Friday, April 25, 2008

Costly Political War

I should have immediately taken note of yesterday morning's breaking news of http://www.inquirer.net about the diving spree of PGMA in Apo Reef last Thursday, April 24, 2008. It was a day after she went to San Jose, Occidental Mindoro concerning, expectedly, the rice issue that's hounding not just her strong republic but more so the poor Filipinos.
So, what's the news about the president visiting the Apo Reef? Of couse, Apo Reef is famous across the globe as among the most beautiful diving spots.
Actually, it was not that the president took notice of Apo Reef that caught my attention. It was the information based on inquirer.net's breaking news that together with the president aboard the presidential yatch were Rep. Girlie Villarosa and Gov. Nene Sato of Occidental Mindoro. The internet news provider adds that the reason for the two political stalwarts' unusual getting together was to mend their fences.
In the first election that Gov. Nene Sato participated in, she ran as vice governor to the husband of Rep. Girlie Villarosa. Until... well, the more-seasoned politicians and "feeling-close-to-the-politicians" in the province could tell us more about how the two politicians started to part ways.
In 2001, Occidental Mindoro saw the head-on meeting of Sato and Villarosa for governorship -- which the latter miserably lost, and during which the former nearly met her death not once but twice.
I could only suppose that the ensuing political war between their two camps has been taking its toll on both of them. I mean, individually. Villarosa's murder case, as reasoned by the Quintoses, was politically motivated. Sato, for her part, had to endure a couple of ambushes. On the level of the personal, their political war has threatened and in fact grossly affected already the personal integrity of both.
I can only imagine the anguish of a man behind bars, and the fear that is known to anyone who had to crawl -- literally -- for cover as live bullets were very narrowly missing her head.
And, ... well, the president of the Philippines was reportedly trying to reconcile the two..
I would like to put forward that the costliness of their political feud is not limited to their personal or individual spheres. It spills over and drowns the province, actually. And it is the people of Occidental Mindoro who suffer more than they -- individually -- do.
While this is debatable, I would like to say that partly their political war is the reason for the absence of a long-term governance plan for Occidental Mindoro. The plan of action of the Capitol is dependent on who sits as the governor. Anyone who wins the election is expected to begin from the scratch as he/she would refuse to build on his/her predecessor's gains (and follies) and as the loser scrambles also to tear down what he/she has built on ensuring that his/her successor could have a rather late start.
If sustainable plan for governance is too abstract as a topic, let us take the case of the Capitol employees. Their's is definitely a more existential proof of my point. After every elections in Occidental Mindoro, the succeeding news to hear is about who's in and who's out in the Capitol. Casual employees are replaced, and even career employees are "floated".
Still, this is just the tip of the real effect on the people. The most crucible thing to happen to the people of Occidental Mindoro as a result of this political war is very poor service.
Occidental Mindoro is more than half-a-century old as a province; and yet the more than 200 kilometers highway from the northmost tip to the southmost municipality of Occidental Mindoro is still rough road. And this is very telling.
In the end, I can only await the outcome of the PGMA-arbitrated reconciliation between Villarosa and Sato. For one, it likewise tells that politicking in Occidental Mindoro (which is the microcosm of Philippine politics) is patronage, and is divorced from the real political animals -- the people.

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Thanksgiving Masses

In the height of the Lozada expose on the very controversial NBN project of the Arroyo regime, Masses for Truth and Accountability were held in many parishes, schools and even in streets. We expect more to be held sooner than later particularly now that the Supreme Court is going to rule with finality on the petition filed by Romulo Neri -- still in connection with NBN deal, especially on the subject of executive privilege.
As the holding of these Masses for Truth and Accountability was the most recent to copy from, the acquittal of Jose Tapales Villarosa is being celebrated in Occidental Mindoro with Thanksgiving Masses. One was held in San Jose (cf. earlier posts) and the second will be on Saturday, 19 April, 2008 in Mamburao.
Of course, I do not discount the possibility that the Villarosa's are among the traditional Catholics. (My apology to those who consider themselves traditional Catholics, but I would just like to deliver my point.)
According to the Catechism that I knew, there has already been a shift in the understanding of the Mass -- which happens to be the supreme form and act of worship or prayer for Catholics -- following the epoch-changing convocation of Vatican II. The Tridentine concept of the Mass was on the celebration's sacrificial nature and meaning. The Mass is said to be a sacrifice. And truly it is! It is the bloodless memorial (in its Greek etymology, memorial is more than remembering, as it is not a re-enactment. In Tagalog, it is pagsasa-ngayon. That is, a past event is re-lived in its entirety in the here and now).
The problem with this understanding of the Eucharist is its inability to provide even an ample space for the ideals of communion. For, accordingly, an act of sacrifice may be between I and my God. Hence, until now, people are writing on a sheet of paper their "pamisa" -- which is to remain as the diocese's one of the main source of revenue until the Catholics learn and wholeheartedly embace the spirituality of tithing.
Precisely because of the absence of the ideals of communion in a pre-Vatican II understood Mass, we see people of questionable social standing who attend and even actively participate in the sacred celebration.
My catechetical training further tells me that what the Council of Trent took for granted, the Vatican II made as its primary theme in all its documents. Among others, the architecture of the Church should reflect more the actual gathering of people; hence, the tabernacle was moved to the side and the communion rails are gone. The notion of collective over individual salvation is emphasized in eschatology. The Church per se is said to be the sacrament of communion, that is, the sign of and the one who is to effect communion. And the Mass is, over and above all, a faith-community-event.
Along this line, a couple of things may be inferred. For one, as it is a faith-(community-)event, Mass is at the service of faith. The ordering of the universal and national catechism of the Church suffices to explain the different components of a living Catholic faith -- it is doctrine, morals, (prayers), and liturgy. To the liturgy, the Mass belongs. As a faith-event, anyone who attends and participates actively in the Mass is expected to improve on his/her doctrine (thus, while it is the homily that directly instructs people, all the other parts of the Mass are similarly pedagogical), and celebrate his/her everyday triumph in terms of faithfully living out the requirements of the moral living as taught by the Church. This is the over-riding design, so that at the end of every Mass, the faithful has grown on their knowledge of the faith and become more resolved in committing themselves to Catholic morality.
Obviously, it has no place for partisan political agenda.
And this leads me to my second point -- that a mass is about community life. I remember a story of a Jesuit priest who in the beginning committed himself to lead the celebration of the Sunday Mass for a far-away community. On his way to the barrio, he passed along two or three houses in the outskirt of the community. He came to know that these huts were well within the territory of the barrio, and that the reason for their not joining the Sunday Mass was a long-ago feud with the families living in the center of the place. The priest used the occasion to give a particular slant in his preaching on community life and brotherhood, among others. After a month or so, the people were surprised when the priest said that he's no longer coming for the Mass. When pressed for the reason, he truthfully said to them: "Bakit kayo magmimisa kung hindi kayo mabuo bilang isang pamayanan?"
After San Jose, for every succeeding celebration of Thanksgiving Mass for JTV, an insult is even added to the wounds of the Quintoses.
I pray for the pastor's/pastors' discretion over this...

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Untold Truth Behind JTV Acquital

Note: The following came as a comment to one of the posts of this blog. I deem it very informative to copy-paste the comments into a main post for people to more easily see and read.
------------------------
Power, Politics & Influence
The Untold Truths on the Acquittal of Jose Tapales Villarosa

1. The Government, through the Department of Justice, found probable cause to file two (2) separate Informations against Jose T. Villarosa and his gang for the murder of Paul Quintos and Michael Quintos, sons of former Cong. Ricardo Quintos, the political rival of Villarosa in Occidental Mindoro.

2. After eight (8) years of trial, Hon. Judge Ma. Theresa Yadao of the Regional Trial Court of Quezon City rendered a Decision finding Villarosa and his gang, GUILTY of double murder and imposed upon them the mandatory penalty of DEATH;

3. Jose Tapales Villarosa is the spouse of Congresswoman Girlie Villarosa, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, KAMPI Officer, President GMA’s rapid ally and constant travel companion. The public remembers Congresswoman Villarosa as the same “fall guy” who voluntarily and publicly admitted that KAMPI was the source of the P500K “assistance” to each governor and congressman present in Malacanang last October 11;

4. Jose Tapales Villarosa and his gang appealed the Decision of Judge Yadao to the Court of Appeals. On December 2006, Ex-Congressman and then Solicitor General Antonio Nachura filed a Manifestation recommending the acquittal of Jose Tapales Villarosa. Less than 60 days from the filing of said Manifestation, SolGen Nachura was elevated to the Supreme Court.

5. While supposedly being detained at the National Bilibid Prisons, Jose Tapales Villarosa enjoyed special privileges such as numerous “hospital leaves” without the prior consent of or knowledge of the Court of Appeals.

6. Jose Tapales Villarosa’s appeal was assigned to Justice Tijam of the 5th Division of the Court of Appeals, for study and report. As there were very disturbing reports on the partiality of Justice Tijam in favor of Jose Tapales Villarosa, a Motion to Inhibit Justice Tijam was filed by the Quintos family. A motion to suspend proceedings was also filed by the Quintos family.

7. The acquittal was handed out even though there were two (2) separate pending incidents, namely the Motion for Inhibition before the Supreme Court and the Motion to Suspend Proceedings before the 5th Division;

8. Justice Tijam and the 5th Division reasoned that while conspiracy existed and that gunmen and look-outs played out their respective roles and therefore deserved to be convicted, THERE WAS NO MASTERMIND. More importantly, while the confession of the gunman was entitled to full credence and was sufficient to uphold his conviction and those of his co-conspirators, insofar as powerful Villarosa was concerned, said confession cannot be used;

9. Justice Tijam and the 5th Division plainly disregarded the conspiratorial facts such as the established linkage between Villarosa and the gunmen before, during and after the murders, and that Villarosa gave financial assistance to the gunmen as proven by encahsed checks that were presented in evidence;

10. Justice Tijam and the 5th Division completely disregarded the testimony of Co. Winston Ebersole recounting how four (4) months prior to the murders, he attempted to arrest one of the gunmen on a robbery charge, only to be prevented by Villarosa. This gunman eventually disappeared only to be seen again on the night of December 13, 1997 repeatedly shooting Michael Quintos until his gun ran out of bullets. (A few weeks after his damaging testimony against Villarosa , Col. Ebersole was murdered.)

11. Justice Tijam and the 5th Division completely ignored and disregarded the confession of the one of the look-outs who disappeared from Mindoro right after the murders, only to be arrested in 2002 working as a security guard for an agency where Congresswoman Girlie Villarosa had been a long-time officer. Moreover, while in NBI custody by virtue of an outstanding warrant of arrest, Congresswoman Villarosa and her lawyer rushed to the NBI and tried to have the self-confessed look-out released to their custody, but this was aborted due to the timely arrival and vigorous protest of former Congressman Quintos.

12. Meanwhile, Malacanang in rather bad taste, considering the sensitiveness of the issue, immediately congratulated Congresswoman Villarosa on her “early Easter gift”. The acquittal apparently did wonders for Villarosa’s health, since he had been confined at the Makati Medical Center for months recuperating from “major lung surgery”: He walked out of the hospital smiling the afternoon the CA decision was handed down;

13. Under the Administration, the perception grown that there are two types of justice in this country, one for the rich and well connected, another for the hoi polloi. Those in the first category are granted bail for murder, never serve time in prison for corruption, and see their convictions for double murder overturned by the Court of Appeals. To the second category belong those who rot in prison for picking pockets to feed their family (Editorial, Philippine Star March 31, 2007).

14. Congressman Jose T. Villarosa is more equal than others. Established rules and jurisprudence may be twisted to suit his needs. Power, Politics and Influence have once again reared their ugly heads;
To the Quintos family, we sympathize and share your pain in the senseless loss of Paul and Michael.
To our dear friends Paul and Michael Quintos, we will continue to pray and soldier on for you. DIVINE JUSTICE will be yours.

JUSTICE FOR PAUL AND MICHAEL QUINTOS MOVEMENT
Concerned Citizens of Occidental Mindoro , Friends and Fraternity Brothers, Class of 1983 and 1988, Xavier School , University of the Asia & Pacific (Pioneer Batch) 1993

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Quintoses File Second Plea in Murder Case

(http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20080414-130211/Quintoses-file-2nd-plea-in-murder-case)

MANILA, Philippines—The family of another Quintos brother is seeking the reversal of the Court of Appeals’ decision acquitting former Mindoro Occidental Rep. Jose Villarosa and three others in the Quintos double murder case.
Earlier, the parents of Michael T. Quintos, Paul’s younger brother, made the same plea.
In a partial motion for reconsideration, Paul’s wife said the appellate court ignored evidence that would have shown the participation of the four in the 1997 murders of the Quintos brothers.
The Quintos family argued the appellate court should not have decided on the case because they were still appealing the Supreme Court ruling that denied their motion to have Justice Noel Tijam inhibit himself from the case.
After eight years of trial, Quezon City Regional Trial Court Judge Ma. Theresa Yadao found Villarosa and his co-accused guilty of double murder and sentenced them to death.
But the appellate court, in a decision penned by Tijam, reversed the murder convictions of Villarosa and farmers Ruben Balaguer, Gelito Bautista and Mario Tobias, but upheld the guilty verdicts on farmers Eduardo Hermoso, Manolito Matricio and Josue Ungsod.
The appellate court ruled Hermoso’s extrajudicial confession implicating all seven accused in the killings was admissible, but it could not be used to convict the former lawmaker and the three others since it was uncorroborated by other evidence.
The brothers were sons of Villarosa’s political rival, former Mindoro Occidental Gov. Ricardo Quintos.
Paul’s heirs said the appellate court focused on Hermoso’s extrajudicial confession made before the National Bureau of Investigation, where he had made another confession, and a judicial one, before the Mamburao Municipal Trial Court.
There was also plenty of evidence to prove the four men’s involvement in the crime, they pointed out.
“Moreover, what is frustrating and clearly erroneous is the ignorance of this Honorable Court of the other evidence of the Appellees showing the conspiracy between the Appellants in the killing of Paul and Michael Quintos,” they said.
Evidence ignored
Among those not considered by the court, they said, was the fact that Hermoso and Matricio were Villarosa’s political followers and illegal occupants of the Quintoses’ Golden Country Farms Inc.
They also insisted that Villarosa was present at the October 1997 meeting of the conspirators to the killing, and that Villarosa had given money to the families of Hermoso, Matricio and Balaguer.
Villarosa had interceded for Matricio when the latter was being arrested during a congressional hearing, they said, while another accused, Orlando Estanes, was employed by Villarosa’s wife.
Paul’s heirs said Estanes had issued a confession that interlocked with Hermoso’s. Since Hermoso’s and Estanes’ confessions corroborated each other, they bolstered the guilt of all seven accused, they said.
But this circumstantial evidence was ignored by the court, they said.
“From the foregoing, the Appellees humbly submit that the acquittal of the Appellant Villarosa and his cohorts was inevitable and that the decision of the Honorable Court is marred with grave abuse of discretion,” they said.

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Victims' Kin Seek Reversal of Villarosa Acquittal

(http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20080411-129682/Victims-kin-seek-reversal-of-Villarosa-acquittal)

Since a conspiracy to kill the Quintos brothers existed, all the participants should have been convicted.
The family of Michael and Paul Quintos made the argument in seeking the reversal of the Court of Appeals’ acquittal last month of former Mindoro Occidental Rep. Jose Villarosa and three others in the killings.
In the motion for reconsideration they filed separately in the appellate court for Michael, who was single, his parents also said that it appeared from the way the case was going that the acquittal of the four was certain.
The family of Paul Quintos, who was married with children, will file a separate motion for reconsideration.
Aside from Villarosa, farmers Ruben Balaguer, Gelito Bautista and Mario Tobias were acquitted and ordered freed by the appellate court.
The court, on the other hand, upheld the convictions of farmers Eduardo Hermoso, Manolito Matricio and Josue Ungsod who were sentenced to 40 years in prison for each count of murder and ordered to pay damages to the Quintoses’ heirs.
Hermoso, Matricio and Ungsod, in two separate motions for reconsideration they also filed in the Court of Appeals, questioned the affirmation of their guilt.
The court had ruled that Hermoso’s confession implicating all seven men in the December 1997 killing of the Quintos brothers was admissible, but could not be used to pin down Villarosa and the three others because it was uncorroborated by other evidence.
Hermoso confessed to being the gunman and admitted being present at the Oct. 7, 1997, meeting during which Villarosa allegedly discussed killing Michael.
In its motion, Michael’s family said the appellate court erred when it stated that the rules of court require that the participation of a coconspirator named in the statement of another conspirator must be proved by other evidence. They said only the existence of a conspiracy must be shown by separate evidence.
“In this case, the existence of a conspiracy has been sufficiently shown by independent evidence, namely, the eyewitnesses who testified that Hermoso, Matricio, Ungsod and other persons acted as one and in concert to kill the unsuspecting brothers,” Michael’s family said.
They also said the court’s ruling that the extrajudicial statement made by Hermoso was not enough to convict the four men was “not true, incomplete and misleading.”
In the first place, they said, Hermoso made a judicial statement to the Mamburao court, aside from the extrajudicial one he made to the National Bureau of Investigation.
They said Hermoso’s statements were corroborated by Orlando Estanes, who had been arrested earlier in connection with the murders, in the latter’s two sworn statements.

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Is the (Woman) Deputy Speaker for Women?

(This is culled from Women of the House, an article by PCIJ dated 7 September 2007.)

The 14th Congress boasts of having the most number of lady-solons in its roll. Observably, however, not most of them are staunch promoters and/or defenders of causes of/for women.

Of course, outside of party-list groups for women rights, we have our memory of Leticia Ramos-Shahani. She and Santanina Rasul were the first female senators in the post-Marcos Congress. While she rhetorically refused to be “a class legislator,” her first bill was RA 6725 that seeks to strengthen the prohibition of discrimination against women and workplace. In 1994 too she was able to introduced into the national budget the mandatory allocation of five percent of the budget of every government department and agency for gender development. Further, according to her, the two laws on rape (RA 8353 redefining the crime of rape and RA 8505 which provides assistance to rape victims and their families) are the centerpieces of her feminist legislation.

Congress observers say few women in the Lower House can actually matched Shahani (and Rasul and the late Raul Roco – the honorary woman) for their pro-women legislative efforts. An exemption may be Bellaflor Angara-Castillo, who was a strong advocate not only of women’s rights but also of gays and lesbians during her stint in Congress. (She is now the provincial governor of Aurora).

And, so, what are women-solons - except those with women’s-issues activists -- doing for women issues?

Observers for one say that women legislators choose to be quiet because of their lack of skills to defend bills on the floor. Likewise, women solons have different profiles – from the most conservative to the most progressive – thus, explaining why they do not act as one.

In fact, several female legislators ended up in their seats primarily because they belong to political families – and not because they were seen as potential supporters of women’s causes! The deputy speaker of the House, Amelita Villarosa, herself took the seat vacated by her husband JTV several years ago.

Interestingly, when Villarosa was named deputy speaker, the former House Speaker, JDV himself said that her (political) appointment to the post “(was) to address the gender imbalance in the House, so that women legislators will be represented in the House leadership.” Paining to explain her appointed, though, Girlie Villarosa reportedly said: “I was elected as a deputy speaker, period, not a deputy speaker for women. There is no such position in the House… I am deputy speaker for everyone, not just for a particular sector.”

At the very least, Villarosa is never known for women’s causes. Of the 57 house bills she filed in the 13th Congress, only one could be described as being pro-women. It was House Bill 4948, seeking to expand the grounds for legal separation and to amend the definition of psychological incapacity under the Family Code.

For the current (14th) Congress, Villarosa says she co-authors two major pieces of legislation on women. The first being the Reproductive Health Care Bill; the second is the Magna Carta for Women, which would “operationalize” the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), an international women’s rights treaty to which the Philippines is signatory.

If Villarosa’s output as (women) deputy speaker is to be a gauge, she is miserably failing the women’s rights advocates who expect her to fight for the women’s issues with all her muster.

Hontiveros-Baraquel says: “Villarosa’s election is a victory for women in the sense that it created gender balance. But it is yet to become a fully realizable victory (until) (she) (lends) her position and influence to advance women’s causes.”

To which Senator Legarda agrees: “Women legislators have to support women-related legislations. Women comprise half of our population, and while women in our country are considered better off than (women in other cultures) in terms of rights and welfare, there is much to be desired in terms of women’s participation in governance and decision-making. So those who have the opportunity to speak up for other women because of the positions and posts that they hold must do so with zeal and dedication.”

Very diplomatically put, I would say.

But it boils down to this challenge: If you cannot, then give way to the more able.

Friday, April 4, 2008

Where have our values gone?

Some weeks ago, the governor of New York Eliot Spitzer was forced to resign from his office because of a scandal. He engaged the service of a high-profile prostitute for his sexual gratification. More than a month ago, a Malaysian health official was caught by a CCTV inside a hotel room with “a friend of (his)”. He too was sacked from his office. Some time ago, the former Prime Minister of Thailand, Thaksin, resigned from his post following the accusations of corruption; he is facing them now. During the same time, there was a Japanese Prime Minister who was joined by his men in resigning on account of their similar scandal. (Actually, one of them even hang himself out of shame…)

Values – although still being debated whether these are innate – are the principles, standards or quality, which guide human actions. Personal values evolve from circumstances with the external world; these are changeable over time. Those that were developed early in life may be resistant to change. These are derived from those of particular groups or systems – such as culture, religion, and political party.

Let us compare the scenario in Occidental Mindoro last Friday when the pardoned JTV came home to San Jose. After all the shame and disgrace that he heaped upon himself and the province that he once ruled as a governor and represented as congressman after the RTC under Judge Yadao found him guilty of double murder, his homecoming was prepared as if a king was going to return to his turf and he was welcomed as dramatically as possible.

Well, what could account for the difference?

I would contend that values spell the distinction. And, at play in here is the personal value of the main persona of the scandal. And I would like to point out to hiya, Filipino as we are.

Hiya is the consciousness of dishonor or disgrace. It comes from being humiliated for our behavior.

Another values that I would like to stress is the society’s acceptance and tolerance of the practice of right and wrong. In the examples that I cited -- unfortunately from the other countries -- the people of, say, New York, Thailand, Japan and even Malaysia knew and accepted the fact that a discredited leader has no more place in the government, much less a moral ascendancy to govern them – which is tantamount to entrusting their future into the leader’s hands.

The homecoming of JTV very clearly manifested that these two values of hiya and the communal sense of right and wrong – at least, in San Jose – are inoperative. And, of the two, I would like to dwell more on the people’s sense of right and wrong. Which to me is very clearly superseded by other values – like pagtanaw ng utang na loob (Pinaaral kasi ni JTV! or Natulungan kasi ni JTV) – or simply formed by being-un-informed of who really this guy is, while in fact at the base of our personal and societal values it is the sense of right and wrong that should be found, serving as the foundation and the unifying elements as it were of our other moral standards…

If some people consider JTV’s homecoming as a sort of a political comeback, I definitely see it as an indication of our value-crisis…

Sino pa kaya ang dapat magtuwid ng ganitong kalagayan?

Gusto ko sanang manawagan sa Simbahan…

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

How's our Representative?

JTV says Didaskalos has a strong sentiment against his wife, the Deputy Speaker of the House. Didaskalos thinks so, too. But he's not without reason.
Consider this: She was elected into Congress in order to represent the people of Occidental Mindoro in the lawmaking body for the Philippine Republic. And, from this viewpoint, one might ask: so, how's she so far?
I would refer you to http://www.congress.gov.ph/members/search.php?congress=14&id=villarosa-ma#. This site is the data bank of the Philippine Congress especially about the authorship or sponsorship of individual solons.
Well, according to the site, Villaroze -- for the 14th Congress -- already has more than 30 house bills under her name. But what is observable are the following: for one, all these house bills have the same label pertaining to their status: PENDING. Secondly, Villarosa is really until to date still has to come up with a bill that's going to be a landmark legislation. Most of hers are too local in scope -- for instance, establishing a school named after a former governor with whom she or her husband share(s) their surname, or appropriating a fund for the concreting of Villarosa Street in Mamburao. Thirdly, most of the bills that Villarosa has filed in the 14th Congress are actually the bills that she herself in the 13th Congress -- Remember, the costliest Congress? -- but were all shelved? And, finally, one suspects that the reason for Villarosa's filing of so many "pagawaing bayan" is pertinent to her CDF -- particularly, since CDF at the present is no longer handed in to the reputable solons in cold cash, but most in the form of projects to be handled by government line agencies like the DepEd or the DPWH.
An unsolicited advice for Madame Girlie: Ma'am, you enjoy your perks from the taxes paid by us as you represent us in Philippine Congress. Puwede po bang seryosohin na lamang ninyo ang paggawa ng batas, at bawasan na ang pagiging alalay ng iyong Pangulo?
Anyway, Ma'am, you've gotten your heart's desire.. You're husband is already OFFICIALLY freed..
Please, ... for the sake of Occidental Mindoro.

Of Which Side Are You, Sir?

Last Friday, the supporters of the acquitted murderer Jose T. Villarosa enthusiastically welcomed his homecoming to San Jose. There was a parade, where JTV was made to ride on an open rear section of a car, with two -- or more than two, who knows? -- bodyguards; emotional was the throng of the supporters, with some shedding tears upon the sight of their leader and on hearing their leader's speech; a thanksgiving Mass was celebrated on the Cathedral, with no less than the Parish Priest of the Cathedral officiating -- he must be the priest-of-the-day, or his assistant pastors must have their respective schedules; and a press conference was held.
At long last, the "efforts" of the Deputy Speaker of the House cum "alalay" of the President of the Strong Republic paid off. What I heard lately simply confirmed what I was expecting to happen -- that is, that JTV's acquittal was a handiwork of The Palace after Madame Girlie poured out her crocodile tears following the JTV-pronounced lung cancer that afflicts him. (What's unconventional about this sickness -- to state the obvious -- was the absence of any pronouncement from the doctor, or the availability of any medical transcript that the-man-of-the-hour really has this life-threatening illness... Unless JTV, on account of his resolve to make his years behind bars productive, decided to take a course on medicine and passed the medical licensure exam. Who knows?)
But, before we get sidelined from the topic of our post for today, I would like to point out that, during the press conference held in his bailiwick in Bubog, JTV BADMOUTHED the Church and the priests. One might wonder why; to him/her, my answer is well accordingly JTV never sat well with a number of the diocese' clergy. I repeat -- only with some. For definitely among the priests in Mindoro, one is his relative; one or two or three or even more are recipients of his "benevolence;" and one even became his candidate for a provincial post last 2007.
Yes, this posting is about the last priest that I referred to -- him who ran for gubernatorial post. For JTV to badmouth the Church is no surprise to me. I knew him to really have a "foul-smell emitting mouth" -- not that he is badbreath, for he has a fortune to procure for his use drums of Listerine sourced out from the misery of electric consumers in Occ. Mindoro (remember his connection to and the benefits he reaped out of the exclusive contract of OMECO to IPC, which he previously owned?), but that he is simply known to have badmouthing anyone and everyone whose demeanor or attitude or principle he does not like his way of life.
JTV is practically cursing the Church -- and, what I knew is that the employees of the Church-owned DZVT, who were invited to invite the homecoming as a media event, walked-out! But what was a sight to behold was the continued presence of the priest-turned-political-pawn during that part of the press con, as if JTV was proclaiming the Gospel from the ambo!
Hu!!!!
What has the Church done to you, Sir (pun intended for not addressing you Father), that you publicly betrayed your true color -- that is, that to date you are clearly on the side of your political benefactor and in effect you have turned your back from the faith community leaders who were once your co-ministers and, until now by virtue of your ordination -- if my college religious education is rightly remembered -- are your sacramental brothers????
This is practically the problem with people who have never known principles. They are backbone-less, that they are swayed where the strong wind goes. Now, as in a bamboo, they are tilted towards you (and this gives an impression that they are on your side); by and by, they tilt towards the opposite direction (and profess their loyalty to whoever or whichever side they find themselves in).
Finally, Sir... Of which side are you?