Ka Paeng’s out

The rejection by the Committee on Appointments (CA) of the appointment of Rafael “Ka Paeng” Mariano as secretary of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) didn’t seem to spark condemnation as intense as the one that greeted the rejections of the appointments of Environment secretary Gina Lopez and Social Welfare secretary Judy Taguiwalo. One reason for this could be that issues more emotionally draining drowned it. Another is that the rejection was not totally unexpected.

Actually, there was hope that Mariano won’t suffer Taguiwalo’s fate. Both of them were nominees of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), although that didn’t necessarily mean they are members. Taguiwalo’s rejection came first so there were worries when the CA deliberated again on his appointment last Wednesday (Sept. 6). It turned out the worries were not without basis.

With Taguiwalo and Mariano out of the Cabinet, the only militants left in the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte are those who are under the wings of Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco. Among them is former Gabriela party-list congresswoman Liza Maza, who is lead convenor of the National Anti-Poverty Council (NAPC). Ousting them wouldn’t be as easy for their detractors because they won’t go through the wringer that is the CA.

One sign that Mariano was on the way out was when the president echoed the claim, probably coming from the military, that envelopes from the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program were found in a New People’s Army (NPA) camp. That accusation was damaging to Mariano’s cause as it created the perception that Mariano could also be using his government position to aid the NPA’s revolution.

But there’s another notable reason, and this was stated by Sen. Vicente Sotto III, chairman of the CA committee on agrarian reform, who said that members of his committee had “expressed hope that Ka Paeng, being a true farmer himself, and having been nominated by the National Democratic Front and its allied organizations for the position of DAR secretary, would be the perfect candidate to serve as a bridge between the Duterte administration which he now serves, and left of center forces from whose ranks he came.”

“The members were also counting on him to be the best surrogate for the President to genuinely identify and relay the serious concerns of farmers like him but without losing sight of the equally valid interest of landowners.”

In short, the CA rejected Mariano because he is pro-farmer. In a body that is controlled by landlords, being pro-farmer is certainly an invitation for rejection. But more than that, he is with the left, and the rightists in the Duterte administration are on a roll these days working for a leftist purge in government seemingly with the president’s imprimatur.

But as I noted before in the rejection of Taguiwalo’s appointment, her and Mariano’s ouster from the Cabinet would end the anomaly of militants lambasting a government in which some of its members are also part of. Now the lines are clearly drawn again. Expect Mariano to be back in the streets advancing the cause of the peasants this time without the baggage of maintaining a tactical alliance with the Duterte administration.