Since President Arroyo assumed office in 2001, First Gentleman Mike Arroyo had been implicated in almost all the cases involving graft and corruption. It seems that Mr. Arroyo is always the flavor of the month of critics and political enemies of the President.

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Recall that he was accused of receiving a bribe to help recall a presidential veto on two congressional bills, but the accusers soon recanted their statements because they did not have direct knowledge. In other words, it was hearsay.

Then came Mike A?s inveterate heckler, Senator Ping Lacson, accusing him of having the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office release P250 million for administration candidates in the 2001 senatorial elections. That, too, fell flat on its face because the accuser could not substantiate his charge. Lacson struck again in 2003, accusing Mr. Arroyo of amassing P200 million from contributions in the 1998 vice presidential campaign of GMA. Then the Jose Pidal brouhaha came also from Lacson, a supposed account pinned on Mike, but his brother Rep. Ignacio Arroyo claimed it was his.

Two self-confessed jueteng bagmen also implicated the First Gentleman; they later apologized. Came the infamous ?Hello Garci? scandal that Mike allegedly masterminded, with tales of boxes full of cash, which could not be substantiated. Then came the charge that Mike had secret accounts abroad. Similarly unsubstantiated.

The most damaging came when two whistle-blowers who had their few minutes of fame implicated the FG to the ZTE-national broadband network deal. There was a Senate inquiry which has yet to be terminated, but it lacked substantial proof of Mike?s involvement. Then the Joc-joc Bolante P728-million fertilizer scam erupted which opposition tried to trace to the President and the FG. That, too, fell flat on its face.

Now, Lacson again is coming out with charges and from his academy of witnesses to implicate FG to the World Bank bid-rigging row. But it appears that it?s all hearsay, innuendoes, insinuations, uncorroborated charges.

Santa Banana, if we were to believe everything said against Mike Arroyo, he?d take the cake for being the most maligned, and the best whipping boy spouse of a President can have! My gulay, in my over a half a century in Philippine journalism, I?ve never seen a more accused person than Mike A. of charges never substantiated.

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If there?s anything the critics and political enemies of the President had succeeded in the time since she assumed office in January of 2001, it?s in creating public opinion against the First Couple so much so that anything good the President does is beclouded with charges of graft and corruption.

I?m not saying that Mike Arroyo is a saint. But as a lawyer, I go for motivations of his accusers and on what kind of proof his accusers have in demonizing him. In the case of Ping Lacson, he perhaps believes that his attacks are his ticket to Malaca?ang.

But Santa Banana, that?s how it is with public opinion. People are prone to believe what they read in the newspapers and the worst of people in power. The perfect example of this is the consistently low popularity ratings of the President.

As it is said, lies repeated long enough soon become the truth in the minds of some people. And the opposition is taking advantage of it.

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A businessman-friend asked me: Will there be Cha-cha before President Arroyo steps down in 2010?

From where I sit, all things considered, I believe time and events have overtaken Charter change, especially the much-maligned Constituent Assembly being pushed by some members of Congress since in a Consa, anything can happen, even the extension of terms of even elective official including that of the President. The Senate would have none of it, especially with the move to have a joint session to amend the Constitution. The Senate has already take a position that the two chambers of Congress have to vote separately, an issue which only the Supreme Court can decide.

Aside from these, come April and June, those seeking reelection or would like to get elected either as senators or congressmen will no more have time for Cha-cha since it?s campaign time, when here in the Philippines campaigning starts a year and long before the actual elections.

How about a Con-Con or Constitutional Convention? That, too, has been overtaken by time and events since it would need no less than P10 billion to elect delegates and sustain them, and another year for deliberation. That?s why I believe Con-Con is possible only after the May 2010 polls.

In the case of an amendment on the economic provisions of the Charter which is being pushed by Speaker Prospero Nograles, it could be possible before the end of the year. But that, too, is nebulous since most senators are against it; they are afraid that it could open the doors for other constitutional amendments.

In any case, while I?m a strong advocate for Charter change, all things considered, and more importantly, in the face of a global financial meltdown affecting the country this year like unemployment and economic slowdown, the policy should be ?first things first.?

And worst of all, it?s an election year, when the government machinery will slow down because of too much recriminations. Santa Banana, the people could need a Cha-cha controversy like a hole in the head.

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If only to show you what kind of senators we have elected to office is the quarrel between former Senate Blue Ribbon committee chairman Alan Peter Cayetano and incumbent chairman Dick Gordon on the termination of the Senate inquiry on the aborted ZTE-National Broadband Network deal between China and the Philippines.

The excuse of Cayetano why he had not submitted his final report on the investigation of the ZTE-NBN project is that he?s still awaiting the testimony of former Speaker Jose de Venecia, a testimony long-awaited but may never come because De Venecia could implicate himself if he opens his mouth. Gordon wants to terminate the inquiry as incumbent chairman.

The ZTE-NBN Senate inquiry may just be one investigation, but it is a reflection on what?s happening in the Senate. They fight not only over turf, but on non-issues depending on their political agenda. Come to think of it, my gulay, has anybody ever been prosecuted and jailed as a result of all the countless congressional investigations supposedly ?in aid of legislation??

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Makati Mayor Jojo Binay, who possibly will run for another office since he?s no longer eligible for re-election, fulfilled his obligations insofar as we, senior citizens, are concerned.

Binay gives us the necessary 20-percent discounts when we buy medicines and when we eat at restaurants in compliance with the law. He also gives us free movies in Makati moviehouses. Santa Banana, my wife and I also receive our birthday cakes in time, courtesy of Binay, and the P1,000 apiece we get every mid-year and Christmas as bonuses. We, senior citizens, in Makati are actually the envy of others in other cities in Metro Manila.

All that is well and good. But, before Jojo steps down from office, I have one last request from him as a senior citizen. I would like to walk around the Central Business District of Makati, but I can?t because Makati?s sidewalks, supposedly for pedestrians, are no longer there. They have either been occupied for parking or blocked by some instructions along the way. So much so that if we senior citizens dare to walk along the streets, we could be run over.

Thus, Mayor Binay, please listen to this plea of a senior citizen who would like to walking along the sidewalks of the CBD for exercise. Give back to us pedestrians Makati?s sidewalks!

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As an advocate of clean air and clean environment, I wonder what?s being done with the dangerous, lethal and toxic garbage from Metro Manila?s hospitals, both public and private.

There had been instances when these are just dumped along with ordinary garbage to Payatas and other landfills for metro?s garbage daily.

I don?t know what the DENR?s Bureau of Waste Management is doing, but (yuck!) I can just imagine if those garbage scavengers ply their trade in garbage dumps!