MANILA - Political analyst and University of the Philippines professor Clarita Carlos on Thursday criticized President Aquino's televised speech on prime time, saying the speech was damage control from a leader who does not have "political courage." In an interview with radio dzMM, Carlos said the Aquino administration should not to be too "onion-skinned." "He has always been whiny, what else is new?” she said. Aquino took prime time television last night to insist he is not a thief amid the alleged misuse of the Priority Development Assistance Funds (PDAF) of lawmakers and the controversy over the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP). Carlos, however, said no one ever said Aquino is a thief. "No one ever said that. We all know that Aquino is lily white. But he doesn’t have the political courage to go after his own party mates. That was what we were waiting for." She said the speech only resonated to one part of the public. "On one side are those who believe in his administration. The speech only reinforced that. The other part feels Aquino was on damage control," she said. She also said she believes bigger majority had a feeling "they were taken for a ride." "This is not black and white. This is not about, 'If you’re not with us, you are against us.'" She said DAP and the PDAF are parts of the whole system of corruption. Carlos noted: "The only reason why an animal such as the DAP came out is because s**t has already hit the fan.” The political analyst said the whole issue is about corruption. This is why the public wants the administration to be transparent even with its own party mates and allies, she said. “If you have savings [where the DAP allegedly came from] and you don’t have a national strategy, do you go to lawmakers? Do they have the special knowledge that scientific planners don't have?” she asked. Carlos also said Aquino’s line that everyone is his boss is already “corny." She said Aquino should not squander his political capital by dismissing transparency and accountability.
