Just how stupid do they think we are?

Returning to less edifying matters, the Arroyo administration’s lack of respect for the public’s common sense always seems to find new depths to plumb. The claim that the half million peso “keep quiet’ bribe given to Jun Lozada by Deputy Executive Secretary Manuel Gaite was “not public money” was nicely ridiculed in the Inquirer on Wednesday.

He may be receiving a monthly salary of only about P50,000, but Deputy Executive Secretary Manuel Gaite says he will not hesitate to shell out P500,000 to a person in need -- like whistle-blower Rodolfo Noel “Jun” Lozada Jr.

Gaite on Tuesday portrayed himself as the proverbial Good Samaritan who lent a hand to Lozada, only to discover later that the man had turned against him.

“I believed him, I pitied him,” Gaite said in a statement. “When my wife saw the text [message] and asked me about it, she also felt pity for him and asked if there was any way I could help him.”

Gaite admitted giving P500,000 to Lozada through the latter’s brother Owe, but said that it came from his own pocket. Gaite’s statement included what appeared to be a photocopied receipt signed by Owe Lozada for the P500,000.

“I wish to state that no government fund was used in the money that I gave to Mr. Lozada,” Gaite said.

“It is not true, as claimed by Lozada, that the money I gave him through his brother was meant to prevent him from appearing in the Senate hearing nor make him tell a lie if he appears in the hearing.”

Perhaps realizing how fatuous this tale sounded, by today, the Malacañang spin doctors were spinning another (but no more probable) story.

Here is Gaite’s boss, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita:

“He (Gaite) produced the amount, but it does not necessarily mean that it came from his pocket,” Ermita said at his regular press conference.

Ermita said Gaite, the head of the Office of the Executive Secretary’s legal department, would be able to explain how he was able to pool the P500,000. But Ermita left to his subordinate the burden of filling up the missing details.

Pressed to divulge the private donor in an ambush interview, Ermita said: “I cannot tell that to you. As I told you, he (Gaite) is willing to divulge that at the proper time, at the proper forum.”

Ermita said there was an “ongoing legal process” and he was not in a position to expound on the issue.

“But he’s not saying that it came from his own pocket,” Ermita said. “Don’t force me to say it. You might succeed.”

Huh?

Comments

[mcoy]

"Just how stupid do they think we are?"

it's a question we may never stop asking.

[Pian]

This is obviously a desperate move for cover-up. But still I want GMA to finish her term since the real problem is our democratic system where voters elect only officials who are popular and not those who are capable. I wouldn’t risk leaving the country into the hands of one who was voted simply because he’s popular with the masses and nothing else. Maybe you stamped out corruption, but only popular people remain to be voted.