She pleaded with my wife, then her colleague
at the DepEd Bacolor District, to caution me on what I write. My former Grade III teacher, Ms Raquel
Sangalang, had just read my letter-to-the editor in a national daily. (Philippine Daily Inquirer, 4November
2003) She feared for my safety thinking
that then Pampanga Governor Lito Lapid would personally take it against me the
things that I wrote.
In that letter, I deplored the governor’s
obvious arm-twisting manoeuvres to have his son, Mark, declared as the standard
bearer of the then “fair-haired boy” of all political parties, the
LAKAS-Christian Muslim Democrats, and ensured the certainty of his succession
in the provincial capitol. She probably
thought Lito Lapid would beat me to a pulp, or worse, pepper my body with
bullets just like the villains in his movies.
I of course thanked my former teacher (through my wife) and assured her
that her fears were uncalled for. He may
be accused of corruption and incompetence, but, the actor-turned-governor (now
senator) only kills in his celluloid world, where he’s the hero most of the
time. Moreover, he only slays the bad
guys. That’s my impression of him and, I
tend to believe, it was a correct one.
Nothing bad came my way even after I wrote
another letter published in a local daily (Sun·Star Pampanga, 28 May 2004) that
his son’s gubernatorial victory was neither totally due to his “old magic” nor
to his son’s fanned make-believe romance with Kris Aquino, as contended by a local
columnist. Citing occurrences in the local political scene, I opined that his
triumph should be ascribed more to His Lordship holding court in Lubao. Two
outstanding instances convinced me on the veracity of my contention. One, the unexpected shift in the support of
His Lordship from the early front runner, his former lawyer whom he’d supported
in her three successful congressional runs, to Mark Lapid, the eventual winner. The campaign period was already on its
tail-end when news of His Lordship support switch spread like wildfire. It was the raging topic of barrio folks
gathered in street corner sari-sari
stores even in far-flung Tagalog-speaking project site-barangays of the NGO I
worked with.
The other is the observed “pilgrimage” of
various local government and line agency officials and personnel performing
election-related duties to what retired Archbishop Oscar Cruz christened the “Vatican”
in Lubao. The “pilgrims” did not only
confirm the reported shift of support but, more importantly, they themselves
were commanded to campaign for the victor among their respective turfs and constituents.
My former teacher’s warning was the first
thing that came to mind when I contemplated to resume this blog on the last
quarter of last year. There were then
too many disturbing and sickening things taking place that this old man can’t
just simply allow to pass without blurting out his mouthful of diatribes. This, however, had to take a back seat as it
was overtaken by unfavourable developments concerning my main preoccupation at
that time—care giving to my then wheelchair-bound, Alzheimer’s-stricken
nonagenarian mom. But with her sudden
unexpected demise last April, I have no reason not to pursue my plan.
This consideration came after realizing that
the people who will be at the receiving end of my tirades are the
personification of the villains that Lito Lapid blows to oblivion in his
movies. It was public knowledge, although
no one would openly dare to speak or confirm, that some of these people had
maimed, if not killed, others who dared to cross their paths in the past. A project assistant I briefly worked with during
my long career as a development worker validated this against one of them. He narrated how he almost ended six-feet
under when he momentarily worked for His Lordship’s business operations in Nueva Ecija.
His mom was instrumental in landing this job, which he had taken
immediately after his stint in the underground national democratic
movement. And only his maternal blood
ties with His Lordship saved him from sure harm when he was discovered to have
repeatedly given the winning number combinations to some movement’s
sympathisers in said province. “Lesser”
mortals will not be as lucky as my former project assistant if they find
themselves in the similar situation.
Because of this, I instantly confronted the
question: “Will I or will I not continue
with the planned resumption?” After weighing
things down, I’ve realized that such fear was also misplaced. True, I would certainly tread on perilous
grounds if I’m writing for mainstream media.
I knew very well that the Philippines was on top of the world’s list of
the most dangerous places for journalists a couple of years ago—the aftermath of
the insane and gruesome Maguindanao Massacre—and had never been out of the top
ten since the Marcos Dictatorship. But
this is just my blog and, based on my last reckoning, less than ten people—my
wife and my two daughters among them—were my regular readers. Moreover, no one
missed it when it ceased “publication”.
I am therefore convinced that I’m out of
harm’s way for the people who’ll naturally wish me harm are oblivious of my
existence. The odds that a bettor’s
number combination will hit the jackpot in His Lordship business are much higher than the odds that these people read blogs,
much more, mine. Granting that danger
really exists, I think I don't have no other choice but to cast all cautions in the wind and go ahead with it. In my Sun·Star Pampanga letter in 2004, I
wrote the following: “The
triumph of second-rate, if not completely unqualified, politicians because of
the patronage of His Lordship is the most repulsive facet of our elections that
was made more evident in the last exercises.
We therefore have to be vigilant and keep our watch when these officials
take the reins of government to prevent further intrusion of His Lordship’s
influence in local governance. Doing
otherwise would mean delivering our towns and province to the dogs.”
Today, with the conclusion of the recent
elections, His Lordship will not solely rely on second-rate and
good-for-nothing politicians to do his beck and call. His wife had just won her second term as the
province’s chief executive while his son, the newly minted vice governor, will be
at the helm and hold sway in province’s legislature where he’s expected to
effectively shepherd the wimpy board members to toe the line. In addition, his stranglehold over his original
municipal fiefdom is as secure as ever in the hands of his daughter, who
succeeded her brother and mother. Another
town has effectively come under the spell of his daughter-in-law where she’s on
her second, or is it third term, as mayor.
Other town chief executives will surely be only too happy to do errands
for His Lordship and kowtow to his every whim and fancy, those elected under
Pnoy’s Liberal Party included. At the
Lower House, he can solidly depend on the three, if not all four,
representatives of the province. I would
be naïve if I’ll entertain the belief that he does not have other allies in
Congress.
This is the overbearing and compelling
reason for my decision. Somebody has to talk
on this and other decadent and perverted developments in the locality,
especially when the media and the church, which are the usual vociferous
spearheads against these, have been abnormally silent for whatever reasons. Hopefully, there will be other “voices in the
wilderness”, no matter how faint, which will ignite the strong resolve of the
Kapampangan race to oppose and put an end to these wrong and sickening things
and, in the process, re-establish the pride and esteem that the other races
once heaved on them in the not-so-distant past.
At the end of the day, this will be another worthy contribution to the
country that the Kapampangans helped liberate 115 years ago from the yoke of
colonial tyranny and domination and to the Filipino people’s aspirations for
good and upright governance. (30)
