NOT ALL CONGRESSMEN ARE CORRUPT!

January 12, 2025 Opinion

Lately, there is a barrage of accusations about Congressmen who are dipping their hands in the PDAF, AKAP and all other funds appropriated in the GAA or the lump sum appropriations called “unappropriated funds” disposed by the Speaker in the House and the Senate President in the Upper Chamber. Not all of the Honorables I know are “cleptomaniacs” although sometimes their wives or their children are, He he he! Also, not all the Honorables refer to solons as some from the executive from the tiniest barangay to the highest echelon of the Local Government Units also engage in the practice.

Reminds me of one Ema Cup Golf Tournament (By the way the 20th Edition will be staged for the benefit of the Rotary Club of Downtown Session on June 7, 2025 at the Baguio Country Club. We have added more exciting
prizes this Year! The Grand prize is a 2025 Toyota Vios and C onsolation prizes include the following : 3 days 2 nights stay at Fairways and Blue Waters – Boracay, excluding Air Fare; A Brand new scooter; Roundtrip tickets to Hongkong for two (2), via Hongkong Express, excluding Hotel Accomodation Plus 10 more consolation prizes! Raffle
Price is P1,000.00 (limited to 1,000 tickets so more chances of winning) while Golf Participation Fee is P5,000.00 inclusive of 1 raffle Ticket for Guest/Non-Members and P3,500.00 inclusive of 1 raffle ticket.

Back to the tournament, three distinguished personalities, a General, a Doctor and a Congressman were invited to hit the ceremonial tee ball. The General was first to hit the ball and the same was slicing towards the left of the tee or center, so the crowd shouted “Kick right, kick right” praying that the winds would help the ball hit the center for the possible hole-in-one. The Doctor was next, but this time the ball was hooked towards the right of the center. Again the encouraging crowd shouted “Kick left, kick left”. Then came the Congressman, who hit the ball right in the center
towards the hole-in-one. The crowd was stunned silent, until they started shouting “Kick back, kick back, kick back”.

During my two-terms in Congress, we had only the so called CDF or the Country Wide Development Funds which was suppose to be exclusively devoted to livelihood projects, so I allocated them to NGO’s, including the BCBC, CCF,
Rcds Ladies, Barangays and the cooperatives. We got funding from the Oncc which later on became NCIP and we sent 200 junior students to Senior High. I had infrastructure projects in Zamboanga, Marinduque and Baguio but were obtained from the Philippine Tourism Authority (PTA) while the PFVR Youth Center, my legacy to the people of Baguio was built out of the Presidential Funds of the late Fidel V. Ramos.

We had confidential funds of ?135K/per month for the upkeep of district offices, utility bills, payment of consultants etc…but that is peanuts compared to the reportedly monthly ?5M to P20M each solon has nowadays. BBM was my batchmate in the 9th Congress and the best memory I have of him is his rising for a privilege speech (he was really a good speaker, a trait he inherited from his father) to defend his father against vicious attacks by civil society. But when other members like Edsel Lagman wanted to interpellate him, he sat down non-chalantly and refused. When he won, I was offered a seat as Deputy Administrator of Choo-choo but I respectfully declined as I had zero knowledge in the field.

Then came the dream post I wanted but the Sec who was supposed to be ill, recovered and puff-the-magic-dragon went nga-nga. Wait lang daw kasi the best is yet to come! The icon was the late Joker Arroyo who did not hire an
office staff nor availed of CDF for Makati though the City had enough without it. Everyday he went straight to the plenary where he opposed every measure that Speaker JDV introduced. For one term JPE was there but his presence was not felt as he had then a falling out with his co-Edsa Rebel Fidel. My seatmate was Lorenzo Tanada Sr. who was a silent deep thinker. Also beside me was Cesar Chaves now Secretary of PCO. We were a few “good men” who had no AIDS (Aqcuired Income Delivered Secretly) by a favorite contractor. No corruption issue for us and no Ombudsman case faced. Well, that was then but now, my legal discipline says “accusation is never synonymous to guilt” or to be biblical- “let the man without sin, cast the first stone.” Sigh!