The brouhaha over an alleged attempt by DILG Undersecretary Rico E. Puno to enter the condominium unit of the late DILG Secretary Jesse Robredo on the very first day the latter went missing after a plane crash couldn’t have come at a worse time for Puno’s shooting buddy and benefactor President Noynoy Aquino.
Aquino didn’t even have time to savor the good news that his approval rating had soared to plus 67, the highest he has received since he assumed the presidency in 2010. He was in Vladivostok when the news came and was perhaps hoping to bask in the high rating’s glory when he comes back.
But news broke that one of his favorite KKK’s (kaklase, kaibigan, kabarilan) had suspiciously tried to enter Robredo’s condo unit without permission from the family. Then, another bombshell came when it was revealed that Robredo was investigating Puno and some ranking police officials on the planned purchase of assault rifles by the Philippine National Police-Special Action Force that involved two procurements of nearly P178 million and P213 million.
The expose by ABS-CBN’s Anthony Taberna on Puno’s foiled attempt to enter Robredo’s condo, which according to his wife contained important documents related to the investigation opened up even more revealing allegations on his not-so-pleasant two years in the DILG.
It was also revealed by Agham Rep. Angelo Palmones that Puno approved a midnight deal to buy almost 60,000 pistols for the police at a cost of P997.99 million on the same day that the newly appointed secretary of the department, Manuel Roxas II, announced his reassignment.
Palmones said the deal with Trust Trade and its partner, Glock Asia Pacific Ltd., was made Aug. 31, the same day that President Benigno Aquino III appointed Roxas as DILG secretary and gave him a free hand to bring in his own team. Palmones said the contract was a done deal even before it was approved because the guns were shipped more than a month ago and arrived in Manila on Sept. 4, just four days after the contract approval. Somebody from the DILG must have given the importer an illegal import permit because one can’t ship guns without such a permit from the procuring government.
When asked about the condo incident, Aquino was quick to come to the defense of his shooting buddy, saying that it was he who ordered Puno to secure the condo and Robredo’s offices. Aquino, however, did not explain why he or Puno did not ask the permission of Robredo’s wife to enter their private residence.
Aquino was busy discussing with leaders of the Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in Valdivostok, Russia but he obviously was never too busy to come to the aid of a friend. After all, Aquino has shown before that Puno was right when he boasted the President would not touch him. The President spared Puno from outright dismissal and administrative charges recommended by a fact-finding body after the botching by his department of the Luneta hostage-taking incident in July 2010.
Aquino didn’t even bother to investigate Puno when Archbishop Oscar Cruz accused the DILG undersecretary that same year of receiving P5 million monthly payola from jueteng lords. Puno admitted that he met with some emissaries of jueteng lords, but it was not difficult for Aquino to keep his faith on his buddy.
Apparently, Aquino’s advisers were quick to realize that his statement in Vladivostok that he was the one who ordered Puno to secure Robredo’s condo would not sit well with the public, and so Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte immediately clarified the statement, saying that the President had only ordered Puno and the PNP to secure Robredo’s offices and not his condo unit.
That’s the problem when you rush to the defense of a buddy; you tend to make mistakes. So what’s the truth now: Did Puno try to enter Robredo’s condo unit because he was ordered by the President to do so? Or did he mistakenly go to Robredo’s condo when he was only told by the President to secure Robredo’s offices? Or was there really no such order from Aquino and that the President only said this to protect again his recalcitrant buddy and top aide.
Aquino also came to the defense of his shooting buddy on the alleged almost P1-B pistol contract, saying that Puno should be presumed innocent until proven otherwise. He must have forgotten that he refused to give the same presumption of innocence on impeached Chief Justice Renato Corona, whom he personally destroyed with yet unproven accusations before, during and after the impeachment trial.
It was not just Aquino who came to the defense of Puno. Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda, Deputy Director General Emelito Sarmiento, chief of the PNP bids and awards committee (BAC), and Deputy Spokesperson Abigail Valte all virtually cleared Puno of any wrongdoing, while Puno himself kept himself out of media’s reach.
Aquino also said he had instructed Puno to stop the procurement of 120 M4 assault rifles for the police after the sole bidder submitted a price of P80,000 per unit, more than double the cost of the weapon he found online. Aquino said Puno might have “forgotten” to remind the department’s procurement office to stop processing the deal.
He said it made no sense for Puno, whom he described as his eyes and ears in the department, to get involved in an anomalous deal for “a few millions.” Remember that Aquino also downplayed accusations that a top Malacanang official was on the take from jueteng landlords by saying the alleged amount was “barya.” And how can anybody forget an instruction from the President in a case involving hundreds of millions of poesos? And why is the President acting as a lawyer for Puno? He is obviously sending very clear signals to investigators that he did not want his buddy prosecuted.
Many people smell a stinking cover-up here by no less than the President. Perhaps, Aquino should be reminded that an attempt by then President Richard Nixon to cover up the June 1972 break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington D.C. forced Nixon to resign, the first American president to do so, to avoid impeachment. The scandal also led to the imprisonment of 43 people, including top Nixon administration officials.
Of course, we don’t want that to happen President Aquino. It wouldn’t be fair that the President who gained high approval ratings because of his successful ouster of Corona through impeachment would suffer the same fate.
And yet, we also don’t want the Aquino administration’s reform agenda and “daang matuwid” to be derailed by the mistakes of just one person, who just happened to be one of his closest and trusted friends.
Aquino can still turn this fiasco around by ordering a transparent and thorough investigation of the Robredo condo incident, the alleged P1-billion midnight arms deal and other PNP deals, and the jueteng payola allegations against Puno.
For example, if it was true as claimed by Aquino that he knew of the overpriced rifles being offered to the Philippine National Police after learning through the internet that they could be purchased for half the price and that he ordered Robredo to investigate the matter, why did he not immediately stop the deal? Was Puno so imbued with confidence that his buddy would not touch him that he did not stop the planned overpriced purchase despite Aquino’s concerns? If Aquino knew that the planned purchase was overpriced and fraudulent, why did he not order Puno to stop the purchase outright? Did he really know beforehand, or these were all just afterthoughts in an attempt to cover-up for his buddy or to escape responsibility for the obvious fraud?
There are just so many questions that unless answered truthfully would almost certainly cast doubt on Aquino’s reform agenda and the transparency of his government.
Unfortunately for Aquino, the mess left by his favorite shooting buddy came at a time he was supposed to be enjoying high approval ratings. Worse, it comes just a few months before the mid-term elections where the people are expected to rate his administration true performance by voting for or against his party or coalition’s candidates in the senatorial, congressional and local elections.
Aquino will soon discover that it’s difficult to trust a guy who loves guns. The people might, too.
(valabelgas@aol.com)