A collision course

"The congressmen will have a tough time smearing Diokno's reputation."

In my column last Thursday called “Abra: Forgotten province,” I was not able to fully describe why Abra, where I grew up, remains primitive.

The reasons why it is a forgotten province are multi-faceted. First of all, it is land-locked between Ilocos Sur and the Cordilleras. It has no cash crop to speak of. Yes, there are patches of Virginia tobacco planting in some towns, but this is the exception rather than the rule.

In some instances, rice has to be imported from Cagayan Valley, which has become the rice bowl of the North.

There is not much to see in Abra except some mountains and waterfalls.

This is the reason why my wife and I cannot go back to it anymore. It is more for young backpackers.

But the bigger reason Abra has been forgotten is that the ruling political clans keep fighting each other to the point of killing. Members of the armed forces and the police have to be assigned to the place, because it is always considered an election hot spot.

Politics is an industry in Abra. If you are not in power, you have no income. That is the way it has always been.

After the strongman Don Quintin Paredes ruled Abra, other relatives like the Purruganans got into power, and then the Bersamins, among others.

To a large extent, my boyhood in Abra made me what I am today. My father was a school supervisor who had to travel around the province.

This is the reason I attended many public elementary schools in different towns. There were days I didn’t even have shoes, only hand-made “paluka” or rubber slippers from worn-out tires. When it rained, which was often, I had to content myself with hand-made “an-naka”—a covering of nipa leaves. No raincoats for me then—they were a luxury.

My time in Abra made me strong and resilient, especially during the years of the Japanese Occupation.

Would you believe that sometime in the 1980s, some politicians from Abra went to my residence in Philamlife, Quezon City to relocate to Bangued and try my luck in politics?

I immediately rejected the idea of relocating to Abra. My wife could not bear the thought of my children going to school there, and me battling political clans with their private armies.

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Some members of the House of Representatives appropriations committee have unwittingly steered themselves into a collision course with the Cabinet, possibly with the Palace itself. They have threatened to cite Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno for contempt and even have him arrested.

The congressmen said that Diokno is not inclined to appear before the chamber. Some committee members, notably Camarines Sur Rep. Rolando Andaya Jr., subjected him to intense grilling and even accused him of certain anomalies in the preparation of the 2019 budget.

There are allegations that the Department of Budget and Management chief allegedly made a P75-billion insertion on some flood mitigation projects in Sorsogon, supposedly to boost the political stock of an in-law.

Diokno has served the DBM three times now—first as an undersecretary for then President Cory Aquino from 1986 to 1991. And then he was appointed as secretary by President Joseph Estrada. Diokno was also DBM secretary under GMA.

In all instances that Diokno served in the department, he has established a reputation for honesty, integrity and competence. People in the department admire him.

The way I see it, the congressmen may have a hard time smearing the Budget chief with their yet-unproven accusations, especially since no concrete evidence of irregularity has been presented until now.

Significantly, several members of the Cabinet have expressed support for Diokno and deplored what they say was a disrespectful way the congressmen have treated their colleague.

They also said that the lawmakers’ call for the President to oust Diokno is an outright violation of the separation of powers between two independent branches of the government.

The factor to consider is that while President Duterte said he would not hesitate to kick out officials with so much as a whiff of corruption about them, he continues to have trust and confidence in Diokno.

The budget mess may result in a reenacted budget since tomorrow is the last day for the approval of the budget. This is why we cannot trust members of Congress with the people’s money.

* * *

The Duterte administration is slowly and surely finding out that the cleanup of Manila Bay is a massive undertaking.

The problem is not only the establishments and restaurants but the squatters. Manila Bay has just so many pollutants. The cleanup cannot be done by just one or two departments.