Punchline
My interaction on Facebook
By Ermin Garcia Jr.
I BROKE a self-imposed rule last week. I told myself I should not involve myself in any discussion on the city hall transfer on social media.
Last week, I did just that. I waded right into it because my curiosity about the fervor of the opposition to the proposed transfer got the better of me. I wondered what the motivations are, and what the contentious issues are that fester to this day.
On August 7, I chanced on a post of my good friend Diego Ledda on Facebook.
Diego wrote: “Is it morally upright to borrow P500 million to transfer the city hall within the properties of Mayor Belen Fernandez?”
I thought there was a need to clarify the issues behind his proposition and noting there was no quick reaction from anyone, I decided to engage his thoughts.
I wrote: “Diego, your concern is still a non-issue. The city gov’t has not even settled the donation and acceptance. There is no pending loan much less an authorization from city council for city to borrow P1. Eventual loan will depend on final design. And/or if city will not accept a donation, a planned loan may include purchase of land and design. But all that is up in the air and nothing about it is a question of morality. If you decide to file case to determine if people are culpable for violation of anti-graft law, not morality, allow the court to decide. But even that is not possible because the city gov’t still has not accepted and is moving so slow to accept the lone donation being offered.”
Diego proceeded to establish his own premise that went as far as his posting screenshots of tax declarations of properties where Mayor Belen’s name appears. I told him those documents don’t prove any anomaly unless these are meant to show these properties were ill-gotten which he acknowledged was not the case.
Diego impressed me as one who is emotionally and morally convinced that his stand opposing the transfer is correct. I respect that.
* * * * *
My only lament about his (and others who are similarly situated,) is that simply being emotional or morally convinced doesn’t hold water in a process defined by law. We can be deeply emotional about issues but unless we observe and work within the established processes, there is very little to gain but perhaps simply the satisfaction that we tried to do what we could.
Such is the case with journalists. We have the privilege of communicating fears and suspicions and, yes, expose anomalies, but these may or may not be accepted and there’s nothing we can do to compel acceptance. The only logical recourse to see things through, like all ordinary citizens, is to file a case in court. But that is where journalists have to draw the line.
Journalists don’t file cases to prove their point. They write, discuss issues but they don’t file cases. That’s for lawyers, NGOs, political advocates, government agencies and their functionaries and politicians to do.
It’s different for social media habitués like Diego. They should understand that unless and until they go through the established processes, their issues don’t matter much. They cannot compel the system to accept their propositions simply because they posted these on social media. Like other advocates, they must submit verifiable facts in their arguments to the city council and allow their submitted thoughts to be discussed, debated and voted upon members of the city council.
In a democracy, the ultimate arbiter is the number of votes, and official imprimatur of the approving body and agency.
Short of that, nothing else maters officially in deciding government affairs, not even a question anchored on morality.
* * * * *
12-YEARS IMPRISONMENT. What I had not expected from my brief interaction with Diego was an instant bashing from a troll who hides behind the FB account Luyag ng Cabaloan. He posted:
“BIASED TABLOID ang SUNDAY SUCKER PUNCH! Kumbaga maihahantulad sila sa mga FAKE NEWS WEBSITE. I THINK NAKASAMA ANG SUNDAY SUCKER PUNCH SA MGA PNABLISHED NA FAKE NEWS WEBSITE.”
“Halata maam hindi nararapat na journalist halatang biased pinapababa nya ang standards ng journalism. Mamatay ang matandang yan na dilat ang mata walang pinagkatandaan.”
I wondered if the troll whom friends identified as one “Drexel Heinz Magpantay Cruz” would have the gall to call out on his personal account. It appears he would. I found a post June 10, 2016 that had this sentence – BOLDOTAN KILA AGKINI MAKATALOS TAWOL KAYO AMO! By the way ASO SYA NI BABOY BELEN NABAYARAN NG 200 PESOS SA CSI STADIA.
This Drexel is a good candidate to be jailed for 12 years for committing cyber-libel! I hope those similarly inclined are on good notice as well. I have read other postings that far exceed even the boundaries set by Drexel. Insane name-calling accompanied by expletives is the sure-hit formula for earning a guilty verdict in 30 days! I should know because I’ve organized seminars on libel for community journalists when I served the Philippine Press Institute as its executive director.
So, I say to this Drexel and his ‘classmates’ – Don’t risk wasting your life inside the National Bilibid for 12 years. I assure you, your braggadocio on FB is not worth sleeping with tatooed criminals.
* * * * *
IMAGINE IF THERE IS NO WAR ON DRUGS. Everyday, there are at least an average of 10 drug pushers reported in media being killed during police operations for resisting arrest.
Of course, this is fodder for human rights activists and CHR Chairman Chito Gascon who believes gives him the reason to keep his claim of widespread extra-judicial killings in the Duterte administration.
But the agenda of the CHR is the least of my concern. They can do their worst as long as there are less drug pushers in the streets, lesser drug dependents in our midst each day.
What puzzles most, including myself, is the question why the drug street pushers don’t appear the least petrified by the prospect of them being waylaid at any time. Not even the violent deaths met by members of the Parajinog family and Albuera Mayor Rolando Espinosa appear to affect them.
Given and seeing how we are confronted with the situation today, what mortifies me more is the thought how we would be today if DU30 had not declared a war on drugs. Imagine the extent of harm inflicted on millions of families today if the eliminated high and mighty drug lords and their networks were alive and allowed to operate with impunity today. Imagine if our jails are still crowded with drug lords conducting business like nobody’s business.
What if, indeed?
There’d be more robberies and thefts inside and out homes by drug-affected members of the family; more young girls and grandmothers reported rape each week, more vehicular accidents involving drug-crazed drivers, more minors are recruited as carriers and pushers, more grizzly murders, above all, thousands of families are broken each day. More politicians are won over as protectors to keep the evil system working.
Thank God for the war on drugs, with all its imperfections! I sure hope you share this sentiment.
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