BY ISMAEL AMIGO

1ST-APLUMA NATIONAL PRESIDENT

IT SEEMS that President Aquino's "daang matuwid" is slowly taking a detour, trekking the road traveled by his precedessor.

Now, issues that hounded the past administration are now rearing its ugly head in the present dispensation, like the alleged shelling out of additional P20-million pork barrel to lawmakers who agreed to impeach Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez.

Many times, then President Arroyo was accused of allegedly  giving additional pork barrel to her allies in the Lower House to block any attempt to oust her through impeachment.

With Aquino's promise of a clean and honest government, anyone would think that "payola" to lawmakers will not happen during this administration.

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In just nine months, the "payola" issue has already tainted the Aquino government, putting P-Noy's "matuwid na daan" promise in peril. Mukhang ngayon pa lang, napapako na ang mga ipinangako ni P-Noy.

A pro-Aquino lawmaker recently revealed that Aquino had indeed offered its members an additional P20 million in pork in exchange for a “yes vote” for the impeachment case against Gutierrez.

The amount would also cover the "yes" vote for House Bill 4146 which aims to postpone the August 2011 elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) until 2013 and granting Aquino the power to appoint officers-in-charge (OICs) for the region.

According to the solon who requested anonymity, Aquino promised the P20 million pork barrel, composed of P5 million in soft package and P15 million in hard component over the weekend, to each congressman who would deliver a yes vote during the plenary voting for Gutierrez’s impeachment case and HB 4146.

The solon revealed that the additional pork would come from Road User’s Tax collection that was allegedly used by the past administration to finance dubious projects.

No wonder, an overwhelming number of lawmakers -- 212 to be exact -- voted to impeach Gutierrez. And...multiply that by P20M you'll get exactly P4,240,000,000!

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I am wondering why P-Noy had to resort to this move, considering that he controls the Lower House.

I am of the belief that he has a strong following in the House of Representatives, so I'm baffled that he had to shell out billions of pesos just to have his orders approved.

Kung nasa iyo ang suporta ng mga kaalyado, kahit hindi mo na sila bigyan ng payola ay susundin nila ang anumang gugustuhin mo, basta't nasa katwiran ito.

Maybe, P-Noy is trying to drive home a point that he is doing something to eradicate corruption in government.

But to do it this way leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

If that's the case, P-Noy is no different now than GMA before.

Comments and suggestions: esns03@yahoo.com.