Senator TG Guingona innovative ways to communicate issues

I noticed that among all the senators and even congressmen, Senator TG Guingona uses new media such as youtube as one of his innovative ways of communicating to the public. The first video he shared in Twitter was a tour of the Senate. This time around, his staff showed me his current videos that sheds light to some of questions, concerns or frustrations with the ongoing AFP investigation.

The Blue Ribbon hearings on the plea bargain and AFP issue have been pretty much a spectacle every time witnesses are gathered in the session hall. The staff of Senator TG Guingona noticed how Facebook, Twitter, and the blogs are set abuzz once it starts broadcasting on ANC or on radio. But when people hear or talk about it, they are mostly either frustrated, or aghast by the insane amount of money that has allegedly been pocketed by these generals.

But Sen. TG, in the recent legs of the Kaya Natin! Good Governance caravan, wants to take a step further and innovatively explain the real implications of this issue – most especially, to our soldiers in the field.

So during his campus tours, he sought the help of two actors to perform a skit to explain the issue. This first skit* (‘Tsinelas’) shows how the NPA rebels are grossly ahead of our AFP soldiers in terms of gear and equipment. Sure, the hilarious skit got the students laughing — but more importantly, it gave a face to the corruption issue at hand.

The second skit is an attempt to explain the role of the Blue Ribbon committee — primarily, to conduct investigations in aid of legislation. It aims to address the frustration which the senator knows that the public is feeling about these said hearings.

“Wala namang nakukulong,” is the common frustration of the Filipino people. In connection with this, Senator Guingona was asked in the open forum regarding the solutions that the public should expect from the Blue Ribbon investigations — and this was his straightforward answer:

Ang imbestigasyon ng Senado at Kongreso ay hindi para magpakulong ng mga nagkasala. Nag-iimbestiga po para magkaroon ng batas, at para hindi na ulit mangyari ang nangyari. Hindi ako kontento doon. Pinuntahan ko mismo si Secretary Leila de Lima. Sinabihan ko siya na, “Alam mo, galit ang taumbayan, [at] sinasabi nila na nag-iimbestiga na naman. Baka daw wala na namang mangyari. Kayo ang Department of Justice, kayo [ang] dapat ang magpakulong sa nagkakasala sa taumbayan. Tapatin mo ako. Talaga bang may mangyayari?” Sinabi sa’kin ni Secretary de Lima na: “Yes, I have direct instructions from the president na ikulong ang dapat ikulong at managot ang dapat managot.”

Another fiery question he was asked in the forum was: “Bakit hindi pa gumagalaw against the Ombudsman?” To which he answered:

Antayin natin ang report ng Blue Ribbon. Malapit na lumabas ang report namin. Isa sa mga rekomendasyon namin ay talagang dapat gumalaw [na] sapagkat sa tingin namin, ang Ombudsman ay gumawa ng isang bagay na sa tingin namin ay pagtataksil sa pagtitiwala na ibinigay sa kanya ng taumbayan.

Hanggang ngayon, kahit mayroon tayong bagong presidente ay nandoon pa rin ang pagkawalang pananagutan ng mga nagkasala. Hindi puwede iyan. Kailangan managot ang dapat managot. May armas ka man o wala, makapangyarihan ka man o hindi – lahat ng mga opisyales ng gobyerno ay dapat managot sa taumbayan. Kung ang ombudsman mismo ang problema, kailangan siya din ay managot sa taumbayan. Walang sagrado dito sa Pilipinas.

*Skits were from the Kaya Natin! Caravan for Good Governance in Malayan Colleges Laguna. They were performed as interjections for Senator TG Guingona’s talk.