From "tibak" to gun-totting big shot..!

"The President had said that Llamas, then-president of a leftist organization, will serve as a bridge between political parties and various sectors of society. “He belongs to Akbayan, which is a major coalition partner,” Mr. Aquino reportedly said in a text message to ABS-CBN News."

By: Dan Mariano

In his defense of Ronald Llamas, President Aquino evidently failed to grasp what the controversy arising from the discovery of a gun inside his adviser’s car is all about.
No doubt, Llamas has a right to defend himself if indeed he and his family are—as Mr. Aquino put it before members of the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP) on Wednesday—“under very real threat.”

Mr. Aquino even volunteered the information: “There are people allegedly trailing his children. There were people sighted in the vicinity of their house that were not identified.”
Even if all that were true, the point of the controversy is that Llamas and his staff flouted the law and police regulations, including those that gave the palace adviser the privilege to carry a gun outside his house.

Besides, at the time of the gun’s discovery Llamas was safely overseas. How could it have been of any use when it was detected by police to defend him from the “very real threat” that the President mentioned in his FOCAP remarks?

Llamas, who has admitted to owning several other firearms, evidently does not take gun regulations seriously—either that or he is not aware of them. In any case, ignorance of the law excuses no one, especially not a Cabinet member.

Any other citizen who fails to properly secure a firearm could soon find himself in trouble—facing jail time or, at the very least, police extortion.

It may be that Llamas’s weapon—reportedly one of those bulky Kalashnikovs that weigh over 11 pounds, or five kilos, without a magazine and about three feet long—is duly licensed with the police Firearms and Explosives Division (FED). It could also be true that Llamas had gotten from the FED, too, a so-called Permit to Carry Firearms Outside of Residence (PTCFOR or PTC), pursuant to Presidential Decree 1866.

Still, the circumstances of the discovery of the assault rifle inside an official car assigned to Llamas tend to show that serious violations of gun laws were committed by his aides and by Llamas himself.

Every PTC card clearly spells out six “conditions/restrictions” of the privilege—not right—to carry a gun outside the owner’s home. Number two stipulates: “This PTC is non-transferable.” Number three:

“The firearm must not be displayed or exposed to public view and cased.” Number five: “The valid firearm license/MR/ARE/MO/LO must always be carried with this PTCFOR.”

Any violation of these conditions/restrictions will nullify or invalidate the privilege, the PTC states. It also says: “The licensee and the license holder shall be charged for infringement of the law, if evidence warrants.”

Llamas has claimed that he was unaware that his two aides—who were said to have gone on a “joyride” in a government-owned sport utility vehicle (SUV) the night it collided with a truck—were in possession of his gun. That statement should be taken as further proof that Llamas failed to properly secure his weapon and ensure that it remains in his house while not in use for his personal protection.

According to published reports, Llamas has already sacked two members of his staff who were aboard the Office of Political Affairs (OPA) vehicle, a late-model Mitsubishi Montero, which crashed into a truck along Commonwealth Avenue on the night of October 7.

By the way, isn’t there supposed to be a ban on the purchase of pricey vehicles, such as SUVs, by government agencies like OPA? Moreover, does Llamas routinely allow his aides to use OPA vehicles during their off-hours? Or are such vehicles—as in the case of those deployed to many other state agencies—“For Official Use ALSO”?

Now that the President has spoken up in behalf of his political adviser, what law enforcer would put his career on the line and throw the proverbial book at Llamas or even his staff?

It is a shame that this happened to someone like Llamas who had been handpicked by the President to represent those forces in the ideological spectrum that traditionally were shut out of government.

Earlier this year, media reports have it that Mr. Aquino went the proverbial extra mile to justify his decision to install a “street parliamentarian” in his official family.

In an article posted on the abs-cbnNEWS.com website on January 20, TV correspondent Willard Cheng reported that the President “defended” his decision to name Llamas as his political affairs adviser.

The President had said that Llamas, then-president of a leftist organization, will serve as a bridge between political parties and various sectors of society. “He belongs to Akbayan, which is a major coalition partner,” Mr. Aquino reportedly said in a text message to ABS-CBN News.

The report quoted Akbayan sources as saying that Llamas was a student activist—or tibak, in street parlance—at the University of Santo Tomas where he studied journalism. He subsequently “helped organize labor unions, urban poor communities, peasant groups and other basic sector organizations.”

Llamas later served in various organizations, including the Center for Education and Research for Government Employees, Center for Popular Empowerment, Freedom from Debt Coalition, Institute of Politics and Governance, Center for Agrarian Reform and Transformation, and Partnership for Agrarian Reform and Rural Development Services, Inc.

Along with former University of the Philippines president Francisco Nemenzo and UP sociology professor Randy David, Llamas co-founded the Bukluran sa Ikauunlad ng Sosyalistang Isip at Gawa (BISIG), described as a “social democratic group”—as opposed to more radical formations linked to the underground Communist Party of the Philippines.

On Llamas’s appointment to the P-Noy Cabinet, Akabayn reportedly said: “We are honored by this pronouncement as it proves once more the sincerity, intensity and expertise of our leaders and of our political party in working towards the fulfillment of our people’s aspiration of a democratic and people-oriented government committed to reforms.”

How often has it happened that self-appointed social liberators turn into what they used to rail against as soon as they taste power.