la vista loca

Another whistleblower surfaced this week. Former presidential staff officer Michaelangelo "Louie" Zuce, a nephew of controversial ex-Comelec Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano, presented at a press conference new evidence linking President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to jueteng. The new evidence and testimony of Zuce showed how President Arroyo used jueteng money to bribe at least 20 Comelec officials to ensure her victory in the 2004 presidential elections. Zuce claimed that payoffs made to Mindanao-based Comelec officials came from Pampanga-based 'jueteng lord' Rodolfo 'Bong' Pineda and his wife Lilia. According to Zuce, some of the alleged payoffs were made after a secret dinner hosted by President Arroyo at her La Vista, Quezon City home in January 2004.

Really? But why surface only now? Why did Mr. Zuce not reveal the alleged bribery before? For that matter why did all the so-called whistleblowers that have appeared recently not tell their stories before? Why only now?

Life in danger? Attack of conscience? Money? Truth? What is the real reason why these people come out and spill the beans on alleged illicit activity? As varied as their respective 'bombshells' are, these whistleblowers share one thing in common: they are all making life hard for President Arroyo.

Is it a coordinated attack or is the truth really coming out? Who knows? The situation is so muddled; one scandal explodes right after the other that before one issue is sufficiently investigated another 'revelation' is brought to the public, stealing attention from the previous issue but adding to the confusion and further eroding the public's trust in the government, or, more to the point, their trust in the President.

This really is 'trial by publicity'; people airing their grievances through the media without giving the accused a proper forum for answering the accusations leveled at them AND influencing public opinion at the same time with sensational 'revelations' that are accepted at face value without further verification. Case in point: the vaunted "Hello Garci" tapes have not even been authenticated yet people are basing their opinions and stands on them, calling for the resignation or ouster of President Arroyo because of what she 'said' on the tapes.

Even if the recent events aren't a planned and coordinated destabilization plot they are having the same effect. Our country has never been so divided, our government has never been so paralyzed. The opposition and the administration are at each other's throats, while the Filipino people are suffering from the effects of this political crisis. An unstable government discourages foreign investment, which further weakens the economy, which exacerbates our poverty problem, which breeds crime and discontent, which further destabilizes the country, etcetera.

While the Senate and House of Representatives wallow through "investigations in aid of legislation", while the administration and the opposition hurl mud and rocks at each other, while President Arroyo dances the Cha-cha, while Susan Roces screams at the camera "not once, but twice", while Samuel Ong hides along with Virgilio Garcillano, and while Michelangelo Zuce blows the whistle on this latest scandal, Juan dela Cruz suffers from poverty and confusion.

Oh, and by the way, what is the real truth behind all this?