Deja vu FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 07/03/2010

Deja vu

FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 07/03/2010 Like it’s always said: The more things change, the more they remain the same — especially when it comes to Malacañang. On the Aquino administration’s first official day, a Memorandum Circular Number 1 (MC-1) declared all non-career executive positions vacant as of June 30. This caused immediate confusion, with resignations handed left and right, which could have caused the collapse of the bureaucracy.  That it was a major blunder could hardly be hidden, and quickly, another MC, also No. 1, dated on the same day, June 30, was issued, correcting the first MC-1. It was a major blooper, but the presidential spokesman, Edwin Lacierda, insisted that it was not a boo-boo at all, as the first MC issued was merely a “draft” and that the second MC1 issue is the same one and that the official one, had been “fined-tuned” as the first one had a “lapse in language.” This was the Palace explanation, despite the fact that these were two differently worded MCs that moreover were clearly antedated by Malacañang. Quite frankly, it almost seemed to be a repeat action by the new presidential spokesman of the then Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye holding up two “Hello Garci” discs — one genuine and one fake — passing off the genuine as fake, and the fake as genuine. Another bit of deja vu occurred, this time with Lacierda claiming a “lapse of language” in the first MC1, which the altered MC1 had “fine-tuned.” Remember Gloria Arroyo’s “lapse of judgment” in her I-am-sorry-spiel? She refused to acknowledge the truth of her talking to Garci about rigging the vote, and instead said it was a lapse of judgment on her part to have spoken with an unnamed poll commissioner.... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100703com2.html

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