JEDDAH, 15 September 2006 — THE Arroyo administration and its allies are in the process of unleashing a barrage of unprecedented and well-coordinated attacks on its political opponents, which is undermining the values of freedom and democracy which are so dear to Philippines as a democratic nation.
Opposition congressman Allan Paul Cayetano is facing libel charges by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s husband Jose Miguel Arroyo for saying that the first gentleman has a secret bank account in Germany. Arroyo a few weeks ago flew to Germany with a slew of lawyers and came back with a certificate from the bank in Munich stating he did not have an account with it. He demanded that Cayetano apologize, something the congressman has adamantly refused to do.
Cayetano claims to have solid proof for his accusation, and it seems that the first gentleman has refused to sign a waiver allowing others to check the records at the German bank to see if they can find an account in his name.
This reluctance to sign the waiver makes it seem like the president’s husband has something to hide. If he is innocent, why not allow unfettered access to his banking records?
But Cayetano is not the only one being sued by Arroyo. Malaya columnist Ellen Tordesillas and her publisher Jake Macasaet are also being sued for libel, as well as the Philippine Daily Inquirer, for repeating the claim that he has a secret bank account.
On Wednesday, Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay, a staunch Arroyo opponent, told the press that Malacañang Palace is planning to suspend him and other city officials on alleged corruption charges, and appoint pro-administration officials in their place. The suspension, Binay claimed, was part of the Arroyo’s plan to emaciate the ranks of the opposition ahead of crucial elections next year.
Meanwhile, the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MRTCB) gave the documentary on the life of former President Joseph Estrada, “To Live for the Masses,” a previously unheard of XXX-rating which has banned it from being shown in cinemas and on television. What can the Arroyo administration be so afraid of that it has to ban a documentary? If it is full of lies, as the administration claims, people will just see right through it and forget about it. Banning it strangles freedom of expression, which is guaranteed in the constitution. Not only that, it only makes the administration seem like it fears some unsavory truths being exposed.
While all of this was happening, President Arroyo was in Helsinki attending the EU-Asia summit, trying too hard to get “pogi” points for belatedly revoking the death penalty. (Remember, she was once a staunch supporter of it.) Luckily for freedom lovers, the president was taken to task by the Finnish president for the unprecedented number of leftists killed under her rule, something Europeans do not think is a laughing matter. The president had no choice but to say that she was ready to receive a fact-finding EU delegation in Manila to look into these political killings.
Throughout all of this, the administration, and the press sympathetic to it, continued their campaign for charter change, with pro-administration hound dogs spreading rumors that the opposition was planning to back actors running for political office in 2007, in particular TV host Kris Aquino. She vehemently denied the accusation on “The Buzz” last Sunday, saying that Inquirer columnist Belinda Olivares-Cunanan had got it terribly wrong.
As Kris pointed out, the theory is that if the Philippines adopted a parliamentary system “artistas” would have a harder time getting elected, as it has been shown that they do better in elections on the national level rather than on a local one. In any case the administration is being hypocritical on this issue, as they are also reportedly thinking of pitching former actor Lito Lapid against Binay in the race to be Makati’s mayor next year.
It is really a pity that the government feels that the only way it can deal with opposition is either by eliminating it using legal maneuvers, or by slandering it.
One thing is for sure: The election next year is going to be one of the dirtiest and nastiest ones that the Philippines has ever seen. I think even Ferdinand Marcos would be amazed if he were still alive, and that’s saying something!
Nursing Students Should Still Retake Exam
MY column on the nursing board exam scandal two weeks ago (“Nursing Exam Results Should be Voided”) provoked many angry reactions from parents of nursing students and from some exam takers themselves. All were upset that I was advocating that all the examinees retake parts III and V of the board exam, after it was discovered that answers to those two sections had been leaked to some students prior to the exam in June.
“Why should the innocent be punished for the actions of only a few?” they demanded in e-mails they sent me. “We’ve spent so much time and money preparing for the exam, and having passed, we cannot afford to retake it.”
All are valid points, but as I have pointed out before, no one can ascertain for sure which review centers leaked the answers, or which students benefited from them. So it is only fair to have all the examinees retake those two portions of the exam again.
Already, patients in the Philippines have been asking nurses in hospitals if they are June 2006 exam passers, and if so they don’t want to be treated by them. This is exactly the type of damage to the reputation of nurses that I said before would arise if the stigma of cheating hung over the June exam takers.
This week Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said that some Professional Regulations Commission (PRC) examiners could have conspired with review centers in leaking the answers to students, and are being investigated. In a welcome move, he also announced Executive Order 566 directing the Commission on Higher Education to regulate the establishment and operation of review centers, which have long been run by greedy businesspeople keen on raking in profits. With some students reportedly paying up to 40,000 pesos each to attend review sessions for the nursing board exam, one can only imagine the huge profits these centers are making.
Erlinda Castro-Palaganas, past Philippine Nursing Association (PNA) governor for Region 1 and director of the Institute of Management, University of the Philippines Baguio, wrote me a long letter of support, confirming everything I had said in my column.
Castro-Palangas, leader of the Baguio Braves Alliance — so-called because they exposed the leakage in the June 2006 local nursing board examination — told me that the alliance denounced the reckless manner in which the PRC has handled the whole fraud scandal.
From trying to cover up the fraud, the PRC also insisted on conducting the investigation when it failed at covering up the cheating and prematurely released the result of the board exam. It also swiftly conducted an oath-taking of the board passers to overtake the action of the judicial branch.
“Every move of the PRC gives rise to more problems. The current crop of Commissioners is obviously incompetent and without an iota of respect for the law,” wrote Castro-Palangas. “And yet, why do they behave with seeming impunity? Why do they stick to their positions like leeches? If they have any decency left in them, they should resign!
The Philippine nursing profession’s image has been dented by the leakage issue and PRC’s actions have further battered it. The leakage is an eye-opener. It exposed the bitter truth that our government is groping in the dark in its handling of fraud. It tells us that cheating is endemic in our system. And it also shows the damage wrought by a commercialized and substandard nursing education.”
To read the full text of her letter, please visit my blog at http://rasheedsworld.blogspot.com.
Comments or questions? Email me at: [email protected].
