about "common cells", but if his class is to be asked, the "common cell" probably describes a nice room complete with airconditioning.

Both gentlemen missed the bus so to speak when it comes to this issue. For one, these fine gentlemen may never be jailed at all, because of the political implications of such a move by the State.

Everyone knows that in the next few months in Congress, one critical issue remains before legislators to resolve---the Bangsamoro Law.

Aquino and the MILF have signed the Bangsamoro agreement, the first legal step towards the creation of the Bangsamoro Law. Aquino is very persistent in this. He wants to leave a legacy, since he already failed on curbing graft and corruption and poverty.

The Chief Executive has done his thing. It is now up to Congress to verify what the Chief Executive had accomplished in so short a time.

In such constitutional issues, both Houses are expectedly to vote separately. With three anti-administration senators out of the picture, it would now very easy for the palace to push for their agenda since they already "politically neuthered" the House. Fact is, any administration backed measure is sure to pass the "scrunity" of the House.

Is this part of the ultimate strategy--to prevent those who are at the other side of the political fence to make their moves and oppose this Aquino legacy from being implemented?

I hope in the future, anti-graft campaigns are used to really prosecute the sinners and not those whose sin is they believe otherwise.

Estrada's PDAF defense---" I gave it to the poor of Manila". Jinggoy--" I can do whatever I want with your monies"

He knows he'll get fried, but Senator Jinggoy Estrada did what he thinks is right---give 100 million pesos of his PDAF to the City of the Manila.

Estrada says the re-allocation is legal. In law, there is such a thing as ALGU or allocation to local government units. Manila is ailing due to lack of funds. For the senator, it is right to give 100 million pesos to the "people of Manila". He is not giving it to his father, Manila mayor Joseph "Erap" Estrada, no. That fund is to be used by the "people of Manila."

What Estrada did was a "master stroke" since he gave the people's money "back to the people"only that the head of that city who'll manage and allocate the funds happened to be his father.

I'm sure I heard that line of defense years, or more than a decade ago. When the Estradas were being tried due to graft and corruption for receiving jueteng money, both father and son said, they committed no sin because they did not toy with the people's monies. Jueteng money is definitely not people's money--they are monies coming from the jueteng lords. Hence, it's okey to get some.

Jinggoy's defense echoes what the Arroyo couple told the public a long time ago--" hey, the funds which we put in this project is legal and when we got some kickbacks from it, it's legal."

I remember it was during Arroyo's time when, legalities became a top reason to do an immoral act. There was a time when these people mock this very Nation when they used public funds in a brazen way.

This issue is as simple as them telling us straight in our faces that they have the Power to do whatever they want of our taxes, those monies which the BIR collected from us, and those monies supposed to be used for our welfare, because they are the "authority".

What Jinggoy just did is display his "power" as a Senator before us, an illusory thing if you think hard about it.

What's bad is, we, the People, are willing to play this power game with someone who enjoys showing off, someone who enjoys playing a role.

Now, of course, Estrada did that like a Master Politician--he practically tied the hands of President Benigno Aquino. Aquino, of course, cannot veto Estrada's move out of sheer "delicadeza" and less the Chief Executive be accused of "politicking". Hey, 2016 is just around the corner, says Jinggoy. The senator is practically taunting Noynoy to exercise his veto powers so that the opposition will use the issue against the Aquino administration.

Everyone saw how the Estradas visited the Arroyos and the many times Jinggoy mentioned his desire to run for a higher post come 2016. If Aquino vetoes Jinggoy's move, quarters will see it as a "political move" meant to incapacitate the opposition.

Such a brave thing to do on behalf of the Estradas in defense of the very thing which motivated them to run anyway--the power to toy the hard-earned monies of the People.

Everyone knows Jinggoy is one of three senators accused of toying with the people's monies, like how Janet Napoles did and quite simply.

For this senator, there is nothing wrong. He followed the law. He violated no precept.

Yes, he did. But what Jinggoy failed to learn and I think he will never get it even in his lifetime is such a thing called "hiya" or this unwritten rule about decency in actions.

For a sum of 100 million pesos, Jinggoy mocks the very people he promised to serve. " I can do what I want with your monies. I am power."

Some people never really learn. And surely the reason why they did not learn is because we did not really and seriously thought them a lesson.

Aquino's vacillating thoughts about pork

When this pork barrel issue broke out, the Palace was quick to the draw---nothing bad about it, since people are benefitting from it.

Now, it seems that even the palace feels that the entire pork barrel system is bad for the nation's health. Yesterday, President Aquino felt insulted when groups called him the "pork barrel king".

Okey if he's called a "lady's man", or a "video game freak"--just don't call him a pork barrel "king", which, to my mind, sounds like the President is some kind of a "king" of a porno film.

The palace is obviously going in the other direction, even themselves avoiding the term "pork" and using the term " savings". It's savings, then, free to do whatever we want. Wrong.

Malacanan is really missing the point in this scandal. What the public is angry about is the perception that their monies are just being used and its use abused by government, or being used in a cavalier fashion by government. They are not concerned with terminologies. Whether it's "savings", "pdaf" or "DAP", the public is angry that the government is just toying with these funds which they give to the government from the sweat of their brows.

Pinagpaguran, binababoy at pinaglalaruan lamang ng mga politiko. This is the core issue.

Now, what the palace is doing is using deflection as a strategy. Imagine, Aquino is pointing out that his predecessor misused a trillion pesos. So, what are you saying Mr. President? That what you did with our 72 billion pesos is just a fraction of what Arroyo did in her last two years? That, like Arroyo, you can practically do whatever you want with our monies, since these are "savings"?

The reason why people trust Aquino more than Arroyo is, again the perception that he is different and he wants nothing more than pursue the welfare of the Nation. With this statement yesterday, what do you think? That Aquino is no different from Arroyo then.

Obviously, safeguards have been set by Congress so that the use of these funds would be "legal" and "just". When this administration tries to justify the illegal use of these savings, it appears that this administration is showing its arrogance, not a good thing.

This is the time for the palace to explain things in a most rational and most effective way. Emotions are high against misuse of public funds, yes? Then de-escalate.

Why Pnoy's new "pork" system is more dangerous than the previous PDAF?

I always listen to my doctor. When one of my doctors told me that eating pork could seriously lead to heart attacks, I seriously did not eat pork anymore. Pork, honestly, is dangerous to eat. It has ringworms embedded in its epidermis and if not cooked properly, those worms come alive in one's stomach. Of course, pigs eat anything they get, even their own feces. So, really, eating pork is something which, if you love your health, is best to be ignored.

anyway, i think Pnoy should listen to the people. Those who went to Luneta are well-meaning ones, who simply want their government to be honest and transparent in the use of the people's money.

The main issue really is fidelity in the custody and use of public funds. Since politicians in general have lost credibility, there is no other institution of government perceived to be "of clean hands" in safe-keeping these funds. All branches of government have been accused of corruption.

The new system to be instituted will not guarantee that those funds will really be used for its intended purpose. Why? Several studies have shown that agencies of government remain corrupted. With these pork allocations going back to line agencies, this will all the more encourage collusion between Congressmen, Contractors and executives of different agencies. Graft and corruption will increase inside the bureaucracy.

Likewise, government money will not be as widely spread unlike before, which will affect the local economy.

The solution really is simple---for the people to force Congress to scrap the pork barrel system, period. Senate president Franklin Drilon is wrong in saying that "without the discretionary power of the Congress over pork allocations, we might as well dissolve it." Well, we might as well.