Too many crocodiles

A news item yesterday said that Manila Mayor Fred Lim is having a problem because too many crocodiles in the Manila Zoo. Oh? Are they not in the wrong place? I thought the natural habitat of crocs is Congress. At least that is what many columnists in the metropolitan media always say. Since Lim is also offering to swap some of the reptiles with other animals, he should know where to go.

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Well, that was meant to be a joke only. But if some people feel alluded to, then they should repent and change their ways. They can do this by giving up their infamous pork barrel, or agree to the proposal of Speaker Jose de Venecia to have the millions they are getting from the taxes we pay subjected to audit. I can believe what the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism says that only a very small percentage of the P70 million a year each one gets (congressmen) and P200 million for senators actually goes to projects that help their constituents. The rest goes to their pockets or to fund business ventures of their families.

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De Venecia has launched into another move to keep members of the House of Representatives in line. He has installed a computerized system for checking their attendance which should be foolproof. This entails touching their fingers to the machine to record their physical presence. I don't know if it also has a way of stopping them from sneaking out after marking time in. The same mechanism will also be able to record their votes on any matter being taken up and will do away with viva voce or even secret voting.

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Is this the first step in the reforms JdV wants to institute in his House? But talks are rife that he may not be speaker for much longer, that administration-controlled members are gradually easing him out. Of course he has his talkative son to blame for his predicament, but he has been very decent about that development. He did not even say, if only to placate the president and her family, that if Joey were smaller, he would whip him. That was what a former speaker said when one of his politician sons misbehaved, a long time ago.

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Outgoing Civil Service Commission head Karina Constantino-David certainly kicked up a storm with her revelations before the influential Makati Business Club that 40 percent of the cabinet members and other agency heads that the President has appointed are not qualified, and that there are more than 60 excess assistant and undersecretaries, most of whom had been given their positions as concessions. Well, Ms. David was brave enough to do that since she has only about a week left before her term expires, but, at least, we can say “Better late than never.”

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Defending the president, executive secretary Eduardo Ermita (one of the 90 appointed generals mentioned by David) said the Administrative Code permits her to appoint people who can help her in governance. Meaning, if she thinks generals can help more than technocrats, generals are it. Malacañang also slammed what it called the “sweeping generalization” by David, but did not say that they believe she would not have said those things if her term had been extended. As Ermita also said, “Leadership style ‘yun, eh”. Ah ganun.

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A relative who came down to Bacolod last weekend to visit her parents narrated an awful experience her family had last Friday night. She said her folks treated them to a steak dinner at the Goldenfields Commercial Complex, and when they were halfway through the meal, her brother saw a dead, cooked fly in his rice! When they reported it to the management, they replaced the rice, but did not even apologize. When her father presented his Senior Citizen's and credit cards before paying, they were told that the establishment only gives FIVE percent discount for credit card payments. Now, hasn't the Finance Department and the Local Government Department given specific orders to all establishments that they should honor credit cards of seniors and give the same discounts? These two departments should look into the operations of this eatery and penalize them accordingly.*

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