October 3, 2007
To Babe Romualdez,
This refers to your column ‘Flashy Gordon’ which was published in the Philippine Star on October 2, 2007.
Resigned Comelec Commissioner Benjamin Abalos was not humiliated by Senator Richard Gordon, it was Abalos who humiliated himself after prominently figuring in the dubious and anomalous ZTE Broadband deal – which by the way, wasn’t the first time Abalos’ name was attached to anomalous and irregular transactions that wasted billions of pesos. And, this is not even to mention the time that he said he didn't know anything about 'Hello Garci' in 2004 and the time that he refused to implement the Automated Elections law, which eventually gave way to 'Hello Bedol' just this year.
Yet here you are, pleading sympathy for a man who hardly deserves sympathy.
You bleed for Senator Alan Peter Cayetano whose bungling of the Senate Hearing on the ZTE Broadband deal allowed former NEDA Secretary General Romulo Neri to escape further questioning and eventually reveal who else was offered a bribe. Apparently, Cayetano didn’t know that Neri could not invoke Executive Privilege unless it involved matters of National Security.
Also, if you actually watched ANC or took time to read the transcript of the hearing before firing off your column, perhaps you would have seen how respectfully Gordon had requested to exercise his privilege and how he was subsequently told by Cayetano to stop ‘quibbling’ with rules, which was actually the reason why Gordon took the opportunity to put Cayetano in his place. The Senate should have no room for people who have no appreciation for the rules that govern it and it should not tolerate the lapses of a Chairman who is still reading up on its rules.
Yet here you are, quibbling over Gordon’s temper.
Your version of the events involving COA Chairman Guillermo Carrague and Senator Gordon is inaccurate. In response to Gordon’s queries on the COA’s performance of its duties in the ARMM, it was Carrague who stood up, pointed a finger at Senator Gordon, and shouted ‘You’re a Dictator!’ Gordon rebutted that he was not a dictator, he was Dick Gordon – the humor in the pun must have escaped Carrague who people say wasn’t completely himself at that time. Nevertheless, Carrague apologized for his behaviour but only after being threatened with contempt – perhaps other people would have been more circumspect and would not need to be threated with contempt to realize how inappropriately they acted.
Gordon was the one subjected to disrespectful behaviour and yet here you are, calling him arrogant.
Near the end of your column, you had called yourself a friend of Senator Gordon but that was in relation to your act of bringing a prospective locator to SBMA ten years ago – which most of Gordon’s former staff don’t actually remember you doing. Maybe there were just too many people trying to broker deals during that time and maybe yours fell through or fell through the cracks, but that’s hardly a reason to be sore with Gordon.
In anycase, the reason why I bring this up is that your entire column speaks of misplaced sympathies and hardly gives evidence of being a friend to Gordon. I once had a notion that being a columnist meant being a journalist of the highest order, after reading your column – with its inaccuracies and absolute lack of fairness – I had to revise my notion. This only applies to some and not all columnists -- certainly not you.
Paul Farol, Manila
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Babe Romualdez and his misplaced sympathies
We hope the Philippine Star prints this letter which responds to a column written by Babe Romualdez. In anycase, here it is for all the read.
Dear Mr. Romualdez,
I write in connection with your column Takin' Care of Business in the Philippine Star entitled "Flashy Gordon" yesterday 2 October 2007.
I don't know if you are indeed a friend of Dick Gordon. However, as a staff that has been with him since Subic, allow me to respond to your misplaced concern/s regarding his temper even going as far back as ten years ago in relation to his aspirations of leading our nation.
Dick Gordon is a passionate leader who does not let anything or lets anyone get in the way in doing what is best for the country and people. Such leadership style has often been misunderstood and branded as arrogance.
He was arrogant when as the youngest delegate he called for a vote on the ban Marcos re-election measure in the 1971 Constitutional Convention.
He was arrogant before the nation when he transformed the community of Olongapo that was portrayed as Sin City even though it had previously cost him his father's own life.
He was arrogant to call for a joint use of the US bases by Filipinos and Americans while Marcos and Reagan were re-negotiating the bases treaty long before the closure in 1992.
He was arrogant when he jailed some 20 policemen including a chief of police for disturbing the peace and abusing their authority in his city even during the period of Martial Law.
He was arrogant when he let the then Admiral of the US Navy walk and apologize to the community for not letting Filipino citizens of Olongapo safe passage through the base when Mt. Pinatubo erupted.
He was arrogant when he interfered and went against the wishes of Cory Aquino and the NDCC and brought down 8,000 Aetas from the mountains of Zambales as well as led a rescue team with Americans to the ruins of Central Colleges in Cabanatuan and airlifted relief goods using US marine choppers from Clark to Baguio.
He was arrogant before Congress and the Senate when he lobbied for the creation of a Freeport and at the same time take the reigns as Chairman of the SBMA.
He was arrogant when he competed against leading freeports like Hong Kong, Singapore and Labuan to make Subic an international trade and tourism destination.
He was arrogant when he refused to go before Congress to receive a budget from the national government to run SBMA and instead raised his own revenues to spare Filipino taxpayers additional burden and add more to the government coffers.
He was arrogant when he competed against Singapore, Thailand and Hong Kong to host Federal Express' Asia One hub in Subic that resulted in Orchids from Davao and fresh tuna from General Santos to be brought overnight to Japan and the US markets.
He was arrogant when he reprimanded, suspended and fined foreign investors like Hong Kong Chinese of Reebok, Koreans of Hanjin Construction, Taiwanese of UIG, Germans of Alcatel and Americans of Enron and Coastal who were abusive and or have violated labor and environmental laws, respectively in Subic.
He was arrogant when he forced the longer stay of 21 world leaders of APEC in the Leaders' Summit to prove that the country was a safe and a sincerely changed nation.
He was arrogant when he was the first to stand up against the most popularly elected president, Joseph Estrada, who issued his first act of not recognizing government security of tenure and the rule of law. He still remains arrogant not to allow him pardon.
He was arrogant when he made the Department of Tourism shape up as a frontline service agency to be voted top government department in a survey by the Makati Business Club when he ended his stint.
He was arrogant to lead the tourism industry at the height of kidnappings, war in Mindanao and even more arrogant to sustain the effort to promote the Philippines amidst Abu Sayyaf, SARS, and the Oakwood mutiny. He still remains arrogant in pushing for the Tourism Act in Congress.
He was arrogant when he stood up against first world countries like the United States, United Kingdom, Australia who issued unfair Travel Advisories indirectly rewarding terrorists against third world countries like the Philippines who's economies depend on tourism.
He was arrogant when he commandeered an entire US marine battalion to relocate their joint training exercises in Luzon to assist in rescue and relief operations in the St. Bernard, Southern, Leyte landslide.
He was arrogant when he took charge and ordered various government rescue personnel and even media during the chaotic Wowowee ULTRA stampede.
He was arrogant when he defended the integrity of the Constitution, despite voting against it in 1987, before unlawful moves for CHACHA, PIRMA and PI.
He was arrogant when he summoned PCGG officials and jailed Chairman Sabio who refused to be investigated for corruption and mismanaging ill-gotten wealth that they were supposed to retrieve and protect.
He was arrogant when he debated with his colleagues to pass the Automated Election System law to ensure the sanctity of our votes and for our electoral system to modernize and become at par with democracies like the United States and India where results are decided immediately the next day. He still remains arrogant pushing the COMELEC to implement the law ASAP.
Now you add Dick Gordon's arrogance when he grilled Abalos at the Senate hearings where his litigation style of questioning unmasked the earlier grinning and sheepish former COMELEC Chair to admit that at the height of election period for the May 2007 mid-term elections he traveled on many occasions to China to play golf with ZTE executives. Furthermore, Dick Gordon unraveled the seeming pattern of anomalous projects costing billions to our people -- Php3.8Billion for the failed Voters Registration and ID System; Php 2.6Billion for the failed Voters Validation System; and Php2.3Billion for the canceled Mega Pacific computerization deal.
We must not therefore find fault and castigate Dick Gordon for being arrogant. It is about time that we elect a president with such passion and measure of arrogance to put fire in our bellies and cope with the myriad challenges of a thankless job of leading our country to overcome the social, political and economic wrought we are in.
Louis D. Pawid III, Quezon City.
Dear Mr. Romualdez,
I write in connection with your column Takin' Care of Business in the Philippine Star entitled "Flashy Gordon" yesterday 2 October 2007.
I don't know if you are indeed a friend of Dick Gordon. However, as a staff that has been with him since Subic, allow me to respond to your misplaced concern/s regarding his temper even going as far back as ten years ago in relation to his aspirations of leading our nation.
Dick Gordon is a passionate leader who does not let anything or lets anyone get in the way in doing what is best for the country and people. Such leadership style has often been misunderstood and branded as arrogance.
He was arrogant when as the youngest delegate he called for a vote on the ban Marcos re-election measure in the 1971 Constitutional Convention.
He was arrogant before the nation when he transformed the community of Olongapo that was portrayed as Sin City even though it had previously cost him his father's own life.
He was arrogant to call for a joint use of the US bases by Filipinos and Americans while Marcos and Reagan were re-negotiating the bases treaty long before the closure in 1992.
He was arrogant when he jailed some 20 policemen including a chief of police for disturbing the peace and abusing their authority in his city even during the period of Martial Law.
He was arrogant when he let the then Admiral of the US Navy walk and apologize to the community for not letting Filipino citizens of Olongapo safe passage through the base when Mt. Pinatubo erupted.
He was arrogant when he interfered and went against the wishes of Cory Aquino and the NDCC and brought down 8,000 Aetas from the mountains of Zambales as well as led a rescue team with Americans to the ruins of Central Colleges in Cabanatuan and airlifted relief goods using US marine choppers from Clark to Baguio.
He was arrogant before Congress and the Senate when he lobbied for the creation of a Freeport and at the same time take the reigns as Chairman of the SBMA.
He was arrogant when he competed against leading freeports like Hong Kong, Singapore and Labuan to make Subic an international trade and tourism destination.
He was arrogant when he refused to go before Congress to receive a budget from the national government to run SBMA and instead raised his own revenues to spare Filipino taxpayers additional burden and add more to the government coffers.
He was arrogant when he competed against Singapore, Thailand and Hong Kong to host Federal Express' Asia One hub in Subic that resulted in Orchids from Davao and fresh tuna from General Santos to be brought overnight to Japan and the US markets.
He was arrogant when he reprimanded, suspended and fined foreign investors like Hong Kong Chinese of Reebok, Koreans of Hanjin Construction, Taiwanese of UIG, Germans of Alcatel and Americans of Enron and Coastal who were abusive and or have violated labor and environmental laws, respectively in Subic.
He was arrogant when he forced the longer stay of 21 world leaders of APEC in the Leaders' Summit to prove that the country was a safe and a sincerely changed nation.
He was arrogant when he was the first to stand up against the most popularly elected president, Joseph Estrada, who issued his first act of not recognizing government security of tenure and the rule of law. He still remains arrogant not to allow him pardon.
He was arrogant when he made the Department of Tourism shape up as a frontline service agency to be voted top government department in a survey by the Makati Business Club when he ended his stint.
He was arrogant to lead the tourism industry at the height of kidnappings, war in Mindanao and even more arrogant to sustain the effort to promote the Philippines amidst Abu Sayyaf, SARS, and the Oakwood mutiny. He still remains arrogant in pushing for the Tourism Act in Congress.
He was arrogant when he stood up against first world countries like the United States, United Kingdom, Australia who issued unfair Travel Advisories indirectly rewarding terrorists against third world countries like the Philippines who's economies depend on tourism.
He was arrogant when he commandeered an entire US marine battalion to relocate their joint training exercises in Luzon to assist in rescue and relief operations in the St. Bernard, Southern, Leyte landslide.
He was arrogant when he took charge and ordered various government rescue personnel and even media during the chaotic Wowowee ULTRA stampede.
He was arrogant when he defended the integrity of the Constitution, despite voting against it in 1987, before unlawful moves for CHACHA, PIRMA and PI.
He was arrogant when he summoned PCGG officials and jailed Chairman Sabio who refused to be investigated for corruption and mismanaging ill-gotten wealth that they were supposed to retrieve and protect.
He was arrogant when he debated with his colleagues to pass the Automated Election System law to ensure the sanctity of our votes and for our electoral system to modernize and become at par with democracies like the United States and India where results are decided immediately the next day. He still remains arrogant pushing the COMELEC to implement the law ASAP.
Now you add Dick Gordon's arrogance when he grilled Abalos at the Senate hearings where his litigation style of questioning unmasked the earlier grinning and sheepish former COMELEC Chair to admit that at the height of election period for the May 2007 mid-term elections he traveled on many occasions to China to play golf with ZTE executives. Furthermore, Dick Gordon unraveled the seeming pattern of anomalous projects costing billions to our people -- Php3.8Billion for the failed Voters Registration and ID System; Php 2.6Billion for the failed Voters Validation System; and Php2.3Billion for the canceled Mega Pacific computerization deal.
We must not therefore find fault and castigate Dick Gordon for being arrogant. It is about time that we elect a president with such passion and measure of arrogance to put fire in our bellies and cope with the myriad challenges of a thankless job of leading our country to overcome the social, political and economic wrought we are in.
Louis D. Pawid III, Quezon City.
AT LARGE
A window of opportunity
By Rina Jimenez-DavidInquirer
Last updated 03:12am
(Mla time) 10/03/2007
MANILA, Philippines--Now that Chair Benjamin Abalos has finally resigned from the Commission on Elections (Comelec), he leaves a window of opportunity for all well-meaning individuals, including, because hope springs eternal, the appointing power, to create a “new and refreshed” Comelec.
With the vacancy created by Abalos, and many commissioners retiring in the next few months, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her advisers have the chance to appoint a whole new board of commissioners (or at least a majority) who can truly transform the Comelec into an independent, non-partisan poll body by adopting the necessary reforms in our electoral system.
The most pressing of these reforms is computerization, reducing, if not eliminating entirely, the human “hands” that get in contact with ballots, tally sheets, canvassing forms, statements -- and in the process manage to lose, replace, revise, and reconfigure them and thus turn our elections into a sham.
True, we have been warned that computerization alone won’t be able to wipe out all forms of fraud or cheating. There are the “hands” (and duplicitous brains) involved, after all, in preparing the basic program that will run the software involved in reading and counting the ballots. Or even before then, the “hands” involved in preparing the registration rolls, which are the basic material on which clean, honest and credible elections are based. Still, computerization would make for a good start, and we can input all the protection measures we want right now, while we still have time to choose and pick among the many voting programs available.
Sen. Dick Gordon, whose pet measure has been computerized voting, says we don’t even have to write new programs or choose from among untested models. All around the world are computerized voting and counting systems that have long been used and proven successful. In Hawaii, for instance, he saw voting computers that even provided Ilocano translations of the instructions.
* * *
So what are we waiting for? Gordon said, during the run-up to last May’s elections, that there were funds available for a test run -- which the Comelec refused to implement -- as well as for the national adoption of automated elections. The mandate for computerizing voting and ballot counting is more than a decade old, and in fact has already been amended.
We have the implementing law, we have the funds, and we have many eager aspirants, Filipinos as well as foreigners, offering their software and hardware to the Comelec. Of course, we also have the MegaPacific deal hanging like an ominous shadow over the entire move to computerize the polls.
But that contract, voided by the Supreme Court, was anomalous only because it was overpriced, didn’t go through the normal legal processes of bidding, and was going to be implemented by a company that was both under-funded and incapable of meeting the technical demands of the project. The justices were of the opinion that this anomalous transaction would not have been possible were it not for the consent, if not collusion, of Comelec officials, none of whom were found liable by the Ombudsman. And that’s why the pending replacement of the present crew of Comelec leaders is really the first step toward not just computerization but broader reforms.
* * *
So what’s holding us back?
Our lawmakers, as well as Malacañang, have kept a deafening silence on the issue, which is strange because President Arroyo herself, during her first term, declared that computerized elections were a priority. And, judging from the thunder and lightning emanating from candidates and supporters in the period leading to, during and after the voting, you would think they would go for computerization at the drop of a hat.
But the reality is that cheating benefits candidates, and has become in this country a not-so-little industry in itself. The possibility of eking out an electoral victory in the last few days of canvassing by “tweaking” the results continues to tantalize moist-eyed aspirants, who would not want their defeat in the polls “prematurely” sealed by quick and objective counting machines.
And what are we to do with the watchers and representatives, as well as the members of boards of canvassers, who stand to make tidy incomes by playing their designated roles in “ensuring” the right results? Goons and guns have largely been rendered inutile in reversing election results, except perhaps in the usual “hot spots” where rivals are conveniently put out of commission, but surely even private armies would resent the loss of any extra seasonal income.
* * *
We are these days facing a real turning point in our history as a democracy. We have the opportunity, depending on the men and women chosen by the President to take the reins of the Comelec, to either turn it into an efficient, credible, and reliable poll monitor, or into the same, if not worse, business-as-usual Comelec whose oversight duties over the past elections have either been sloppy or corrupt.
But let’s say President Arroyo surprises even the cynics and finds individuals of rectitude and independence to appoint to the Comelec. These people would then have to find the motivation to go against tradition and inertia induced by familiarity, and begin the process of transition into automated polls. They would have to withstand all sorts of temptation, too, and develop enough independence of spirit to ignore the pleas of influence peddlers, whose numbers and strength seem to be increasing steadily under the Arroyo administration.
Our hope -- and it is a faint hope -- rests finally on the assumption that Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will be brave enough to act against her own interests.
A window of opportunity
By Rina Jimenez-DavidInquirer
Last updated 03:12am
(Mla time) 10/03/2007
MANILA, Philippines--Now that Chair Benjamin Abalos has finally resigned from the Commission on Elections (Comelec), he leaves a window of opportunity for all well-meaning individuals, including, because hope springs eternal, the appointing power, to create a “new and refreshed” Comelec.
With the vacancy created by Abalos, and many commissioners retiring in the next few months, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her advisers have the chance to appoint a whole new board of commissioners (or at least a majority) who can truly transform the Comelec into an independent, non-partisan poll body by adopting the necessary reforms in our electoral system.
The most pressing of these reforms is computerization, reducing, if not eliminating entirely, the human “hands” that get in contact with ballots, tally sheets, canvassing forms, statements -- and in the process manage to lose, replace, revise, and reconfigure them and thus turn our elections into a sham.
True, we have been warned that computerization alone won’t be able to wipe out all forms of fraud or cheating. There are the “hands” (and duplicitous brains) involved, after all, in preparing the basic program that will run the software involved in reading and counting the ballots. Or even before then, the “hands” involved in preparing the registration rolls, which are the basic material on which clean, honest and credible elections are based. Still, computerization would make for a good start, and we can input all the protection measures we want right now, while we still have time to choose and pick among the many voting programs available.
Sen. Dick Gordon, whose pet measure has been computerized voting, says we don’t even have to write new programs or choose from among untested models. All around the world are computerized voting and counting systems that have long been used and proven successful. In Hawaii, for instance, he saw voting computers that even provided Ilocano translations of the instructions.
* * *
So what are we waiting for? Gordon said, during the run-up to last May’s elections, that there were funds available for a test run -- which the Comelec refused to implement -- as well as for the national adoption of automated elections. The mandate for computerizing voting and ballot counting is more than a decade old, and in fact has already been amended.
We have the implementing law, we have the funds, and we have many eager aspirants, Filipinos as well as foreigners, offering their software and hardware to the Comelec. Of course, we also have the MegaPacific deal hanging like an ominous shadow over the entire move to computerize the polls.
But that contract, voided by the Supreme Court, was anomalous only because it was overpriced, didn’t go through the normal legal processes of bidding, and was going to be implemented by a company that was both under-funded and incapable of meeting the technical demands of the project. The justices were of the opinion that this anomalous transaction would not have been possible were it not for the consent, if not collusion, of Comelec officials, none of whom were found liable by the Ombudsman. And that’s why the pending replacement of the present crew of Comelec leaders is really the first step toward not just computerization but broader reforms.
* * *
So what’s holding us back?
Our lawmakers, as well as Malacañang, have kept a deafening silence on the issue, which is strange because President Arroyo herself, during her first term, declared that computerized elections were a priority. And, judging from the thunder and lightning emanating from candidates and supporters in the period leading to, during and after the voting, you would think they would go for computerization at the drop of a hat.
But the reality is that cheating benefits candidates, and has become in this country a not-so-little industry in itself. The possibility of eking out an electoral victory in the last few days of canvassing by “tweaking” the results continues to tantalize moist-eyed aspirants, who would not want their defeat in the polls “prematurely” sealed by quick and objective counting machines.
And what are we to do with the watchers and representatives, as well as the members of boards of canvassers, who stand to make tidy incomes by playing their designated roles in “ensuring” the right results? Goons and guns have largely been rendered inutile in reversing election results, except perhaps in the usual “hot spots” where rivals are conveniently put out of commission, but surely even private armies would resent the loss of any extra seasonal income.
* * *
We are these days facing a real turning point in our history as a democracy. We have the opportunity, depending on the men and women chosen by the President to take the reins of the Comelec, to either turn it into an efficient, credible, and reliable poll monitor, or into the same, if not worse, business-as-usual Comelec whose oversight duties over the past elections have either been sloppy or corrupt.
But let’s say President Arroyo surprises even the cynics and finds individuals of rectitude and independence to appoint to the Comelec. These people would then have to find the motivation to go against tradition and inertia induced by familiarity, and begin the process of transition into automated polls. They would have to withstand all sorts of temptation, too, and develop enough independence of spirit to ignore the pleas of influence peddlers, whose numbers and strength seem to be increasing steadily under the Arroyo administration.
Our hope -- and it is a faint hope -- rests finally on the assumption that Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will be brave enough to act against her own interests.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
It used to be that the Editorial and Opinion pages were worth reading through, but these days, I have my doubts.
On Sunday, September 30, 2007, the Inquirer lambasted Senator Richard Gordon for his heated exchange with Senator Alan Peter Cayetano over rules governing the hearings. The crappy thing about this country is that we are not allowed to behave like Gordon when it is warranted. Most Filipinos just allow themselves to be stepped on and waylaid, all the while smiling, laughing, and trying to be polite about it. Gordon won't allow himself or others to be so easily treated shoddily, that is what the whole exchange between him and Cayetano was all about.
Against Gordon, it says in its Editorial: "The lowest point was Richard Gordon acting like a petulant child, insisting on adding a full hour to the proceedings because he craved television time, when even his usually fractious colleagues had decided to go into executive session."
The writer of the Editorial should have waited for the full transcript of the hearings. (It has known to have reporters who for some reason rely on hearsay.) Gordon did not insist on adding a full hour to the proceedings or insist to do so for his own sake. He asked Cayetano to proceed with the hearing as not all senators involved had been able to ask their questions. Cayetano had previously moved to go into executive session, saying erroneously that there had been a consensus to do so and that senators had waived their right to ask questions. Gordon told him, albeit forcefully, that he had not waived his right and that going into executive session would cause the people called for the hearing to leave the Senate, thereby preventing him along with other Senators from asking their questions. The opinion as written in the Editorial, which the whole Inquirer is assumed to support, is inaccurate and unfair.
The next sentence reads, "Gordon wouldn't even give the chairmen of the committees, Sen. Alan Cayetano in particular, the basic respect due a chairman."
Kung may basic respect, may special respect ba? Ano iyon, parang mami? When you talk of real respect, no adjectives are necessary.
The writer of the editorial should be reminded that RESPECT is earned. It is not something accorded to a person because of his or her position. To be respected you have to show respect for others first and in this case, Cayetano had provoked the exchange with Gordon when he asked whether Gordon would continue to 'quibble' -- this is something which the Inquirer didn't include to say in its Editorial.
"We have seen many moments of political degeneracy in our recent Senates, but Gordon's was among the most galling debasements of the Senate. Miriam Defensor-Santiago's slur on an entire civilization came quite close in disgracefulness."
This just shows how short, narrow, and shallow the frame of reference this writer is using. Either that, or the writer's sense of magnitude is just completely skewed out of proportion. Does the Inquirer think it is wrong to stand up for yourself when you think you have been slurred or belittled or treated with anything less than respect?
Since the Editorial mentions the impeachment trials, let us remember that in 2001 some of the present members were full against Erap during the impeachment proceedings. Now we have some of them falling over one another in a tawdry race to give Erap a pardon, hardly asking themselves first if this pardon is deserved or not.
All in all, there is one phrase I think everybody should consider living by and it might sound a bit harsh on the ears but it says what I feel exactly: Give no BULL, take no SHIT!
Paul
Team Gordon 2010
NEWSSTAND
The ‘bully’ in Mar Roxas
By John NeryInquirer
Last updated 01:59am (Mla time) 10/02/2007
“Sometimes my passion is mistaken for anger.”
Sen. Richard Gordon is still smarting from the flak he has received over his run-in with Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano during last Wednesday’s Senate hearing and his questioning of (just resigned) Commission on Elections Chair Benjamin Abalos.
The continuing argument with Cayetano, the blue ribbon committee chair, still riles him, he said, because it involves Sec. Romulo Neri’s unwarranted claim of executive privilege -- and the distinct possibility that Neri would decline to make a second appearance at the Senate. “They let him get away ... The chair should have decided. The chairman let him get away with it.”
Gordon was the committee chair who detained Camilo Sabio, chief of the President Commission on Good Government, last year for refusing to testify before the Senate. Sabio sued, but the Supreme Court sustained Gordon and the Senate.
“The guy doesn’t even know his rules,” Gordon said, and of course he was talking about Cayetano, not Sabio. As for his grilling of Abalos, Neri’s alleged briber, he repeated what, in my view, is a question with unimpeachable logic: “Obviously the poisoned fruit has been distributed. Doesn’t it stand to reason [that] others have also been offered [a bite]?”
The ‘bully’ in Mar Roxas
By John NeryInquirer
Last updated 01:59am (Mla time) 10/02/2007
“Sometimes my passion is mistaken for anger.”
Sen. Richard Gordon is still smarting from the flak he has received over his run-in with Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano during last Wednesday’s Senate hearing and his questioning of (just resigned) Commission on Elections Chair Benjamin Abalos.
The continuing argument with Cayetano, the blue ribbon committee chair, still riles him, he said, because it involves Sec. Romulo Neri’s unwarranted claim of executive privilege -- and the distinct possibility that Neri would decline to make a second appearance at the Senate. “They let him get away ... The chair should have decided. The chairman let him get away with it.”
Gordon was the committee chair who detained Camilo Sabio, chief of the President Commission on Good Government, last year for refusing to testify before the Senate. Sabio sued, but the Supreme Court sustained Gordon and the Senate.
“The guy doesn’t even know his rules,” Gordon said, and of course he was talking about Cayetano, not Sabio. As for his grilling of Abalos, Neri’s alleged briber, he repeated what, in my view, is a question with unimpeachable logic: “Obviously the poisoned fruit has been distributed. Doesn’t it stand to reason [that] others have also been offered [a bite]?”
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