This must be the people’s song for Pangulong Gloria these days:
I don’t wanna jueteng vain for your love
I don’t wanna jueteng vain for your love
After the people took back the power from an alleged “Lord of all jueteng lords,” and Ate Glo, a.k.a “Ina ng Bayan” took over, the people have been waiting for her to let them feel her love. She did, actually, but only in the form of such dole-outs as Patubig ni Gloria and the road-cleaning projects that gave temporary jobs to hundreds of thousands of people during the campaign season last year.
As evidenced by the President’s plunging satisfaction rating (-12 as of March, according to Social Weather Stations) it seems that most of the Filipinos don’t feel that the President has genuine concern for them. Instead, they feel that they are being burdened by additional taxes and inflation.
Amid all these, the jueteng controversy comes back to haunt the First Family. The First Gentleman may be correct when he said “We are not stupid to get involved in an issue that deposed former President (Estrada),†but that doesn’t stop people like Senator Aquilino Pimentel from believing that his wife ““benefited from jueteng.”
I believe that it would outrage the people to know that the president who came to power with the help of Juetengate also benefits from the illegal numbers game. The First family must prove that it indeed has nothing to do with jueteng.
After lying in December 2002 about not seeking reelection, she said, “This nation is at a crossroads: quite simply, it must reform or perish.” The same is now true about her administration.