In a predictable reaction to its development priority agenda, North Cotabato Governor Emmylou “Lala” Taliño-Mendoza immediately went to the crime scene and allegedly asked the former players of the previous administration to produce the necessary items in response to allegations pertaining to the lost funds that have been passed on to her domain.
Some of its former players, however, wasn’t able to satisfy the clarifications demanded of them since much of the figures incurred in those funds have been found wanting or may have been distributed in the air without anyone noticing its unliquidated outcome. And to further aggravate the situation, the new governor isn’t exactly hell bent in trying to patch things up in a conventional way by intentionally delaying its process, but in trying to distance herself from the alleged perpetrators and still expecting them to clean up the mess.
Although the new governor’s response may be too flagrant from its intended purpose, it also leaves behind a sharp, uncomfortable notice, not only to her immediate political accessories, but more so the people outside of her own turf who helped her gain power barely three months ago. That it isn’t enough to vote for a politician simply because he can fit in easily in a system by having that political pedigree of experience and enterprise; it also matters equally to his constituents in that he has to have a critical outlook of its practices, and achieving no less than dynamism and relevance to its electorate.
The ascendancy of that new government relies not so much in its ability to classify programs and potential pogroms that have been extended, intentional or not, from its predecessor, but giving it a more sane and suitable solution instead, so as to move on completely from its ancestral regime with autonomy and credibility. Otherwise, it would be morally reprehensible to place that succeeding government above par with the rest of its players. If the Mendoza administration tries to set aside even a portion of these innumerable inconsistencies and unliquidations committed from its recent political turnover, the actual “cleaning up”, conjured by no less than Lala herself, would surface an entirely different meaning other than its direct affiliates.
So far, the governor’s decision is still in keeping with her ranting platform of exercising a workable democracy through participation and accountability. Her “fault-finding” demeanor, however, cuts a broad swathe to her former allies in that after collaborating their efforts several months ago in an election campaign that was marred allegedly by vote-buying and under the tables, it has now gained a reputation of disintegrating itself from its political axis, as pressures in trying to locate bank accounts, gasoline expenses and even cash advances from its former officers are already cashing in to the sensitive side of this administration.
If the “Erap-spirited” North Cotabato electorate leaves this completely in the hands of those they thought can actually straighten this all up under the circumstances, this province will probably descend a little lower than the angels until it musters enough momentum not exactly diverse from the one prior to that election. As has often been argued in the past: that in order for evil to prosper is to let its recipients to do nothing. Mendoza’s call in sweeping the former administration’s unliquidated legacies is already on its usual circumferential route, but if it fails to generate a following, particular in the electorate themselves, much of its purported anthems of transparency, participation and accountability are still suspects of a case pending the likes of which has managed to create its own culture even before her reign.
And so evil will have its own way if lost funds of that kind are still considered a non-issue among its constituents. Just as in the days leading to that Maguindanao massacre, it wasn’t the actual killing per se that intensifies the grief of those who have been affected by its brutality, it was, and still, the non-cooperation of most of its populace that puts relish in its bloody causeway, the attitude of choosing the easy way out by constantly keeping their mouths shut and by being immune to its ill-effects, just so to get by with life. Although it may have been too early to pressure the promise of this administration to deliver its judgment and goods, but any attempt of soft-soaping this particular setback is already a serious threat to the ideal claims of its transparent platform.
Unliquidated times like this requires unwavering diligence and constant delivery: like Department of Justice convincing Ping Lacson of safety, Noynoy castigating the weather bureau of ineptitude, Pangilinan pursuing the Senate helm, or even Kris Aquino distancing herself from her alleged domestic enemy. Anything but standing still. These allegations case hasn’t reached its tragic stage yet, but the prejudicial imprint emanating from the ordinary citizens of North Cotabato can easily plunge in to. If much of the previous system was left under the care of its self-made manhood, this administration could save its own energy if it employs its collective options by relegating some of its inquiries to the electorate themselves, provided that their inquiries will have its own voice, its own vote, its variance, its own validity in the formation of its resolution.
It is an issue that concerns more the will of the people than the actual disappearance of those lost funds. Needless to say, these people do have their own picket lines in questioning and questioning again certain irregularities that struck a loud chord to their already strained pursuits of freedom and justice.
Mendoza’s system or any other system before her is incapable of exerting an influence, much less in displaying unwanted politics at every disposal, without the consent and approval of its taxpayer’s money, a monetary collection that springs from every underpaid and overworked employee of the province. Their voices, their time-honored diligence and their relentless delivery of options could somehow spell the difference in trying to put to rest any unliquidated hangovers such as that of its preceding office and probably a host of its former associates.
For now, we can only speculate the possible damages of that sustained blow in Lala’s early gubernatorial rounds. We can only score a premature conclusion as to how her administration extricates itself from further beating without being soft to its not-so new alliances. But if her system is intent of knocking out the issue away from its impending defeat, she might want to take heed of those permanent calls clamoring outside of her ring, and cash some of its undisputed options in her self-proclaimed participative form of government, and sustaining her for the rest of the fight.
Considering the stakes involved in her renewed partnership of Sacdalan, she might probably lose some of his fatherly advices, since the former government was undoubtedly in-charge of most of last term’s significant programs, but Lala can assure herself that she will always have the backing of the province, the ones who voted for her last election, if she can actually convince her father figure to influence much of its former associates to come out in the open and start digging the new face of participative politics by actually cleaning up the mess and start gaining its accountable ascendancy and its transparent development.
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