House at rest

This sickening episode, this nasty quarrel between the Aquino (Part II) administration and the Supreme Court, may no longer be about scoring points in the court of public opinion.

To the guys down here in my barangay, the administration already won the game. Of course, the excellent showing of our leader Benigno Simeon (aka BS) in the recent public opinion surveys, his high rating on “public trust” in particular, tilted public opinion in favor of the administration—meaning, against the Supreme Court and the camp of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Still, this is no longer about political popularity ratings. This is about leadership.

To me, based on his handling of the recent crisis between the administration and the high court, BS is trying seriously to lead this country by example. I dare say that he means to be true to his administration’s commitment to stay on the straight and narrow path.

*  *  *

In the thick of the fight between the administration and the Supreme Court, as we all know, the court decided to finally rule on the Hacienda Luisita case, which has been pending for years.

What timing!

The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the farmers in the sugar farm owned by the Cojuangco family, which includes the late President Corazon Aquino. The ruling canceled the scheme called SDO [stock distribution option] that the Cojuangco family implemented years ago, as an alternative to distribution of the land directly to the farmers, as required by the land reform law. The Supreme Court ruled that the land should be divided among 6,000 farmer-tenants in the farm. Although it was a unanimous ruling, really, nobody could fault you if you put some color to it.

In the first place, the court seemed to have made the decision as payback for the intransigence of the administration regarding that infamous TRO. This would have allowed the former first couple to leave the country, an apparent attempt to escape from the various cases that the current administration was preparing against Mrs. Macapagal-Arroyo. The administration set aside the TRO, and enforced its standing order to prevent the couple from leaving the country.

The Supreme Court subsequently decided that the TRO was not yet in force—technically. This meant, at least to us down here, the Supreme Court tried to save face.

Then came the ruling on Hacienda Luisita. Take that, you bad BS you! Something like that!

How did BS react? He said that the Cojuangco family should follow the Supreme Court order, noting that we all have to presume regularity of the decision. He only said that the landowners (meaning, the Cojuangco family) must be paid for the land.

As a member of the Cojuangco family, BS owns part of the hacienda, but his ownership was said to be only one percent, which he claimed to have divested when he became our leader. I have yet to hear somebody dispute the claim.

Still, the property must be worth a lot of money. Some sectors say that the Cojuangco family does not deserve payment from the government for the land. Is that so?

Down here, we simply call such a proposal as “confiscation.” It is against the law. The land reform program requires payment for the land.

*  *  *

Years ago, another issue over real estate properties made headlines, and it involved the same former first couple.

It seemed then that they owned some valuable properties in San Francisco City in the United States, in the posh area called “Nob Hill.”

A three-bedroom condo unit there is still worth about $1 million today, even in a depressed US real estate market.

When the issue erupted, the former first couple claimed that the properties were actually owned by the brother of the former first gentleman. The properties were just put under the name of the former first couple.

What? Mrs. Arroyo at that time was a public figure, a government official. It would not look good if the couple would seem to be hiding expensive properties in the United States. Why did the couple agree to have somebody else’s properties put under their names?

May I say again what I said at that time: It was a bad case of leadership by example.

*  *  *

The house of BS may seem to be at rest now, with not much press statements coming from the Palace regarding the medical condition of Mrs. Arroyo. The administration is releasing none of those “I-told-you-so” statements that most politicos would hurriedly dish out in similar cases.

Recently, the doctors of Mrs. Arroyo revealed that her medical condition, or what seemed to be her ailment, was not in fact a life-threatening condition, which her lawyers said was why she had to leave the country for treatment abroad.

In fact, the doctors said that Mrs. Arroyo could leave the hospital anytime because she could be treated as an “outpatient.”

The doctors had to tell the truth, I guess, because they were testifying before the Pasay City Regional Trial Court. May their tribe increase!

Anyway, it is now clear that the Arroyo camp was only fooling all of us when it staged that drama at the airport two weeks ago, complete with all the medical gizmos and wheel chair, plus the blaring ambulance.

Obviously the Aquino (Part II) administration was vindicated. BS for his part is still not saying a word.

But the administration still has a lot of work to do. Infrastructure, for one! If only BS can apply the same style of leadership by example to other more pressing matters such as the economy…