After two years in office President Noynoy it is hoped, have already realized that the problems of the country as if imbued with an unstoppable dynamic force continue to interlink, to meld and weld in increasing numbers, in increasing strength, and as a defiant force to constitute a dilemma impossible to solve during his remaining four years in office.
After PNoy’s two years in office, what the people see is that powerful law breakers are in hospitals instead of jails, are fugitives nowhere to be found; those who are to serve and protect the public are the ones sowing fear not service and inflicting harm; those destined to make the country rich had only made themselves filthy if not criminally rich; those divined to be apostles of morality had been accused repeatedly of unthinkable breach of moral and spiritual conduct; those who are paid by the people to judge had been judged to misjudged and sourced injustice; the multitude of inferiors (lowly public servants) who are expected to follow the good examples demonstrated by their superiors (high public officials) outdo them in practising their bad examples (pervasive graft and corruption) to the hilt.
Problems everywhere if put altogether in one place (tuwid na daan) and in one time capsule (four more years) constitute a dilemma, the dilemma of Noynoy like the goalie in football field nearly full of soccer balls. All he can do is kick them, a few at a time over the fence to that empty jail yard impatiently waiting for crooks with slim chance of getting delivered by the courts. Ang dilim na ni Noynoy walang makikitang liwanag sa apat na taon (The dilemma of Noynoy won’t see the light in four years).
The government as the engine for game change needs lots of “fixin.” Two examples come to mind. During his first fiscal year, PNoy’s agency drivers failed to spend almost half of the authorized budget. In the second year, probably as a remedy and response PNoy’s money men claimed that halfway of the fiscal year they already spent 75% of the annual appropriations. The engine’s obligation accounting system might need looking into instead of merely changing, modernizing the account codes. Program implementors really need a shortened lead time between obligation and payments that start the action, a prime cause for corruption. A major part, the engine block which already developed engine knock (katok) may have to be totally replaced.
The second example springs from the goodness of PNoy’s heart. Government corporate bosses went berserk and ran loose for decades to invent all kinds of heretofore unheard of allowances and salary increases. This was put to a stop by PNoy. Perhaps to narrow the created chasm of inequality of benefits in the government service, PNoy became accommodating in salary increases and allowances across the board. What happened at the height of typhoon Helen was that PAGASA personnel became protested because of unreleased allowances. Took P Noy to appease and warn the disgruntled. The case study needs more space here.
Gloria, Noynoy’s predecessor president has been known to the well informed public to have lived an “other life” (Ang kabila ng Buhay ni Gloria), mostly lived abroad. Kabila ng buhay is not about her passing on to her Maker. Rather, these are trips she had made not to the hovels and squalor of poverty in the world’s poorest countries like Haiti and some in Africa to observe first hand permanent government failures to remedy the secrets of sub-human conditions. That the Philippines through its President’s efforts might be spared of it. Gloria during her extended reign (for the unserved term of Erap) had made many and close between trips in the countries which to the Royals and super rich of Europe, the Middle East and the Americas would not even imagine visiting.
To sum up Gloria’s traveling part of incumbency she was alleged to have spent unheard US Dollars on 121 trips abroad, her visits sometimes more than twice to 44 countries. Playing with figures any frequent flyer given that record can easily compete with the leading astronaut or jumbo jet pilot in flying hours and distance traveled. See the details in this link below:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_trips_made_by_Gloria_Macapagal-Arroyo
Because of dilim na ni (dilemma of) Noynoy, he probably can not duplicate ang kabila ng buhay ni (the other life of) Gloria. PNoy perhaps prefers target practice at home for his R and R, not shooting dames and lights in World capitals.