EDITORIAL : THE DAILY TRIBUNE, THE PHILIPPINES

                                 

 

Rated

Defiant Land Transportation Office (LTO) chief, Virginia Torres, a Noynoy-coddled shooting buddy, yesterday said she would resign — on condition that critics prove their charges that she is guilty of wrongdoing.

But didn’t the Department of Justice (DoJ) panel that investigated her and her acts in relation to the raid at Stradcom, where she was caught on video, to force a takeover by the other faction, enough proof that she is guilty of wrongdoing, with even the recommendation of her being dismissed from her post?

And wasn’t the memo — two in fact — enough evidence that her superior at that time, Department of Transportation and Communication Secretary Ping de Jesus, sufficient evidence that (a) De Jesus already shown the benefits government enjoys though the IT provider, Stradcom and (b) Didn’t the April 6 memo of the DoTC chief also call for the sacking of Torres, due to her gross insubordination, such as her refusal to obey legitimate orders from her superiors, as well as gross negligence, provide substantial evidence?

But Torres, knowing that she has won her battle with Ping de Jesus, as it was he who left while she gets reinstated by her protector, Noynoy, she now blasts her so-called critics and demanding that they prove their allegations.

Neat, but that doesn’t fly with the public, in view of the substantial evidence that has already been bared.

Of course Torres can expect protection — and from Noynoy himsef. Already, when the contoversy over the resignation of Ping was red-hot, Noynoy had already announced to the media that Torres would be back at her post, as she already had served her “penalty” which to him was the 60-day suspension.

But clearly that wasn’t the penalty recommended by either the DoJ chiefs or the DoTC head, as both called for her dismissal, which in turn, means that Noynoy was clearly protecting his shooting buddy, Torres.

Noynoy even went to the extent of covering up for her, and ensuring that she would be cleared by his Commission on Audit (CoA) and even by his Soliciitor-General, Anselmo Cadiz, who absolved Torres, saying that she was right to withhold payment to Stradcom due to the intra-corporate fight it had.

Interestingly, however, not a single mention was made about Torres’ act — caught on video — of raiding the offices of Stradcom inside the LTO compound in Quezon City last Dec. 9, 2010, and behind her, with the group of Bonifacio Sumbilla, the Stardcom faction at war with th Quiambo group.

If, as claimed by Torres, that this was an intra-corporate fight, why then did she show partiality to the group of Sumbilla and had gone into a raid of the Stradcom facility?

That’s pretty difficult for Torres or even Noynoy and his Palace aides to disprove, as the video exists.

But Torres can always rely on her shooting buddy, Noynoy, to protect her all the way.

As things stand, Noynoy and his Palace boys are already into a cover-up job for her.

A memo from De Jesus to Noynoy, recommending the continued use of the IT provider for the automated LTO as against the manual system which was bared by the Tribune, was quickly spun by the Palace mouthpieces who could hardly deny the existence of the Memo, as Tribune showed the memo itself in the photo. What they did instead was to claim that it was not a recommendation, but merely a study of some sort.

But there went Noynoy, even claiming that there was a study made showing that the services of Stradcom were of no benefit to the government, which was a clear contradiction of De Jesus’ recommendation.

In the case of the second memo dated April 6 and reported by another newspaper, the Palace boys quickly denied its existence. If that is not a cover-up, what is?

And this is what Noynoy calls the straight path, and transparency?