A cheap shot at the truth

By Ermin F. Garcia Jr.

NBN-ZTE whistle-blower Jun Lozada came and went.

            Except perhaps for the opportunity given the curious among us as to what he’s really like in the flesh being a media celebrity, perhaps his visit could have been largely gone unnoticed even by the national media. He really had nothing much to add to what had been written and said about him and by him in the national media.

            But thanks to the fertile yet unimaginative works of black propaganda laid out for Lozada on his arrival, the visit gained a lot more attention than Archbishop Oscar Cruz originally hoped for.

            The cheap smear campaign launched against Lozada here only impressed upon Pangasinenses how truly significant and important Lozada must be to the crusade for truth and justice in the NBN-ZTE deal.

              If Lozada is not a threat, and is deemed a liar by Malacanang’s standards, one wonders why GMA’s cheering squad here had to embark on such an expensive demolition campaign.

            One can only conclude that all these shameless attempts to discredit Lozada prove that Lozada is telling the truth.  Common sense tells you nobody bothers to discredit an already discredited liar, so why did they bother with Lozada?

            Lozada must be really hazardous to their wealth.

***

            An ugly sidebar to the black propa activity that met Lozada and the archbishop was the reported clash between Dagupan’s foremost public servants today.

            The news that former House Speaker Joe de V had pointed to Health Sec. Pingkoy Duque as one of the masterminds of the repugnant smear campaign is a very sad commentary of how politicians work hard at keeping the Pangasinenses divided.

            We have two highly respected Dagupenos now being pitted against each other over what I would consider a non-issue among them.

            First of all, I never found it in the character of JDV to malign anyone in the manner that was reported, and I certainly don’t know Sec. Pingkoy to be a vengeful politician to have done what he was being accused of.

            It’s a fact that JDV had a lot of unconditional support from the Duques when he was challenged by City Mayor Benjie Lim in 2007. Hence, I can only surmise that some groups consider a continued JDV-Duque alliance is detrimental to some political agenda.

            If JDV, indeed, pointed a finger at Pingkoy, it could only be because he was deliberately misinformed. He had nothing to gain pointing at a mild-mannered and ethical Pingkoy.

            But JDV was correct in one thing – only a dimwitted wealthy supporter of GMA would have the gall to finance the “oplan baklas” contra Lozada. They removed welcome streamers for Lozada and replaced these with despicable “We love GMA” streamers and Sino sila Marissa dela Cruz, Katkat at Aaron tarps. 

            Truly cheap and brainless.

***

            Speaking of the Duques, our columnist Gonz is on cloud nine these days. His son Gonzalito Nicolo, a graduate of UST, is now a lawyer. He hurdled one of the most difficult bar exams yet as most lawyers I’ve talked to conceded.

            My hunch is he will definitely be a much better lawyer than his dad. Wanna bet? I do know, however, that he can never equal his dad as a columnist who loves playing with fire. 

            Our best wishes to the latest Duque lawyer!

(Readers may reach columnist at punch.sunday@gmail.com. For past columns, click http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/category/opinion/punchline/
For reactions to this column, click “Send MESSAGES, OPINIONS, COMMENTS” on default page.)

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