Goodnight, Phil Caracas

By Jun Velasco

OUR attention was momentarily glued to Publisher Ermin’s peroration about certain media practitioners allegedly on the list of a jueteng “white paper” which, he said, was e-mailed to him by cowardly sources.

A week earlier, well known whistle blower Jaime Aquino (remember the Bishop Cruz caper?) told us about his “nasty” experience with a staff of Regional Director Pol Bataoil on the issue of a gasoline slip. Then he proceeded to denounce the so-called white paper which has blasphemed so many innocent souls.

When we twitted   police regional authorities about it for its sweeping indictment, fellow Rotarian Pol Bataoil feigned ignorance in a typical you-are-pulling-my-leg smirk.

For the nth time, we have zeroed in on this controversial jueteng subject as no more than a slip of original sin, or prostitution, a so ingrained culture that has eluded moralists since time immemorial. The hapless public treats it like an incurable itch.

In our book shelf is a compendium of published news articles and poems by the late Bayardo Estrada some of whose editorials savaged jueteng lords and government officials, businessmen and media men “on the take.”  Seems Mr. Estrada’s venomous attacks were unheeded in light of j’s invincibility up to now.

During the presidency of Fidel V. Ramos, we urged the legalization of jueteng to eliminate the evil in it, the “payola” to which FVR responded correctly by announcing he wants legalize it. You know what happened after that.

We suggest Bishop Oscar Cruz  change his fighting style and  tactic  by hitting  at  the root of  evil : train  his guns without letup at  the seat of power  – the Palasyo. Outside of this, all denunciations are exercises in futility, all sound and fury signifying nothing.

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Speaker Joe de V led national leaders in citing the President’s  wise choice of former PNP Chief and Nia Administrator Art Lomibao as the new Land Transportation (LTO) chief.

We told you so, those pre-poll speculations the duo were on collision course now read like apolitical script. Benjie Lim was had.

Kidding aside, Art’s LTO post will enable him to shine again en route to a much juicier assignment. That will be the day.

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At the necro rites for Phil Caracas of   Pangasinan News Thursday, we stressed that there is an spontaneous brotherhood thread between and among newsmen.

We noticed this  kindredness  in our encounters with media people  from  other places including those in the US, China, Malaysia, India, Canada, Guam (we once edited a Saipan newspaper and wrote for Guam’s Pacific Daily News), Hongkong, Singapore.

We thought Johnny Dayang’s favorite phrase “media fraternity” which he repeated several times in his eulogy of Phil Caracas was bullseye. The media-bridge — or medium — is an act of God that   connects journalists like blood brothers.  The rounds of tribute made by officers of the National Press   Club represented by its president Roy Mabasa and Johnny Dayang’s PAPI showed that Phil had always been an elder frat brother. .

Tom Phil, it’s not “goodbye,” but “goodnight” because in due time, everyone without exception will join him in the Great Beyond.  So long, Phil, till we meet again.

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NOTES: We had an enjoyable taste of Sitio Tocok’s burst of flowing water last week, thanks to JdV’s Cdf and the district engineering’s crew and Apring Dawana’s liaison work with the speaker. The jubilant residents were walking on cloud nine for the abundance of water that they got since Adam and Eve. Germane to the artesian well project is the ongoing dredging whose soil residue has resulted in a housing project.  We intend to invite our friend Tony Meloto of Gawad Kalinga  fame, hopefully with both Kapitan Lino Fernandez and civic leader Dawana and the United Families of Tococ Ass’n.   

(For past columns, click http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/category/opinion/think-about-it/)

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