Kap’s amazing game plan

Like many Filipinos who tuned in to the Senate broadcast yesterday afternoon, I was disappointed with the privilege speech that Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla, Jr. made.

This was about his involvement in the 10 Billion Peso Pork Barrel Scam. Given that it took him more than six months to answer the allegations (which came out July 2013), I was expecting that he would be able to give strong and clear evidence that he was in no way involved in this deplorable act that deprived millions of Filipinos the basic services in education and healthcare that they need.

After issuing a simple statement that he was not involved in the scam, the good Senator went on to lambast the present administration by giving several examples of how President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III and his allies were doing their darn best to harass and persecute their political opponents. He even went as far as to directly accuse the President of personally meddling with the impeachment of Chief Justice Renato Corona.

Malacañang has since issued a statement denying the accusation, and asking Revilla to instead focus on explaning the issue at hand. 

 

Offense is the best defense

 

What Senator Revilla did yesterday was very similar to what Senator Jinggoy Estrada did in his privilege speech last September 2013. As the saying goes, the best defense is offense. Given, perhaps, that both of them did not have enough evidence to prove that they weren’t involved with Janet Napoles and her bogus NGOs, both of them felt that the only way they could get out of the scam is to try to divert the attention of the public to another issue altogether.

This is the reason why Estrada mentioned the additional allocations made by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) given to the Senators after the Corona trial (that is now known as the Disbursement Acceleration Program or DAP). This is also the reason why Revilla accused the President of trying to unduly influence his decision in the Corona trial.  

 

Estrada was partly successful in his public relations spin as Malacañang was, for a time, put on the defensive regarding the DAP. But whether or not it was legal to have such a fund is now up to the Supreme Court to decide.

I say "partly successful" only because, despite these accusations, the end of 2013 trust and satisfaction ratings of President Aquino continues to remain high, which may show that many Filipinos continue to believe that he is still the incorruptible President that they elected in 2010.

Whether or not Revilla was successful in trying to sway the public’s attention will be known in the coming days.

 

Conditioning the minds of the public

 

Another possible reason for Revilla's privilege speech Monday was that he was trying to condition the minds of the public that he, together with Estrada and Enrile, are being targeted and politically persecuted by Malacañang. The present administration allegedly thinks that they are a threat in the coming 2016 elections.

This is in anticipation that, anytime in the first quarter of this year, Revilla, together with the other Senators and Congressmen accused of being part of the Pork Barrel Scam, may be issued their warrants of arrest.

When this happens, Revilla will then again say that he was right all along when he accused President Aquino of influencing the decision of the Ombudsman and the Sandiganbayan.

Whether the public will fall for this ploy remains to be seen.

 

Mission accomplished?

 

Fortunately, for him, Revilla managed to do what he set out to do at least one day, given that the headlines in many of our national dailies on Tuesday reflect his accusations against the President and his allies.

The only way he and his allies can sustain this public relations spin is if they really do have strong evidence to pin down the President. And, if they do, then the normal course for this would be to move towards impeaching President Aquino. More importantly, the public is still left  waiting for answers regarding Revilla’s involvement in the Pork Barrel Scam. Something he failed to provide during his privilege speech.

 

He must realize that, in the end, no amount of delaying or diversionary tactics will save him from being held accountable for the 10 Billion Peso Pork Barrel Scam. The general public continues to remain angry. They want blood.

Unfortunately, for him, given the amount of paper evidence from the Commission on Audit (CoA) and the eyewitness accounts from the whistleblowers that the investigators have produced, the public is convinced that they want HIS blood.

 

Comments are welcome at harveykeh@gmail.com
Follow me at Twitter: @harveykeh

 

Harvey S. Keh is Director for Youth Leadership and Social Entrepreneurship and is also the Lead Convenor of the Kaya Natin! Movement for Good Governance and Ethical Leadership.