Punchline
Grateful people
By Ermin Garcia Jr.
IF there is anything palpable in the aftermath of the Fallen 44 tragedy, it is how the citizenry now views men and women in uniform.
I was having an early breakfast in a fastfood outlet last week in Makati when I saw a soldier in uniform step inside and lined up for his order for a take-out meal. As he was about to leave with his meal, two young ladies came up to him, obviously strangers to him, and talked to him briefly. And before I knew it, they were having their pictures taken by another friend.
After two camera shots, the ladies shook the soldier’s hand with a cheery “thank you”! And the soldier walked out smartly, with his head high.
In those fleeting minutes, I saw a grateful people thanking our men in uniform, (military and police) for their selfless sacrifice as our protectors.
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HARASSMENT CONTINUES. Remember the libel case filed by the Citystate Savings Bank (CSB), owned by media mogul Mr. Antonio Cabangon, against The PUNCH’s 8 editorial staff? The case that was initially dismissed by the city prosecutor of Pasig City, then later reversed by the Assistant City Prosecutor and caused it to be elevated to a regional trial court in Pasig City?
The case was dismissed by Pasig RTC Judge Rolando Mislang on August 27, 2014! As expected, Mr. Cabangon Chua’s lawyer Atty. Ferdinand Topacio, quickly filed a motion for reconsideration but the honorable Judge, stood his ground finding no malice as basis for the complaint and denied the motion for reconsideration last December 9, 2014.
As due process dictates, Mr. Cabangon Chua’s CSB was given 15 days to appeal the case to the Court of Appeals upon its receipt of the resolution dated Dec. 9, 2015. Two months have passed, no appeal was made. Technically, the case was deemed closed after failing to file the regular appeal. But lo and behold, Atty. Topacio filed a certiorari before the Court of Appeals on the case alleging that “Public respondent (Judge Mislang) committed grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction in holding in the assailed order contrary to law and jurisprudence, and without due process….” Duh?
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CUT-AND-PASTE. Clearly, the ploy of Mr. Cabangon Chua and Atty. Topacio is to harass the PUNCH by using every legal trick in the book, never mind that they’ve been told on two occasions that no libel was committed, and one occasion, wrong jurisdiction.
Then, reading Atty. Topacio’s last petition, it was no different from all the petitions submitted to prosecutors and the judge, and now to the Court of Appeals! It’s been a cut-and-paste operation for Mr. Cabangon Chua and Atty. Topacio, offering no new arguments to contest each adverse decision.
Perhaps Mr. Cabangon Chua and Atty. Topacio think that a libel case that continues to hang over our head will stop us from reporting further on the irregularities that surround the operation of CSB in Dagupan and the highly questionable acquisition of the MC Adore by the Cabangon Chua Group.
Wrong conclusion.
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UNAUTHORIZED USE OF METER. The duo must have concluded that when The PUNCH deliberately kept a hands-off position for 6 months on the continued unauthorized use of the city government’s electric meter at the MC Adore by CSB. It was in fact in deference to the information we received that the Dagupan Electric Corp. has sought clarification from the Energy Regulatory Board, whether or not Decorp should terminate the electric meter as requested by the city government or whether it can ignore the request for termination for as long as the bank pays the consumption reflected on the bill. That issue remains unresolved and CSB continues to use the city’s meter.
What also remains to be resolved by the CSB management is its status in the city since it continues to operate without a business permit, this on top of non-payment of business taxes since 2013. Tsk-tsk.
From where we sit, it even looks like Mr. Cabangon Chua’s group is not even keen on lifting a finger to correct the anomalous circumstances under which the bank is operating. It simply dares the city government to take action in the duo’s belief perhaps that they have already completely intimidated it with its series of legal offensive moves, and, therefore, have won the bluff game. Have they? Let’s see.
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DEFECTIVE BIDDING. There is also the pending case filed on the defective bidding of the MC Adore properties that led to its acquisition by the Cabangon Chua group.
As far as the Fernandez administration is concerned, the fight for proper compensation for the property is far from over. The Cabangon Chua group managed to acquire the property easily valued at P220 million in 2010 for only P116 million.
With all the questionable status of the CSB and MC Adore, one wonders how Mr. Cabangon Chua can claim today it supports the development of the city. Then, the media industry also wonders about Mr. Cabangon Chua’s avowed claim upholding press freedom when it’s bent on harassing the PUNCH STAFF even after a regional trial court found no malice in the publication of the news item.
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IN THE FLESH. Last week, I finally came face to face with one of the most outspoken if not the most critical and intolerant but prolific writers that found regular space in our PUNCH ONLINE forum, ‘Tiburon” (shark in Spanish)!
Contrary to his image as the predatory shark waiting to mangle a mind that didn’t agree with his, I found an amiable friend in him as much as I was deeply impressed by his familiarity with all the issues raised in the PUNCH since we started our Online version in 1997!
For some trivia on Tiburon, I found out he’s comfortably retired in Las Vegas, keeps a farm in Sta. Barbara, but secretly lives in Lingayen, loves to visit museums around the world, and has special interest in annals of famous military battles and strategies. He recently discovered the best longganisa – the Alaminos edition!
It’s always heartwarming to meet and know more about PUNCHERS here and overseas.
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KABALEYAN CLUB. Speaking of overseas PUNCHERS, Art Barberan of DCHS Class 1960, is another loyal supporter of our PUNCH Kabaleyan Club whose continued bronze membership enables us not only to send free subscription to his alma mater, Dagupan City National High School, but to sustain our free access policy to our Online edition every week.
Unknown to many, our Online edition actually cuts in on our street sales which is why we consider the membership of readers in our Kabaleyan Club critical to our operations. We could choose not to operate the online edition but that would deprive our kabaleyans overseas of current news about their hometowns.
So special thanks, too, to our Kabaleyan members from the USA: Joe Ceralde of New Jersey, Bernard/Arsie Valdez of California, Wenceslao Gellido of Texas USA, and Nida Rofe of Sydney, Australia, for their unsolicited but generous support to the PUNCH. Salamat ya balbaleg ed sikayo! You help make our online accessible to all kabaleyans here and abroad!
We certainly wish there will be more like them who can join our advocacy for a well-informed generation of Pangasinenses.
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