BY GERARD NAVAL

ARCHBISHOP Oscar Cruz yesterday said the new appointees of President Arroyo led by newly minted National Economic Development Authority chief Ralph Recto must prove that they are not mere political accommodations for losing under the administration’s senatorial ticket in the 2007 polls.

"Let them not allow Malacañang to make them pawns in its many and big graft and corrupt practices," Cruz, former president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, said.

Aside from Recto, fellow losing senatorial bets Michael Defensor and Tito Sotto were recently appointed to government posts. Defensor was named chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 and Sotto as head of the Dangerous Drugs Board.

The three officials’ appointment came just weeks after the one-year ban on losing candidates was lifted.

Cruz said new appointees should help the administration disprove the widespread public conception that it can no longer do anything good for the country.

He said it would be very hard for Malacañang to deny that the appointments were political paybacks.

The Lingayen-Dagupan prelate said the new officials should take the opportunity to prove their real capabilities by practicing transparency "unlike their superiors."

He also called on the public to be vigilant in keeping an eye on the performance of all presidential appointees to ensure that there will be no abuses.

Militant lawmakers at the House are afraid that Recto’s NEDA appointment will bring additional harsh economic policies for the poor, considering that the former senator authored the expanded value added tax (EVAT).

"Ms. Arroyo’s appointment of the ‘Dark Knight’ who is no superhero for the poor spells more economic burdens for the poor," Anakpawis Rep. Rafael Mariano said.

Mariano challenged Recto "to revoke all anti-people economic programs by the Arroyo administration including the burdensome VAT, his pet policy that is now bleeding the Filipino people dry."

He said Recto must also set for review and open to public scrutiny the government’s new multi-million-dollar investment deals that include a 35-year supply contract with Libby’s Fruits worth $500 million in Bicol and Eastern Visayas, and with Abundant Biofuels which intends to invest $200 million in Northern Mindanao.

The President witnessed the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement between the Philippines and NTC Marketing Inc. or Libby’s Fruits of New York held at the Waldorf Hotel during her trip to the United States last month.

Trade Secretary and National Development Chair Peter Favila signed on behalf of the Philippine government and NTC Marketing chairman Michael DeRose for Libby’s Fruits.

"We want to know what are the conditions and the nitty-gritty of these contracts, because it involves farmers and the country’s agricultural lands," Mariano, who also chairs the militant Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas, said.

Mariano said such a huge amount of "investments" in fruit and biofuels production will naturally cover and require enormous tracts of lands.

"These will replicate the decades-old virtual ownership and control of our lands enjoyed by US-based agribusinesses like Del Monte and Dole in Mindanao," he said.

Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo said Recto’s appointment would be an acid test to his political career, which took a beating because of his sponsorship of the E-VAT law.

Ocampo said that while Recto’s appointment places him in a challenging situation to recommend alternative policy measures to address the crises in food, fuel and power, it would adversely affect his political career if he fails.

Gabriela Rep. Luzviminda Ilagan said Recto’s acceptance of the post "could end his political career."

"He should have resisted the appointment. If he opts to follow GMA, then it can dim his bright future. If he can be independent, and choose people’s interests, there is hope for him," she said.

Militant groups Gabriela Southern Tagalog and Kilusang Mangingisda have also expressed outrage on why Malacanang appointed someone whom they rejected in the polls.