Yasay, Lopez and Taguiwalo…who’s next?

 

By Al S. Mendoza

FIRST to be rejected was Foreign Affairs Secretary Jun Yasay.

Second, Environment Secretary Gina Lopez.

Third, Social Welfare Secretary Judy Taguiwalo.

Fourth is…?

Yasay was sacked for a valid reason.

Not in the cases of Lopez and Taguiwalo.

Yasay was found to be an American citizen, a fact he had kept secret.

He was promptly thumbed down by the all-powerful Commission on Appointment (CA).

I felt a bit sad as one of Yasay’s most trusted men is none other than our very own Dante Velasco of Dagupan City.

Buddies from way back, Dante, the kid brother of the equally eminent journalist and patriot Jun Velasco (Jun got me aboard here, thank you, Sir), was immediately recruited by Yasay upon Yasay’s installation at the DFA.

Being of erudite background, Dante, a doctorate degree holder from the U.P.-Diliman, became an instant asset in diplomatic thrusts.

Dante quickly initiated reforms and was roundly applauded for his highly innovative mind despite his short stint at foreign diplomacy.

But I’m sure Dante will bounce back in no time—if he hasn’t yet.

Great minds are never idle that long; they are constantly being sought out.

But to continue, Lopez got the ire of giant miners for her courage to close/suspend companies found destroying our environment.

She ignored threats she’d be tossed out if she didn’t back down on her crusade.

Some powerful politicians, whose relatives are miners found to be directly involved in large-scale destruction of mother nature, considered Lopez a perennial foe and ought to be exterminated.

To do that, they wormed their way into the fulcrum of appointing power and got the CA to dump Lopez into the dustbin of history.

The bad guys—they win most of the time.

Only in the movies do the good guys win—all of the time.

Taguiwalo was also a bad-guy victim.

A Leftist through and through, Taguiwalo fought for the downtrodden.

And what is a Leftist again?

One who strongly fights for the interest of the masses.

For that, she angered several politicians for exposing their insatiable greed for “pork” aka money.

Taguiwalo vehemently stood her ground against raiders of her budget.

“DSWD funds are not common funds and entitlements of congressmen or congresswomen,” she said.

“I do not want to violate the Supreme Court ruling against pork,” Taguiwalo added.

In the past, many politicians love dipping their fingers into DSWD funds that they voraciously covet as pork.

Not under Taguiwalo’s watch.

For that, she was axed by the CA, whose anti-Taguiwalo members had proven to be certified cowards as they cast their votes through secret balloting.

Who’s next on the CA’s chopping block?

Agrarian Reform Secretary Rafael Mariano, another Leftist in the mold of Taguiwalo?

Your guess is as good as mine.

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