Same dogs, different collars EDITORIAL 07/08/2010

Same dogs, different collars

EDITORIAL Click to enlarge 07/08/2010 Reported incoming Speaker Felicisimo Belmonte won’t be Speaker of the House of Representatives for long, if he as much as pushes the huge pork barrel cuts in both the House and the Senate, as proposed by Liberal Party (LP) Rep. Erin Tañada. And neither will the speakership be in the LP hands, if the pork barrel is not released by Malacañang’s President Aquino to his so-called allies in the House, because that is what congressmen live for when they get their seats in the House. As for the opposition, or the minority in the House, if its members are denied their share of the pork barrel, that would be an issue against the new Malacañang tenant, as he would be no different from his predecessor who had withheld the pork barrel funds from those who opposed her legislative measures. But things never really change, whether in the House or the Senate, even with changes of leadership and ruling power. Where before the LPs blasted away at Malacañang when they were in the minority, today the LP, as enunciated by Tañada, who has become an Aquino tuta of the first order, says that they now leave everything to the “wisdom” of the new administration.  Last we heard of this wisdom business left to the presidency was during the Marcos martial law years when the Supreme Court justices said that everything is best left to the wisdom of the president and that all the nation can do is pray that he makes the right choices. Tañada said that the decision would have to come from Aquino who talked on how the pork barrel should be used. “He will have a menu on where the congressional funds may be used. Now what exactly this menu is, we’ll wait for the proposal or recommendation of President Aquino and then we’ll act accordingly,” adding that the LP members are willing to cut their pork barrel “if it is in the wisdom of the executive branch.”... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100708com1.html

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