SCANDAL AFTER SCANDAL: ARE WE NOT SURPRISED?

 

Mike Arroyo has again merited the headlines after businessman Jose de Venecia III, the Speaker’s son, implicated him in the controversial ZTE broadband deal.  Even before JDV3 named the high-profile personality who allegedly helped Comelec Chairman Benjamin Abalos in attempting to convince him to withdraw from the bidding, I already had the inkling that the “mystery man” could very well be the First Gentleman.  So I was not surprised that in the Senate hearing yesterday, JDV3 revealed exactly the person I had in mind. 

Mike Arroyo allegedly told him to “back off” after he insisted that his company’s offer was more advantageous for the government than that of ZTE’s proposal.  With matching gestures, he explained how the First Gentleman approached him and pointed a finger two inches away from his nose while threatening him to withdraw from the project. 

To reiterate, this latest scandal comes as no surprise.  With the way this government is being run by Arroyo and her cohorts, scandals and controversies seem to be an everyday occurrence.  However, what makes this scandal quite different from the ones before it is the noise where it’s coming from.  Unlike other whistleblowers who could easily be identified with the opposition, the current whistleblower is no less than the son of Speaker Jose de Venecia, a known Arroyo ally. 

The only motive a bystander like me could impute on JDV3 (as to why he is coming out to expose what he knows about the ZTE anomaly) was his failed bid to secure the contract that aims to interconnect all government offices from Batanes to Jolo.  Other than that, my puny brain cells could not think of any.  Although it’s one thing to allege and another to prove, JDV3’s detailed testimony before the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee cannot easily be a product of his wild imagination. 

Brenda, in her usual self, has a different take on the issue.  She wants us to believe her insane theory that JDV3 might be funded by certain groups out to oust Mrs. Arroyo before her “term” expires in 2010. 

Brilliant!  Why didn’t I think of that?  But on the one hand, a friend named Kulas, a barber in our neighborhood, exclaimed:  “Lumang tugtugin na yang rason ni Brenda, wala kasi siyang ibang mahanap na motibo para sirain ang kredibilidad ng anak ni JDV.” 

Hahaha.  Sounds like Kulas has more common sense than the antics of this woman known to exhibit tantrums in the halls of the Senate every now and then. 

Rep. Mikey Arroyo, the First Gentleman’s son, was quick to ask in a rather contemptuous voice:  “Why is it always  my father?” 

Sabi naman ni Kulas nung marinig nya ang interview kay Mikey sa TV:  “Heh.  Nagtanong ka pa!”  Bullseye!  

The only possible loophole in JDV3’s testimony, I think, is his conscious effort to exonerate President Arroyo from any involvement in the anomalous deal.  He asserts that President Arroyo had no actual knowledge on either Abalos’ attempts to broker a deal with ZTE or her husband’s intervention.  But how could the President not have known about the goings on in the negotiation stage?  Ordinary human experience tells us that the husband and the wife both share the same secrets, not unless the secret pertains to something which either spouse ought not to know.  You know what I mean.  Could this be a concession JDV3 had to make with his father before agreeing to testify in the Senate?  I could overhear JDV whisper to JDV3:  “Joey, please spare the President or I will lose my hold in the House!” 

Poor JDV.  Torn between two lovers. 

Poor Filipino.  Torn between the devil and the deep blue sea.