Aguirre’s math
Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II is on the spotlight again, this time for belittling the magnitude of the P6.4 billion worth of “shabu” (crystal meth) from China that got past the Bureau of Customs.
No less than administration ally Sen. Dick Gordon, chair of the Senate blue ribbon committee, is making the criticism.
“The secretary of justice has to do more in helping solve the problem of drugs. It was disheartening to note that, in the hearing of 19th September, he seemed to have given up on the case,” Gordon said.
Mr. Senator, try to understand Aguirre because he probably doesn’t even understand the word “magnitude.”
He’s too dense for a justice secretary.
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Like many lawyers, Aguirre doesn’t know his math.
The justice secretary probably thinks that the difference between “billion” and “million” is in their first letters.
So, to Mr. Aguirre, P6.4 billion is equivalent to P6.4 million.
However, even P6.4 million worth of shabu is not something to be sneezed at because when it is distributed in the streets the value could balloon 100 times.
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And since Aguirre doesn’t know how to count, he probably subtracted P1,000 from P50 million, which is the threshold for a plunder case to be filed against corrupt government officials.
Former Deputy Immigration Commissioners Michael Robles and Al Argosino, Aguirre’s fraternity “brods” at Lex Talionis, got off the plunder charge when P1,000 went missing from the P50 million that they extorted from casino mogul Jack Lam.
Robles and Argosino have been charged with a bailable offense of graft and direct bribery, instead of the nonbailable plunder charge.
Aguirre took in Robles and Argosino into the Bureau of Immigration, an agency under the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Akala kasi ni Aguirre na bobo ang taumbayan na gaya niya (Aguirre thinks the public is witless like him).
Some DOJ insiders say Robles and Argosino had to be “saved” at all cost because they might start talking.
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President Digong should look beyond his classmates and schoolmates in choosing members of his Cabinet, some of whom are NPAs or nonperforming assets.
These Cabinet members are not only NPAs; they are also liabilities.
Again, San Beda College of Law doesn’t hold a monopoly of talents.
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In order to become very efficient, an engine should stop running for a while to give it restful maintenance.
The same way with the human body, which is a perfect engine.
My recent vacation has not only given me rest but also made me view some things in a different perspective.
I think the President should take a short vacation to give himself rest. He looks tired and harassed.
A short respite from his hectic schedule in running the country will do him a world of good.
But he should have a responsible Cabinet member run the affairs of government, like Benjamin Diokno or Jun Evasco.
