KASAUP

Turntable defense
CTALK By Cito Beltran
Updated February 20, 2009 12:00 AM

The officials of the Republic of Arroyo have apparently adopted a new policy or strategy which I call the “Turntable Defense”.

Just observe the language and tactics of the Executive Secretary or the Secretary of Justice or a civil servant in the person of a Police Director and you will notice that whenever complaints, allegations or accusations are made, they no longer bother with the polite response of listening and assuring the parties concerned that the police or the government will look into it.

For example, respected businessman and community leader Raul Concepcion has for many years been an advocate of informing the public and uninformed or illiterate government officials concerning the supply and price movements of crude oil. His advocacy has cost him a lot of money and earned him a lot of critics and enemies in the energy sector.

Yet above all the slings and arrows directed at him, Mr. Raul Concepcion has remained the single-minded champion of this cause. Recently he has raised questions about the Arroyo Republic’s sincerity in enforcing the laws and regulation of the energy sector, particularly the issue of “cartelization”. Even members of Congress have begun to pay more attention to the obvious patterns in identical pricing of diesel fuel. There is such a stink that threats of audits and proposed taxes on windfall profits have been suggested.

Because Mr. Concepcion dared to cast doubt on the sincerity and integrity of the Department of Energy and the Department of Justice, the Secretary of Justice has now decided to investigate the claims of Mr. Concepcion by….investigating Mr. Concepcion. Now the DOJ demands that Mr. Concepcion show proof or back his claims against the state.

Not only is this an act of putting a spin on the issue like a turntable does to a record, the DOJ is now turning the tables on Mr. Concepcion by investigating if Mr. Concepcion actually has proof that officials of the DOE and DOJ have been amiss with their responsibilities. As a sound byte of a popular FM station puts it: “Kailangan pa bang i-memorize yan?”

Hello?! Does the DOJ have the technical competency to decipher the complex mathematics of crude oil supply, deliveries and exponential costings? If the DOE and the DOJ can’t get a straight answer why the big 3 oil companies have similar prices inside the Manila North tollway or the NLEX while their dealers in Novaliches have lower prices for diesel, what qualifies them to bang heads with people who have devoted more than a decade to such complex equations and processes?

Anyone with half a legal mind and love for country would have quietly cooperated with Mr. Concepcion to determine if they did have enough evidence to build a case. If none then make the painful determination that there is no smoking gun. But please…don’t do the turn table defense because it shows whose side you guys are really on.

PNP: Less talk — less mistake

Another case of “turntable defense” concerns the power of jueteng in the Province of Pampanga where Governor Ed Panlilio has long been asking for the removal of a leftover provincial police director because of the cop’s utter failure to stop jueteng.

After a whole year of inaction, the Governor decided to go public by declaring that the Republic of Arroyo and their Cabalens choose to ignore his request for the appointment of an upright police officer from outside Central Luzon because of the power and influence of jueteng money.

The police director for Central Luzon was obviously insulted by the subliminal message that high-ranking cops from Central Luzon are not upright or contaminated by jueteng. So the Governor’s request was met halfway by replacing the provincial police director with an officer from the ranks of the Central Luzon police officers.

In observance of the “Turntable defense”, the police director for Central Luzon is now telling the Governor of the Province of Pampanga to repeal legislation and franchises for government approved lottery accused of being “fronts” in order to stop jueteng in the Province. Perhaps Chief PNP Jesus Versoza should hold a command conference and retrain his officers about the policy of “less talk — less mistake”.

Giving out press statements to tell an elected official who has a higher position than you, how to do his job is bad publicity. Suggesting that STL or State lottery franchises in Pampanga be removed is asking for trouble directly from PCSO, PAGCOR and Malacanang. In turning the table against Governor Panlilio, the cops have called attention to a provincial matter.

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Just to completely make the case that there is a policy called the “Turntable defense”, allow me to cite the statement of the not so little President known as Executive Secretary Ed Ermita who also challenged Governor Panlilio to prove that jueteng is back in the province of Pampanga.

Please spare us your self-serving righteousness. Practically every known radio commentator and host in the Philippines mockingly air the results of the illegal numbers lottery drawn in various parts of Northern and Central Luzon including Pampanga. I guess when you live in high rises, palaces or exclusive condominiums it is impossible to get an a.m. radio signal.

If you wish to be blind to the truth, that is your choice, but please don’t turn the tables on people who speak the truth and live the truth. Perhaps the officials of the Arroyo Republic have problems because: The smallest truth will always overwhelm the biggest lies.

As a Batangueño would put it: “Yung maliit ang sadyang nakakapuwing”. (That which is small is often what blinds us.)