Pedestrian Observer GB: The Genesis of the ZTE-LOZADA Epic Saga

In Elagda- Forum (2/14/08), Vicente Romano III, in an article entitled " Lesser Evil No More", wrote that:

There is a story going around about how Secretary Ermita was fuming mad at Mike Defensor. The budgeted hush money for a scandal of this scale was P5.0M. And so, the story goes, the envelop was passed from Ed to Mike. But as the money exchanged hands through the bureaucracy, only P50,000 reached the intended recipient - Jun Lozada.

Tsk, tsk, tsk! Is’nt there supposed to be honor among thieves? I asked myself. It seems it is only true in telenovelas however somebody told me that Mike Defensor is a living example of a good man turned into a " splatter of shit " after having been exposed and contaminated by the moral odiousness of the company he kept in the government. Remember how he sold the most important thing in his life with regards to the Sentosa nurses? Siguro may pinagmanahan, some say!

But whether his integrity as a person and as a Filipino is worth the 30 pieces of silver he has kept for himself and his family is something only his children and those who will come from them could tell in the days to come. And this Mike Defensor, as in any moral coward, is a man of many deaths, honored only by those who could still find peace in their hearts despite their betrayal of themselves and of their people.

But my point is really beyond this aberration of a noble oppurtunity by an erstwhile promising person. My point is the pestilence which is borne by that family that vegetates in that palace by the river which infected this poor soul. Since this family took over the rein of national governance, our country and its management have sunk so low in the morass of corruption and greed. Almost all government agencies have been affected by this pestilence. What used to be a lesser evil practiced by lesser functionaries in some minor regulatory agencies has became a nationally accepted practice all over the whole government system, where money normally passes from one hand to another for the benefit of greedy public officials. CORRUPTION IN PUBLIC SERVICE HAS BECOME A COTTAGE INDUSTRY IN THE PHILIPPINES. The closer a government officer gets to the center of power by that river, the bigger the thievery that is committed. The effects are systemic. The laws are for the small and the weak while the well connected and the powerful are above the law. Poverty is widespread and it gets wider every year in this land of abundance. The rich gets richer while the poor gets poorer. Cynicism and distrust abound and the people start to loose their moral grounding. Even for some, hope has become a rarity.

These notwithstanding, our people's reaction to this pestilence has been half-hearted and most decided to simply " MOVED ON", hoping that greed and the evil it breeds would transform itself into a selfless, penitent, loving and compassionate virtue. As if we never learn from the past, simply MOVING ON in the face of a wrong merely allows this wrong, like the pestilence that it is , to deeply infect the whole system. THIS IS THE GENESIS OF THE ZTE-LOZADA EPIC SAGA.

If we take this mother of all scandal like it was with other scandals before ( pulos protesta pero walang aksion), if we simply administer a tablet or two of CORTAL to this pestilence that threatens our whole household, we might not have any family at all to talk about tomorrow.

We are now facing a truly invasive illness that needs invasive remedy. What we had done and what we are doing are not enough anymore to stop this raging pestilence that is engulfing the whole country. The day of talking is over. Let us all join NOW the protest in all its forms against this continuing abuse of power. To wait to act for tomorrow is to be a part of this pestilence!

STOP THIS PESTILENCE OF GREED AND CORRUPTION NOW FROM THE HIGHEST OFFICE OF THE LAND!

SAVE OUR FAMILY AND CHILDREN NOW FROM DESTRUCTION!

SAVE OUR COUNTRY NOW FROM ITS BLOODY PERDITION TOMORROW!

JOIN NOW THE PROTEST AGAINST CORRUPTION AND GREED IN PUBLIC SERVICE!

amdg et philippinensis.

FIDEL UMAGA
MFP, 2/14/08