By Gonzalo Duque

 

IT’S been two weeks since I last wrote my column here. The weather has not been kind to us. We saw how the entire province of Pangasinan, including Dagupan, was flooded for many days.

Then came the sad news of the death of our dear friend, Editor-Publisher Ermin F. Garcia, Jr., last July 23.

When I travelled to Manila to attend his wake last July 30, Eva Visperas, our associate editor, called me up to attend a necrological service in Ermin’s honor.

However, it took me three hours from my house in Quezon City to get to Santuario de San Antonio in Makati, where the wake was being held. When I got there, our Sunday Punch group had already left.

I am deeply saddened by Ermin’s departure. x

Before the May 12 elections, Ermin and I partnered in a podcast titled  “The Punching Duo” every Saturday, live with replays on Tuesdays, with no premonition at all that he would be gone soon.

Just as we were gaining traction, I learned about Ermin’s Stage 4 cancer.

Our last podcast was after the elections with newly reelected Mayor Belen Fernandez as our guest. This was done in the reception room of our house in Tapuac, which was converted into a mini-studio just for the purpose.

Ermin intimated to me that it was only his first time doing a live broadcast, and I could see that he was very much inspired because of the timely topics we were discussing concerning national and local issues.

A mutual friend, who was constantly following us commented: “Bagay kayo ni Ermin. Kasi, pareho kayong pogi, tisoy at puti ang buhok”.

But what was more important to our friend and our other fans was the content of our podcast, very different from the others.

We agreed then to invite the opponents of Mayor Belen to also grace our podcast, which was already registering thousands of views only after weeks of airing.

We were informed that they wanted to join our show, but minus Ermin. They did not want him to participate in the podcast, and moreover, ask questions.

Well, eventually, this did not happen. They chickened out.

I will miss Ermin, and I will never see a journalist as courageous and as straightforward as him.

He had always adhered to the principle: “No man is to be reverenced more than the truth”,  a legacy from Greek philosopher Socrates, a doctrine and principle being upheld by The Sunday Punch team.

*          *          *          *

The Senate has finally spoken 19-4-1 to archive the Articles of Impeachment forwarded by the House of Representatives against Vice President  Sara Duterte.

I was very much impressed with the performance of Senators Dante Marcoleta, Pia Cayetano, Alan Peter Cayetano, Senate President Chiz Escudero and my favorite of them all, Senator Bong Go.

Pitted against the group of Marcoleta were Senators Tito Soto, Kiko Pangilinan, Rita Hontiveros, Bam Aquino, and Ping Larson, who eventually abstained from voting.

To sum it up, one can see the training of lawyer-senators personified by Marcoleta, two Cayetanos and Escudero against the veteran senators in the persons of Sotto and company.

This is my take: They should not have even discussed the impeachment complaints because, according to Senator Lito Lapid, the Supreme Court has already spoken.

Lapid, a non-lawyer and perceived to be a member of the committee on silence, was right following the late Senator Genaro Magsaysay’s unforgettable quote: “More talks, more mistakes. Less talks, less mistakes. No talk, no mistake”.  I agree 110%. 

*          *          *          *

To my favorite Vice Mayor BK Kua, majority leader, and members of the Dagupan Sangguniang Panlungsod: Sana, out of humanitarian consideration, ibigay na ninyo ang hinihingi ni Councilor Dada Manaois Reyna, especially her driver.

Recall that she met an accident before, while she was driving her car along Perez Boulevard, not far from her home in Tapuac, injuring some people.

Without a driver job-order employee, she might repeat the same accident.

Ano say nyo?

*          *          *          *

Going back to the issues confronting our country, our leaders can now focus on their jobs as legislators and implementers of our laws.

We will see the dawning of the new day with the election of Marcoleta as chairman of the Blue Ribbon Committee and all other senators who would like to change the systemic corruption in our country.

We can only hope that change will get us better. 

Share your Comments or Reactions

comments

Powered by Facebook Comments