"ZTE" Overload

I'm so glad that Joey De Venecia, as far as his career as one of most cooperative witnesses in the history of the Senate is concerned-- finally decided to call it quits. He contends that he already said everything he had to say and ergo, his appearance is no longer necessary in the continuing investigation surrounding the controversial and now moot, ZTE contract.

In the midst of all the brouhaha spawned by his expose, I was absorbed, enraged even at the audacity of all these thick-skinned and back-stabbing officials haggling between themselves, millions of pesos or dollars in kickbacks. It was almost surreal, and tragic too in the case of once-incorruptible men, who had turned corrupt.

As De Venecia kept coming back to testify however, his version of the events became more complicated, convoluted and at times, bizarre. I was almost afraid he'd suddenly start laughing his head of for no reason as the entire nation watched on live TV.

To his credit, I realized that this guy must have guts of steel. I found myself asking over and over--What's in it for him? Because all I could see was-- here was a guy who had nothing to gain and everything to lose. Why did he do it? Why push your own family to the wall? And it seemed the only conclusion--the unnerving, the terrifying answer to that was--you'd never dare go to all THAT trouble unless it was the TRUTH.

As the old adage goes, truth is stranger than fiction. In the Philippines, anything goes. Politicians, commissioners, businessmen and what have you's--could make anything possible in their insatiable, wheeling-and-dealing world, of course, always at the expense of the people.

I realized too how intricately intertwined politics and business is, in mundongnoypi. This disgusting system of patronage and mutual parisitic dependence between the go-to guys of business and politics is one of the main reasons why, the gaping divide between rich and poor in this country could never be bridged. No offence to the heralds of the so-called "good news of the economy," because there really has never been a "level playing field." The "tree that bears much fruit" will always belong exclusively to the owner of the garden or his friend. As long as this system persists, the goods and the treats will only belong to a few, while the scraps and the crumbs will have to be scavenged by the hungry mass.

*photo courtesy of abs-cbn news