‘Noli Me Tangere’

‘Touch me not!” This is supposed to be the English translation of this immortal work by our national hero Jose Rizal.

“Touch us not!” is the policy that the military establishment is bent on enforcing with respect to the national pastime that is politics, which is now engulfing the whole country and is sending temperatures of senatorial candidates to fever pitch.

Under this policy, all military camps of the entire AFP command have been declared off limits to political candidates. No campaigning will be allowed in all areas under military control and the word is that not even campaign materials will be allowed to be posted therein.

Implementation of this policy was started during the homecoming of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) in Baguio City on Saturday, February 17. Except that Senate President Manny Villar, a reelectionist, was able to put one over all his rivals.

He was the guest speaker during the occasion and the devil be damned if he would pass off this great opportunity to hobnob with all those generals who, if they have a mind to, could throw a monkey wrench to all the preparations for this year’s election, Comelec Chairman Ben Abalos and his gang notwithstanding.

Trust Senator Manny to inject some not-too-subtle messages to all his star-spangled hosts during his brief sojourn at Fort del Pilar. He received (wangled?) the invite by virtue of his being an adopted Mistah of PMA Class 1977.  

Of course, there was this naughty headline from one of the major dailies which said that the Senate boss took a swipe at GMA during PMA homecoming.

But really, all he said was for the military to maintain strict neutrality during the elections, ’di ba, Senator Manny? At saka, ikaw naman ay independent candidate gaya ni Senator Kiko, at kayong dalawa ay di naman talaga part of the opposition slate, di ba, Senator Manny?

That’s why technically, kuno, UNO or United Opposition alias Grand Coalition alias Genuine Opposition (Iyan na ba talaga ang pangalan ninyo, ha, mga kuya?)  has only 10 candidates. And it was not I who said that, peksman. I only heard that from noted election law expert, Atty. Romy Macalintal.  

To be sure, Comelec chief Abalos had earlier signed a memorandum of agreement with AFP chief of staff Hermogenes Esperon Jr. where both parties concurred that soldiers would not be used or given poll duties during the elections. (Promise! Cross my heart!).

The only exception, I would imagine, is when there arises a situation that would endanger the safety of the electoral process in cases like a widespread attack on polling areas by rebels and lawless elements. Or when a certain situation escalates to the point that military personnel would have to be called in to assist the police and deal with the threat.

AFP chief General Esperon had already issued stern orders to all personnel under his command to refrain from engaging in partisan politics. Not even to try to convince any of their buddies to vote—or not to vote—for a certain candidate. They can, of course, discuss the merits of the candidates or their campaign platforms. This, after all, is a democratic right guaranteed to all citizens under our Constitution.

But outside of this, they cannot have any other active participation in the elections except to vote. So this should stop the opposition from accusing the military of partisanship. And let’s all hope that the AFP leadership will not allow the military from getting involved in any controversy over the coming May 14 elections, and that the accusations over the 2004 polls will not be repeated.

THE speech by Ramon del Rosario Jr., Phinma president and CEO, at the recent annual meeting of the International Visitors Program-Philippines Alumni Foundation, is must reading for anyone who still doubts whether one can make a seamless connection between business and politics, or between business and governance, in the context of national development. (The speech is reprinted in this issue’s “Perspective” page, C1.)

I morphed into a fly once again. This time to spy on an Enchanted Kingdom campaign strategy session.

Four replicating machines (worth P150 million) for the production of digital video disc (DVD) films at the rate of 300,000 DVDs a day were recently seized by the Customs police under the supervision of Deputy Customs Commissioner Celso Templo.

Despite new initiatives by the government to encourage businesses to issue receipts, and for consumers to ask for them, I doubt if much headway has been made in this regard. In fact, even the National Tax Research Center (NTRC), an attached agency of the Department of Finance, is calling for heavier penalties for businesses that do not issue receipts, noting that this problem appears to be a major source of tax leakage.

‘Touch me not!” This is supposed to be the English translation of this immortal work by our national hero Jose Rizal.

First the good news. Locally, we have every reason to be jubilant as economic indicators show that the country is confidently and steadily moving forward. It simply reflects the effectiveness of President Arroyo’s economic policies, complemented by the inflow of OFW remittances which reached P12.8 billion as of this writing, an increase of Pl.3 billion since December last year, according to the BSP.