Flavor of the month
Leaders of the legislative branch have found a new enemy — one who professes to be nobody yet has earned the ire of the two highest officials in the House of Representatives (HoR).
Lawyer and bar topnotcher Mandy Mercado Anderson is the flavor of the month in the bigger chamber of Congress. She was on the receiving end of a tongue- lashing from House Majority Floor Leader Rodolfo C. Fariñas at a ways and means committee hearing last week,
The hearing involved the Bureau of Customs (BoC), where Ms. Anderson serves as the chief of staff and head executive assistant of BoC Commissioner Nicanor E. Faeldon. She was taken to task for describing House Speaker Pantaleon D. Alvarez as an “imbecile” in a Facebook post dated June 16.
This was in reaction to Mr. Alvarez's threat to dissolve the Court of Appeals after the judicial body ordered the release of six Ilocos Norte provincial officials from Lower House detention for giving unsatisfactory answers during a probe initiated by Mr. Fariñas into Ilocos Norte Governor Imee R. Marcos' alleged misuse of tobacco funds.
Collectively known as the “Ilocos 6,” these officials were cited for contempt and detained at the Batasang Pambansa complex in Quezon City for 57 days. Prior to Ms. Anderson, they were the congressional flavors of the month, in fact for nearly two months, and were only released a day after President Rodrigo R. Duterte's second State of the Nation Address.
During the hearing, focus was on the BoC's failure to stop the smuggling of highgrade shabu worth P6.4 billion from China. After Mr. Fariñas flashed a screen shot of Ms. Anderson's Facebook post containing the “imbecile” comment, she admitted posting it and defended herself by saying: “I believe I have the freedom to express my opinion regarding our elected officials.” To which Mr. Fariñas retorted: “You're putting the entire House in a bad light.”
Although she eventually apologized to the congressmen, later that day Ms. Anderson was interviewed over radio where she revealed that her conflict with Speaker Alvarez actually started in May when his endorsement to promote a Customs official was rejected since the concerned employee was deemed not qualified for promotion.
She was then summoned to the Speaker's office where she got a dressing-down, followed by “threatening messages” allegedly from Mr. Alvarez's staff. Through all these, Mr. Faeldon has stood by her and announced that she will remain in the BoC “as we need more people like her whose character is untainted with politics and corruption.”
A copy of Mr. Alvarez's May 15, 2017 letter to Mr. Faeldon has surfaced, wherein he recommends the appointment of Customs officer Sandy Sacluti to a higher position. While acknowledging his endorsement of Mr. Sacluti, he insisted it was “not lobbying” and denied Ms. Anderson's other allegations. “But I'm sorry I do not want to comment on that at the moment so as not to divert the drug issue being investigated by the HoR,” he told a television reporter.
Meanwhile, House Deputy Speaker Miro Quimbo made a manifestation that the BoC shall receive a zero budget for the coming years. “There is no way that a group of 290plus imbeciles will approve the budget of an agency that calls it idiotic,” he said, referring to deliberations on the proposed 2018 national budget starting this week.
For his part, Mr. Fariñas accused Ms. Anderson and her two BoC colleagues of falsifying their attendance to the mandatory continuing legal education ( MCLE) program required by the Supreme Court.
Public sympathy has gone mainly to Ms. Anderson, especially among netizens of various persuasions. Most Filipinos love the underdog, and she is fast becoming a rallying point for those who advocate good governance.
Will nobody or somebody emerge victorious from this seeming battle between David and Goliath? Or will it just be swept under the rug when the next flavor of the month comes along?