DID Quezon City’s savings go to ‘waste?’

This is now the nagging question concerning what used to be the ‘richest city’ in the country following reports that the local government is fast losing funds because it’s overfinancing projects like waste management.

A reliable informant revealed that from P1.7 billion during the time of former Mayor Feliciano Belmonte, savings of the city government is now down to only P100 million and still going down as payment for garbage trucks doubled  under the administration of Mayor Herbert Bautista.

For nine years, budget for payment of garbage trucks collecting wastes in Quezon City was reportedly pegged at P400 million a month during the time of Belmonte. The budget,  however,  allegedly grew to P800 million per month upon the assumption of  Bautista as city mayor.

Managing the city’s coffers is  city treasurer Edgar Villanueva who is said to be amassing wealth at a questionable pace. Before, Villanueva was said to own a 1998 model car. Now, however, the official is allegedly driving around with a brand- new BMW among other high- end vehicles.

Aside from the vehicles, Villanueva allegedly acquired an 800-square-meter property with a swimming pool in a Quezon City subdivision. He is said to be only one- and –a- half- year- old in his current post. 

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I agree that the Senate, acting as an impeachment court, and the Supreme Court, functioning as the guardian of our Constitution, are behaving very well as the bid to oust Chief Justice Renato Corona takes centerstage in the country’s political arena.

We should be proud that we have senators led by Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile and justices at the highest court aside from Corona that show respect and honor to each other and  to our democracy as the biggest political event for the year unfolds before the eyes of millions of Filipinos.

The manner by which the two co-equal branches of our government conduct themselves in the impeachment trial shows the true essence of separation of power and how they should be viewed and practiced.

Both provides what Filipinos deserve to hear and see in the impeachment trial.

This corner hopes that such performance exemplified by the senators and justices will be sustained until the verdict for Corona is reached.

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If I were President Benigno Aquino III, I will seal the lips of spokesman Edwin Lacierda whose statements for Malacañang only add injury to the Chief Executive.

While the camp of Aquino tries very hard to isolate the President from the impeachment trial, Lacierda just couldn’t keep his mouth shut from telling the public how the Palace supports the prosecution panel.

For supporters of Aquino, it is important that the public must not think that the President is  waging  war against Corona out of personal grudge. Otherwise, it diminishes Malacañang into a filthy extension of  blood-stained Hacienda Luisita.

But how can this be done when the entire country stood as a witness on how Aquino mercilessly humiliated Corona in a speech during a huge event attended by the Chief Justice and other dignitaries even before the impeachment trial began?

Do the allies of the President really think that the people are blind as to how members of the House of Representatives loyal to Aquino  railroaded the impeachment case against Corona to please the Palace?

For him to be exonerated from charges of vindictiveness, Aquino has to behave like those honorable men in the Senate and the Supreme Court.

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For attending the impeachment trial unprepared, the prosecution panel is now the laughing stock in the Philippines where it is really more fun.

Appearing like brave ‘Young Guns’  raring  to shoot their weapons during press conferences, the prosecution panel turned out more like characters from  the Looney Tunes in last Tuesday’s hearing at the Senate where they failed to present evidences against Corona.

Using the words of Zambales Rep. Mitos Magsaysay, the prosecution panel is a huge ‘embarassment’ to the House of Representatives. She was right when she said that such embarassment could have been avoided if only her colleagues carefully studied the impeachment complaint against the Chief Justice and prepared themselves for the trial.

But as many are aware of, bootlickers at the Lower House were eager to please Aquino and railroaded the impeachment complaint.

Just like the Senate, the Lower Chamber is supposed to be a co-equal branch of  Malacañang and the Supreme Court. Sad to say, however, its members, with the exemption of a few good men and women at the House, have become ‘funny’ puppets of the present administration.

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