Punchline
Warped logic
By Ermin Garcia Jr.
WE all felt relieved on learning that our colleague Orly Navarro survived the cowardly attack on him. It would have been a terrible loss if he had succumbed to it, so praise the Lord for His love and mercy.
But while everyone in the media sector expressed utter shock at what befell Mr. Navarro, Atty. Ferdinand Topacio, the lawyer representing Mr. Antonio Cabangon Chua and DWIZ (Mr. Navarro’s employer), quickly grabbed the limelight and the opportunity to exploit Mr. Navarro’s misfortune by irresponsibly pointing to a “top city official and the Dagupan police” as prime suspects. It was much too obvious to many, including Mr. Navarro, that he was referring to Mayor Belen Fernandez and Police Chief Christopher Abrahano! Geez, he must have thought that being a celebrity lawyer, he could sensationalize his effort to discredit Mayor Belen and Supt. Abrahano by invoking Mr. Navarro’s fate. Shameless and simply insensitive.
While Mr. Navarro may be extra-critical of Mayor Belen and Mr. Abrahano for his own reasons as his media practice dictates, Mr. Topacio had no basis whatsoever to even suggest his malicious thought. He owes Mr. Navarro and his listeners, Mayor Belen, Mr. Abrahano an apology for unfairly linking his corporate agenda for Mr. Cabangon Chua to Mr. Navarro’s near tragedy.
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PAGING MR. ABRAHANO. Nobody can begrudge Mr. Topacio for lawyering for Mr. Cabangon Chua’s business interests, particularly in the MC Adore deal. It is his pipeline to a celebrity lifestyle but he obviously does not seem to care if he embarrasses Mr. Navarro with his arrogance.
Surely, he expected Mr. Navarro to support his allegation and suspicion that Mayor Belen and Mr. Abrahano were, indeed, behind the attempt on his life. But Mr. Navarro already knew early on it was on the authority of Mayor Belen and the professionalism of Mr. Abrahano that led to the immediate arrest of his neighbor. If Mr. Navarro had been directed to ape Mr. Topacio’s antics, or even remotely suggest that Mr. Topacio was right, Mr. Navarro would have lost his self-respect and his stature as a broadcast journalist. But would have Mr. Topacio care? I doubt that now.
Just for the sake of argument, following Mr. Topacio’s warped logic, should he and Mr. Cabangon Chua be deemed the primary suspects if I, too, (God forbid!) should suffer Mr. Navarro’s fate all because I have been reporting developments on the MC Adore sale and the continued illegal presence of Citystate Savings Bank in Dagupan? Tsk-tsk. Paging Mr. Abrahano!
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PAY THE P500K – However, I must concede that there was still a silver lining to Mr. Topacio’s displayed arrogance. He claimed that Mr. Cabangon Chua was ready to pay P500,000 to anyone who could effect the early arrest of the gunman. So, will Mr. Topacio now please come to Dagupan and award that cash to the Dagupan Police Station for effecting the arrest even before he could say “please”? Or will Mr. Topacio now deny he ever made the claim at the expense of Mr. Cabangon Chua? This is a kind of promise that people don’t easily forget.
I promise Mr. Topacio a 3-column front page color photo in The PUNCH should he make that trip to the Dagupan police station to make good on his word.
Meanwhile, I wish he would start showing some respect for people in media in Pangasinan. The PUNCH didn’t mind him seeing to the reversal of the dismissal of the libel case he filed against us at all costs, but seeing him exploit the misfortune of his client’s employee is simply the unkindest cut of all. If I may add, a complete disservice to his client, Mr. Cabangon Chua.
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DOING A MERCADO. I was awestruck as I watched former Makati Vice Mayor Ernesto Mercado candidly admit on national media about the “kalakaran” of corruption in his city during the administration of former Mayor now Vice President Jojo Binay. I am certain that even those who were caught in the corruption web in Makati at one time or another were speechless for one minute.
Nobody had expected Mr. Mercado admit to the massive corruption during Veep Binay’s administration as mayor but he did.
However, his revelation struck me differently. It brought me back to Dagupan. The questions thrown at him by Senators Alan Peter Cayetano, Antonio Trillanes and Aquilino Pimentel III were in fact no different form the same questions I posed to former Mayor Benjie Lim and the Judas 9 of the Dagupan City council in 2012-13 about the shady deal they crafted for the MC Adore sale.
Will we ever see one of the Judas 9 do a Mercado before he or she leaves this life and ask for the city’s forgiveness? Hmmm. Perhaps. I don’t believe all of them had intended to be corrupt although I know some were. Some were merely seduced into receiving the million they never expected to get in public service.
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GOD’S MYSTERIOUS WAYS. But going back to Veep Binay’s P2.2 billion foray for a 11 storey building, I just don’t know he can face the nation and still reiterate that that he never pocketed anything from the deal. His contention that there is nothing wrong spending P2.2-B for a building estimated to cost only P800-M all because it is a government project is worrisome to the max! Is this how a Binay presidency supposed to serve the nation? Heaven forbid!
I recall what former National Treasurer Leonor Briones told to me ten years ago: the corruption at the local level collectively is far worse than what we perceive to be at the national level! Then it would never have occurred to what COA Commissioner Heidi Mendoza shared with me about Makati some 15 years ago would now haunt Veep Binay!
So who says corruption will never be uncovered? May I say, God works in mysterious ways?
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EBOLA-WATCH. The proposal of our Fire Player Gonz Duque to require all foreign students (particularly from West Africa) enrolling in any of the schools in the country to be subjected to a medical test to make sure that no one is a carrier of any virus, particularly the ebola virus, is timely if not still not too late!
I was recently alerted by a top official of the shipping industry in the country that the schools in Pangasinan are being watched by the Department of Health because of the presence of many students from West Africa, particularly Nigeria, in the province.
Fortunately, the last mapping by DOH and provincial heath office revealed negative findings in the province but a batch of 100 Nigerians are reportedly expected to arrive to enroll in a maritime school in the city.
Vigilance of the education sector is imperative because the symptoms of the
ebola virus are no different from symptoms of other ordinary communicable diseases.
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