Alter egos
Alan Peter Schramm Cayetano is the new Secretary of Foreign Affairs. The senior senator from Taguig is not the first sitting member of the upper chamber to trade in his seat to become the country’s top diplomat. Previously and famously, Senators Raul Manglapus and Blas Ople surrendered their mandate to serve the public in this more dedicated capacity at helm of the DFA.
The Senate’s loss. Like Senator Ople, Senator Cayetano was chair of the Senate committee on foreign relations. This is by no means his only qualification for the post. He is on his second term as Senator and is a former three term Congressman. And he has brought immeasurable esteem to the upper house (not to mention his alma mater, the Ateneo Law School) in the way he has performed: both conscientious and contentious, as Senators should ideally be.
Relinquishing a Senate seat is never easy. For the Senator, it means turning your back on the trust you solicited from the people; saying goodbye to the enormous campaign expenses (never to be recovered, anyway …. in theory) and the prestige of being one of only 26 elected with a national mandate. For the constituency, how to treat this “reneging” on a promise, a breach of their covenant – the wasted vote.
Betrayal? However viewed, Secretary Cayetano’s appointment is the nation’s and the President’s gain. The DFA under this Presidency is shaping up to be the most sensitive of all the Cabinet departments given PRRD’s unconventional approach to diplomacy. If there is anyone who can represent his positions on the international stage with not just the heft but also the passion to effectively communicate them, that man would be Secretary Cayetano.
Blessing in disguise. However you spin it – Regina Lopez is not the DENR secretary because she had honor and she had a code (shades of “a few good men”). She was simply not “one of the boys.” Hence, the old boys club trumped the few good men and closed ranks, their version of a firewall against unwanted viruses of truth.
She may no longer be in power but we are sure that she will continue to be an instrument to shine a light on the worst examples of unsustainable development. She need not be shackled with worry about stepping on toes or compromising her principles. Advocates like her find their truest voices when given free rein.
PRRD will never be seen as implicitly condoning the rejection or not doing enough to stop it. The public knows where he stands on the issues. His respect for the prerogatives of the Commission on Appointments (CA) is actually refreshing and speaks volumes for the prospects of branch interdependence during his watch.
Silver lining. The whole point to the CA is counter point. It exists to eliminate the singular viewpoint and harvests truth from scrutiny. The requirement of public hearings is designed to guarantee a measure of transparency and to guard against cronyism.
Which is why this new phenomenon of secret voting is highly questionable. If the CA is intended as a check on the appointing power with the structure, on constitutional insistence, meant to be representative of Legislative complexion, then this is not the case when the members of the CA are too afraid to let their votes be known. Their votes are their parties’ votes as well. Will we never know how these parties participated in the process? What check now on the executive’s unilateral power and its susceptibility to influence? A CA that votes in the darkness is an affront to transparency.
Ignominy. Though PRRD deferred to the CA’s pleasure (but not without his own assessment of what went on behind the scenes), it cannot be denied that his ability to govern in a manner he chooses was affected. Its embarrassing to have your men rejected. Not even one year into his Presidency, he has had to endure the humiliation of having not one, but two of his choices rejected outright – and by the very members of his own coalition. Until Cimatu, Ano and Cayetano, he did not even have a complete Cabinet!
This is an unmistakable message to PRRD that Legislators will insist on a say on the President choices. Of course, this is to be preferred to complete deference and obeisance which, of itself, inflicts even more damage to the institution. No one prefers a rubber stamp CA over a contentious one.
Haunting. What is truly cringe worthy about the Janet Napoles affair is Senator Leila de Lima’s caveat about selective justice. Does she even understand what she is saying? Then Secretary de Lima was the battering ram of the Aquino administration’s campaign to oppress the political opposition. And, despite profuse initial disclaimers to the contrary, her gang really just targeted a handful of respondents in the PDAF scam, none of them party mates or friends.
These reopened investigations are actually good for Senator de Lima specially if they result in more indictments. The Aguirre DOJ is relying on the ground work laid by her own teams. If they end up being used to go against her own party mates, well thank you for the good work Leila.
The most guilty. The betting now is on who are the officials, higher than legislators, that would be swept into the Napoles dragnet. Already the stories are making the rounds about the trail leading to “boy sundo” and “boy hatid.” This is supposed to be the fruit of a Napoles discharge to become state witness which is unlikely as even PRRD conceded that she is a major player in the scam.
But does she need to be discharged to become state witness for her to tell the truth? If she really wants redemption and to salvage any modicum of credibility, she should just disclose what she knows and wait for the axe to fall. Why worry when she is sure to have a pardon waiting in Malacanang?