Now worth more than Atong?

The formerly most wanted fugitive in the Philippines, Atong Ang has been dethroned after the DILG “spokesperson” announced that the government is now offering a 50-million-peso bounty for retired PNP Chief and Senator on the run, Bato Dela Rosa.

For some strange reason, 50 million pesos has now become the price for any information leading to the arrest of any. I’ve always said “Good Luck” as far as nabbing Atong Ang with 50 million because he used to spend that much in sabong in one day.

As far as Zaldy Co is concerned, he has now become a myth among fishing enthusiast as the big fish that got away once, and if EU officials stick to laws and procedures, Zaldy Co may end up on the “threatened and endangered” species list.

Being such a skeptic, I cannot help but imagine that in the case of Zaldy Co, the government might be practicing the fishing rule of “catch and release” where certain varieties and sizes are best allowed to be free.

So now, the DILG “spokesperson” has taken it as a personal test of his patience and kindness as Senator Bato dela Rosa resists arrest and refuses to surrender.

I attach the title “spokesperson” because for all intents and purposes, the DILG Secretary has also assumed the role of “spokesperson” perhaps to sustain visibility leading to the 2028 elections.

This is pure speculation, but it would not surprise me if Senator Bato is living in “No Man’s” land somewhere in “Muslim Mindanao” where local warlords and ex-rebels are in control.

Unlike the “Kingdom of Quiboloy” that the PNP easily entered, Muslim Mindanao can be traumatic for any arresting team. The idea of arresting your former chief in an area that could cause a repeat of the SAF 44 Massacre might just be too much to bear.

But let’s stop right there. I honestly think the 50-million-peso bounty for Senator Dela Rosa is more of a political ampaw, not the envelope with good luck money. Ampaw in this case is something or someone that is empty, hollow or lacking in true substance.

The bounty for Senator Bato may simply be intended to divert media and public attention from the devastating loss of face that the administration and members of Congress suffered at the hands of the Supreme Court, our last bastion of righteousness and justice.

It was only last week that the Supreme Court officially ruled that the 2024 – 2025 budgets were unconstitutional. That has been the sentiment of economist and political analysts, former legislators and government officials, media and the public at large after those budgets were signed.

Looking back, try to remember the controversy about blank portions of the proposed 2025 budgets that Davao City Congressman Isidro Ungab, Congressman Pantaleon Alvarez, Senator Imee Marcos, and former president Rodrigo Duterte called out.

After so much heat, even President Bongbong was very dismissive about the claims.

PRRD’s pointed comments on the irregularity may have been the wound, the threat thereof, that eventually led to the “kidnapping” and Trump-style deportation and delivery of PRRD to the ICC in The Hague.    

In response to the decision, Malacañang plans to appeal the SC decision, perhaps to delay the inevitable, while the Senate wants clarification and guidance regarding the particular parts of the budgets that the SC declared unconstitutional.

I find the Senate move hypocritical because even some members had pointed out that those approved budgets were questionable and defective. You cooked the goose but don’t know the recipe?

Even so, no political excuse or playing dumb can soften the blow of the Commission on Audit that previously issued a report that pointed out incomplete documentation and non-compliance of necessary procedures.

The COA mentioned that several Special Allotment Release Orders were processed and approved in 1 to 3 days when the normal procedure takes 20 days. A random sampling of 53 SAROs revealed that all of them lacked necessary documents.

While the 50-million-peso bounty for Sen. Bato got some headlines on a slow news day, the findings and decision of the Supreme Court finding the 2024 and 2025 national budget unconstitutional has repercussions amounting to billions of pesos and a longer shelf life.

Witnesses and documents as well as forensic analysis on the illegality and corruption attached to the authors and engineers of the unconstitutional budget will be a lot easier than uncovering the tracks of Sen. Bato, Atong Ang, and Zaldy Co. 

While the Supreme Court decision does not attach guilt or liability directly to any party, it certainly opens the flood gates for plunder cases and eventually jail time.

From the looks of it, Martin Romualdez may no longer need to throw someone under the bus, he can now spend jail time planning the welcome party for his party mates and fellow legislators to the state penitentiary.

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Since I can’t donate blood, please allow me to nag and remind our readers to consider joining the 85th Rizal Medical Center anniversary blood donation drive which will be on Dec. 7, 8 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Due to the stringent screening of donors, the organizers need to get as many volunteers as possible for screening in order to hit the target of 150 to 200 qualified blood donors. For particulars, please call 0933-8288-2957 Jovani P. Padrigano RN