A sackful of carrots

WHILE her defenders in Congress were busy thwarting attempts to impeach her, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was appointing legislators’ kin and associates to key government positions, including the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, the Commission on Higher Education, and the Monetary Board, in what opposition legislators see as a bid to seal support for junking the impeachment.

Between July and August, the President made seven such appointments and announced her intention to make one more:

1. Juanita Amatong. Sister-in-law of Rep. Prospero Amatong (Lakas, 2nd district Compostela Valley), sworn in to the Monetary Board on July 4.
2. Nelly Favis-Villafuerte. Spouse of Rep. Luis Villafuerte (Kampi, 2nd district Camarines Sur), sworn in to the Monetary Board on July 4.
3. Datu Zamzamin Ampatuan. Cousin of Rep. Simeon Datumanong (Lakas, 2nd district Maguindanao), appointed to the National Anti-Poverty Commission on July 14.
4. Sultan Yahya "Jerry" Tomawis. Brother of ALIF party-list representative Acmad Tomawis, appointed to the Office of Muslim Affairs on July 18.
5. Monib Maniri. Brother of Rep. Faysah Dumarpa (Lakas, Lanao del Sur), appointed to the Office of Muslim Affairs on July 22.
6. Nenalyn Santiago. Sister of Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago, appointed as commissioner of the Commission on Higher Education on August 1.
7. Lecira Juarez. Vice-chair of party-list group COOP-NATCCO, took her oath as chair of Cooperative Development Authority on August 31.
8. Armand Arreza. Cousin of Rep. Prospero Pichay, Jr. (Lakas, 1st district Surigao del Sur) and protege of Sen. Richard Gordon, to be appointed as administrator of Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority.

Rep. Dumarpa and Senators Gordon and Santiago have all issued statements denying the appointments of their kin and associates had anything to do with the impeachment, stressing they were all rightly qualified for those positions.

Rep. Guillermo Cua, COOP-NATCCO representative in the Lower House, also told PCIJ his colleague Juarez’s CDA chairmanship and the impeachment were "separate issues," and that Juarez had been properly nominated to the post by the cooperatives sectoral council of the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC).

It appears, though, that the administration is not slowing down and more reports are emerging of concessions being made in exchange for the withdrawal of impeachment endorsements.

Rep. Alfonso Umali, Jr. (LP, 2nd district, Oriental Mindoro) today confirmed to PCIJ he was asked to withdraw his endorsement of the impeachment charge against the president in exchange for the appointment of his brother as deputy commissioner of the Bureau of Customs. His brother, Reynaldo, is head of the Bureau’s legal office. Rep. Umali was one of the first 41 representatives who had signed to endorse the amended impeachment complaint when it was filed on July 25.

"I have seriously considered the matter and while I do care for my brother, I have a duty to perform for love of God and country," Rep. Umali also said in a statement.

Sources from the Liberal Party also say the President recently summoned Rep. Reynaldo Uy (LP, 1st district Western Samar) to Malacañang, and told Uy to withdraw his endorsement of the impeachment charge. Rep. Uy recounted how the president had shown him a piece of paper ordering the transfer of Brig. Gen. Jovito Palparan, former head of the 8th Infantry Division based in Catbalogan, Western Samar, to Nueva Ecija. Rep. Uy had been lobbying for the withdrawal of Palparan from Western Samar because of reports of human rights abuses being committed by the military in the region under his leadership.

Reps. Umali and Uy’s revelations come after earlier allegations made by other opposition legislators that the administration has been dangling "pork barrel bonanza and juicy government positions" in a bid to thwart the impeachment process.

Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr. says the President, through her allies, has been offering P45-million pork barrel releases to representatives who have yet to decide whether to vote for or against passing on the impeachment case to the Senate. "It’s a big bonanza," Pimentel told the media on Saturday, "and it comes with a bonus, the appointment of their relatives and proteges to key government positions."

There were also reports that five representatives who were poised to vote for the amended impeachment complaint had changed their minds as Malacañang promised that former president Joseph Estrada would be granted city arrest by the Sandiganbayan.

But Estrada’s son, JV, quickly denied these reports, saying, "Pabagsak na si Gloria, why would we still deal with her?" In a statement, the elder Estrada also made a call for Congress "to resist efforts of the Arroyo administration to pressure them to cover up the truth, and reject the committee report."