DIE HARD III / Herman Tiu Laurel / March 19, 2014
A week ago, Justice Secretary Leila De Lima fired National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) deputy directors Reynaldo Esmeralda and Ruel Lasala. She justified the sacking of these career NBI officials — of which one, Lasala, has been a 30-year veteran — saying that they should have resigned instead of NBI Director Nonnatus Rojas (appointed by Malacañang upon the recommendation of De Lima in July 2012), who quit at the onset of the Janet Lim-Napoles scandal in 2013. News reports back then arose of NBI “leaks” alerting the alleged multi-billion NGO scammer to imminent arrest, which purportedly prompted BS Aquino to say that there are “less trustworthy” NBI officials. But at that time, Malacañang was already scrambling to contain the suspicion that Napoles was being coddled by BS Aquino’s Palace men.
Rojas resigned or, as most analysts believe, was requested to resign on command responsibility to take the heat off BS Aquino, whose administration was already mired in the controversy. Remember Mar Roxas referring to Napoles as “Ma’am” Janet and the Palace giving the accused pork barrel scam artist the red carpet treatment that provoked public ire? Rojas was a crucial scapegoat at that point to take the spotlight off Malacañang. De Lima could not have demanded the resignation of those other deputy directors then because she was not able to show cause; neither could she do it now without questions being raised as she still cannot show an iota of justifiable cause. The only difference a year later is that De Lima apparently thinks that she can now throw propriety out the window by simply sacking the named deputy directors on mere suspicion.
But De Lima’s dilemma has exploded right in in her face as the two recently sacked NBI officials, Esme and Ruel as they are called, are reported to have possession of a video showing her original ward and Palace appointee to the agency, who resigned with a lot of tearjerker drama and fanfare, meeting with Napoles — information Rojas never revealed to the public because it is a vital piece of information that could have shed light on the newspaper reports of an “NBI leak.” Rojas was made to appear in De Lima’s public pronouncements as heroic and self-sacrificing, which may turn out to be just worthy of a Famas award. Worst for De Lima are the implications for her, being the endorser of Rojas for appointment.
De Lima says she and Malacañang are free to dismiss the two presidential appointees at any time, but the rights of Esme and Ruel cannot be so callously considered when they are career officials, too. Take Lasala, a veteran in the service for 30 years, for instance: Why was he summarily sacked and not just reassigned, which is the only correct course of action if there is no specific cause that can be cited? De Lima will have her dilemma multiplying even more when Lasala brings the matter to court. But then her dilemma will become even more insurmountable when the video of Rojas meeting with Napoles is made public, as further investigation of this will certainly lead to the question: Did Rojas meet Napoles on De Lima and Malacañang’s behalf?
BS Aquino and De Lima have new NBI appointees in place, i.e. Ricardo Pangan Jr. replacing Esmeralda and Antonio Pagatpat assuming Lasala’s post, with Edward Villarta and Jose Doloiras taking over as head of the NBI. De Lima said this reorganization aims at “ensuring the integrity and competency of our nation’s premier investigative agency.” But that claim can only be believable if the head of the Department of Justice herself, as the endorser to the appointing power in Malacañang, is above suspicion — which is absolutely not the case.
BS Aquino, in attempting to whitewash his and his factotums’ involvement with “Ma’am” Janet, has inadvertently opened a new can of worms.
I have to pick up a share of the cudgels for the Lasala family because I have come to know its members over the years when, in the early years of the Edsa Dos government of Gloria Arroyo, Ruel Lasala’s wife, former National Treasurer Nina Lopez-Lasala, stood up to oppose then Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Gov. Rafael Buenaventura’s privatization of government securities custodianship and information and clearing transactions involving trillions of pesos that resulted in billions in losses to government. Mrs. Lasala was eased out of her post within months of this tussle with the late BSP governor. Ruel Lasala will therefore not allow his tiff with De Lima to sully his family’s name and honor.
Meanwhile, in the global struggle against Western hegemony, we rejoice with the people of Crimea who voted 96.77 percent (on a referendum turnout of 85 percent) to be free to join their motherland Russia and reject vassalage to US imperialism. Also, we rejoice with Latin America whose ever increasing anti-imperialist bloc now has a new member: Chile’s new socialist president Michelle Bachelet who promises to join independent countries such as Venezuela and Cuba in solidarity while its new Senate speaker, Isabel Allende, bears the name of a family that has come full circle in that nation’s long and bloody anti-imperialist struggle, being the daughter of the late US-Pinochet-assassinated Chilean president, Salvador Allende.
(Tune in to “Sulo ng Pilipino” on 1098 AM, dwAD, Tuesday to Friday, 5 p.m.; catch GNN’s Talk News TV with HTL on Destiny Cable Channel 8, SkyCable Channel 213, and www.gnntv-asia.com, Saturday, 8:00 p.m. and replay Sunday, 8 a.m., this week on “Manila’s truck ban” and “The Napoles-De Lima scandal”; visit http://newkatipunero.blogspot.com; and text reactions to 0917-8658664)
A week ago, Justice Secretary Leila De Lima fired National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) deputy directors Reynaldo Esmeralda and Ruel Lasala. She justified the sacking of these career NBI officials — of which one, Lasala, has been a 30-year veteran — saying that they should have resigned instead of NBI Director Nonnatus Rojas (appointed by Malacañang upon the recommendation of De Lima in July 2012), who quit at the onset of the Janet Lim-Napoles scandal in 2013. News reports back then arose of NBI “leaks” alerting the alleged multi-billion NGO scammer to imminent arrest, which purportedly prompted BS Aquino to say that there are “less trustworthy” NBI officials. But at that time, Malacañang was already scrambling to contain the suspicion that Napoles was being coddled by BS Aquino’s Palace men.
Rojas resigned or, as most analysts believe, was requested to resign on command responsibility to take the heat off BS Aquino, whose administration was already mired in the controversy. Remember Mar Roxas referring to Napoles as “Ma’am” Janet and the Palace giving the accused pork barrel scam artist the red carpet treatment that provoked public ire? Rojas was a crucial scapegoat at that point to take the spotlight off Malacañang. De Lima could not have demanded the resignation of those other deputy directors then because she was not able to show cause; neither could she do it now without questions being raised as she still cannot show an iota of justifiable cause. The only difference a year later is that De Lima apparently thinks that she can now throw propriety out the window by simply sacking the named deputy directors on mere suspicion.
But De Lima’s dilemma has exploded right in in her face as the two recently sacked NBI officials, Esme and Ruel as they are called, are reported to have possession of a video showing her original ward and Palace appointee to the agency, who resigned with a lot of tearjerker drama and fanfare, meeting with Napoles — information Rojas never revealed to the public because it is a vital piece of information that could have shed light on the newspaper reports of an “NBI leak.” Rojas was made to appear in De Lima’s public pronouncements as heroic and self-sacrificing, which may turn out to be just worthy of a Famas award. Worst for De Lima are the implications for her, being the endorser of Rojas for appointment.
De Lima says she and Malacañang are free to dismiss the two presidential appointees at any time, but the rights of Esme and Ruel cannot be so callously considered when they are career officials, too. Take Lasala, a veteran in the service for 30 years, for instance: Why was he summarily sacked and not just reassigned, which is the only correct course of action if there is no specific cause that can be cited? De Lima will have her dilemma multiplying even more when Lasala brings the matter to court. But then her dilemma will become even more insurmountable when the video of Rojas meeting with Napoles is made public, as further investigation of this will certainly lead to the question: Did Rojas meet Napoles on De Lima and Malacañang’s behalf?
BS Aquino and De Lima have new NBI appointees in place, i.e. Ricardo Pangan Jr. replacing Esmeralda and Antonio Pagatpat assuming Lasala’s post, with Edward Villarta and Jose Doloiras taking over as head of the NBI. De Lima said this reorganization aims at “ensuring the integrity and competency of our nation’s premier investigative agency.” But that claim can only be believable if the head of the Department of Justice herself, as the endorser to the appointing power in Malacañang, is above suspicion — which is absolutely not the case.
BS Aquino, in attempting to whitewash his and his factotums’ involvement with “Ma’am” Janet, has inadvertently opened a new can of worms.
I have to pick up a share of the cudgels for the Lasala family because I have come to know its members over the years when, in the early years of the Edsa Dos government of Gloria Arroyo, Ruel Lasala’s wife, former National Treasurer Nina Lopez-Lasala, stood up to oppose then Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Gov. Rafael Buenaventura’s privatization of government securities custodianship and information and clearing transactions involving trillions of pesos that resulted in billions in losses to government. Mrs. Lasala was eased out of her post within months of this tussle with the late BSP governor. Ruel Lasala will therefore not allow his tiff with De Lima to sully his family’s name and honor.
Meanwhile, in the global struggle against Western hegemony, we rejoice with the people of Crimea who voted 96.77 percent (on a referendum turnout of 85 percent) to be free to join their motherland Russia and reject vassalage to US imperialism. Also, we rejoice with Latin America whose ever increasing anti-imperialist bloc now has a new member: Chile’s new socialist president Michelle Bachelet who promises to join independent countries such as Venezuela and Cuba in solidarity while its new Senate speaker, Isabel Allende, bears the name of a family that has come full circle in that nation’s long and bloody anti-imperialist struggle, being the daughter of the late US-Pinochet-assassinated Chilean president, Salvador Allende.
(Tune in to “Sulo ng Pilipino” on 1098 AM, dwAD, Tuesday to Friday, 5 p.m.; catch GNN’s Talk News TV with HTL on Destiny Cable Channel 8, SkyCable Channel 213, and www.gnntv-asia.com, Saturday, 8:00 p.m. and replay Sunday, 8 a.m., this week on “Manila’s truck ban” and “The Napoles-De Lima scandal”; visit http://newkatipunero.blogspot.com; and text reactions to 0917-8658664)
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