Semester 2 Lecture 7 - Is there a 'Backdoor' Approach to Creating a shadow PNP?

ood evening class,” I was clutching the day’s newspaper as I walked into my Omega Class, making sure the headline story was clearly showing. I did this on purpose, hoping to see which of my junior law students had done any advance reading of their 1987 Constitution, being that the class was still on Article II.

“Somebody is really keen on violating the Constitution so soon after just taking office huh, Professor?”

“You think so, Roberto?” I recognized Roberto Sigalot, the fellow who ‘inherited’ his parents’ empty condo unit in Baguio and thought enrolling in law school might be a great idea to kill time while staying in it.

“I’m just reacting to the headline story in that newspaper you’re holding, sir,” he said, then with a sing-song voice he quoted the headline, “VP Sara defends P150-Million confidential funds in DepEd Budget.”

“Well, I hope you read the whole story anytime earlier today, Mr. Sigalot, because I’d hate to see someone being judgmental on the Vice-president based on just one short sentence,” I responded.

“Oh, I Googled her all day today, sir. I was really trying hard to see her point. I gave her the benefit of all my doubt, but I still came to the same conclusion.”

“Which is…?”

“She violates TWO very important provisions of the 1987 Constitution—”

“TWO? Wow. Really?” I interrupted , “that’s a very bold conclusion. I'm impressed, Roberto, especially since the last time I read the Constitution, it did NOT have any provision dealing exclusively with the Vice-president.”

His classmates all turned to look at him as if to say, “Lagot! Saan mo hinugot yung reasoning mo??”

“That’s right, sir, there is NO article exclusively about the vice-president. In fact, the Constitution doesn’t even bother to define the duties of a vice-president. But I submit that she violated her oath of office by exceeding her duties and overstepping her authority under the Constitution.”

“That’s very interesting,” I decided to sit down for the long explanation that I knew had to follow, “Tell us, Roberto, how can she possibly EXCEED her duties if the Constitution does not even define what those duties are?”

“Well, sir the Constitution required her to take an oath before assuming office, and the oath goes like this: ‘I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully and conscientiously fulfill my duties as Vice-President of the Philippines, preserve and defend its Constitution, execute its laws, do justice to every man, and consecrate myself to the service of the Nation. So help me God,” Mr. Sigalot recited from memory.

“Okay, so far,” I said, “so what do you think happened. God didn’t help her?”

“I’m sure God was trying, sir, but she chose to listen to Greed and Ambition, instead when she asked Congress to allocate P500-million for the Office of the Vice President first and another P150-million pesos ALL in ‘confidential funds’ for her office and for DepEd, in clear violation of Article VI, Section 25, paragraph 2—”

“My, my...WHAT does that provision say?” I poked deeper.

“Sir, it states that ‘No provision or enactment shall be embraced in the general appropriations bill unless it relates specifically to some particular appropriation therein. Any such provision or enactment shall be limited in its operation to the appropriation to which it relates.”

“You may have a point there, Roberto, but so your classmates can understand better, tell them what’s wrong with blind items in a budget,” I coaxed him along.

“Sir, appropriation is not only about allocating money, but also about ensuring that money is actually spent for the purpose it was allocated for. So, okay, she might say I want P650-million total appropriated for ‘intelligence funds.’ That’s the APPROPRIATION, but what’s the PURPOSE? Congress does not only have the power of budget appropriation but ALSO budget oversight. But it’s impossible to track money if you have no idea where it is going. That’s why ‘confidential funds’ are anathema to government spending,” Roberto explained.

“Anathema…that’s a big word,” I played along, “but you know, Roberto, if you had read VP Sara’s official statement in the papers, she explained in microdetail the purposes why she needs all that money—”

“I know, sir, I read that too,” the boy insisted, “she said the money will be used for intelligence gathering to single out those threats to the national security lurking within the institutions of government, sort of like flushing out any ‘sleeper cells’ of the CPP-NPA that are buried deep inside the government and only waiting to be activated so they can work to overthrow the government from the inside. She’s saying the money will be used to purify the government from all elements and influences of communism and terrorism.”

“And you don’t agree with that objective?” I asked.

“I think that objective is dishonest and illusory sir, and certainly not worth spending P650-million for.”

“What’s so dishonest about trying to remove any Vladimir Putin-wannabes in government?” I coaxed him clarify some more.

“First of all, sir, the Office of the Vice President is a BRAND NEW agency every time there’s a new vice -president. SHE will be the only one responsible for staffing that entire agency, appointing every man, woman and LGBTQ-person in it because it is HER office, HER department, HER exclusive domain. Why would she need P500-million to make sure that SHE doesn’t appoint any communist-terrorists?”

The class gives a long, “Oooooohhhh….! Oo nga naman.”

“Hmmm…I see,” I rub my chin to indicate that I thought he made a valid point, “On the other hand, Mr. Sigalot, there are more than 800,000 public school teachers NATIONWIDE under DepEd and all of them have been there BEFORE VP Sara ever became DepEd Secretary. Don’t you think she might be justified being a little bit leery with them?”

“No, sir, public school teachers are some of the most loyal troops of the government, no matter who is the President or Vice-president. If she thought these ultra-conservative maestros and maestras had a single communist bone in their bodies, they certainly have a funny way of showing their communist leanings by helping HER and President Bongbong Marcos win!” this brings the class to a healthy laugh.

“Solid point there, Roberto,” I acknowledgeed, “and maybe that’s why she is asking for LESS money for the DepEd’s ‘intelligence fund’—ONLY P150-million,” and the class roars in guffaw.

“But allow me to play devil’s advocate just a little bit more, Mr. Sigalot,” I said, intent on defending my pañera Inday Sara as much as I can, for as long as I can, “The vice-president wasn’t just talking about rooting out communist-terrorists. She was also concerned about gathering intelligence to uncover drug syndicates, human trafficking syndicates, gambling syndicates and other organized crime syndicates that may be lurking within these government institutions. Certainly you’ll agree that fighting these vicious criminals is going to take extensive field operations, both open and covert. I mean, you’re talking of a NATIONWIDE network of highly-trained undercover agents, informants, and in this day and age, maybe even panels of cyber-experts. All these have to be part of an elaborate system of NATIONWIDE coordination. So can you just imagine the level of organization needed for something like THAT, Roberto?”

“Yes, I can, sir. It would be in the magnitude of the operations of the PNP itself and THAT is how she violates the Constitution a SECOND time, sir “

“I’m sorry, you kinda lost me there somewhere, Mr. Sigalot…..Go back to, ‘magnitude of operation of the PNP’ is WHAT??” I feigned inattentiveness to help him set up his punch line.

“Sir, what VP Sara is trying to set up indirectly is her own NATIONWIDE law detection and enforcement network but bypassing the selection and qualification process prescribed by the Constitution. She's using a backdoor approach to create a shadow PNP, but one that is completely under HER exclusive control."

“And would you care to state that particular constitutional provision that shows that what she is attempting to do is extralegal?” I challenged the boy.

“Yes, sir, it’s Article XVI, Section 6 which states ‘The State shall establish and maintain ONE POLICE FORCE WHICH SHALL BE NATIONAL IN SCOPE and civilian in character, to be administered and controlled by a NATIONAL POLICE COMMISSION.” Roberto recited, again from memory.

“In short, you’re saying that VP Sara is acting like a one-woman National Police Commission?”

“Yes, sir, and all those spineless congressmen, congresswomen and senators are not even putting up any semblance of opposition, not even a hint of fiscalizing, or check-and-balancing…NOTHING!”

“Uh-huh…well…” this time I was groping for words. The boy made a solid argument, “P650-million ‘intelligence funds’ allocated and approved in under NINE MINUTES, I guess you’re right. That is not a lot of opposition or check-and-balancing at all.”

My Omega Class looked totally disgusted as the realization sank in their heads.

“Did you get all of that, class? Did you learn something out of your classmate’s amazing research?” I said, looking approvingly in the direction of Mr. Roberto Sigalot.”

“Yes, sir, we learned something REALLY very eye-opening,” Miss Ursula Bahag-hari answered for the class.

“Really? And what is that?” I just wanted to confirm.

“Our congressmen, congresswomen and senators are all SPINELESS!” the class exploded in guffaws and high-fiving all around.

“You people are disgusting!” I joked, “CLASS DISMISSED!”*