Corpus falls to kuryente

I don’t really know the reason why Interior and Local Government Undersecretary Marius Corpus grandly announced Monday night the rescue of 50 survivors, mostly children, from the rubble in Barangay Guinsaugon, St. Bernard, Southern Leyte. One thing good for him, though, is that he named the source of the report.

Although he told the ABS-CBN anchor that he was going to give details of the report as soon as additional information came in, it was swiftly blasted as a kuryente.

I suspect that Corpus fell victim to upmanship. He just wanted to be the first to break the good news. Unfortunately, that was something that was immediately proven untrue. It took only a reporter on the ground to receive confirmation from a certain Capt. Parmer of the US Marines that there was no such report of survivors. Instead, there was the disheartening report that five more fatalities were dug out from the rubble.

Kuryente is the local journalese for bum steer. There are many similar such incidents among journalists who fall for false reports, either deliberately concocted by competition or simply because the persons concerned did not double-check the facts.

Yes, that seems to be the magic word. Double-check. Reconfirm. For somebody in the bureaucracy, he should not readily accept at face value the report that purportedly came from the chief of the DILG fire brigade. He could have asked for details and the source of the report. Although Dr. Duque cited the Marines as the source of the report, that should have been withheld pending verification from the primary source of the story.

Defense Secretary Nonong Cruz, without casting aspersions on Corpus, immediately corrected the report. The NDCC, he said, should henceforth make announcements about the rescue efforts through the Department of Health.

An expensive lesson for Corpus. Double-check, my friend. Always validate a report. Don’t immediately swallow hook, line and sinker reports from subordinates. There is no harm in taking a second look at a report, no matter how juicy.

Dr. Lopez Jaena shrine

Antique Gov. Sally Zaldivar-Perez clarified to me last Tuesday the pledge of President Arroyo to allocate P10 million for the shrine and museum of the Ilonggo hero Graciano Lopez-Jaena along Fajardo Street in Jaro, Iloilo City.

Gov. Perez said this was publicly announced during the awards for the members of the Zaldivar family during the holding of the Iloilo Dinagyang at the Central Philippine University with president Demy Sonza and members of the board of trustees of the foundation present.

Although the report was relayed to me by Mia, a niece and trustee of the foundation, I did not quote any figure until Gov. Perez’s call Tuesday that the President herself had announced publicly that she was setting aside P10 million for the project.

And yes, she also confirmed to me that Manila Mayor Lito Atienza also vowed to put up a statue in honor of the Ilonggo hero in Manila to make up for the seeming disregard for Lopez Jaena there.

That’s a project of the foundation that can now be accelerated with the President herself spearheading the foundation’s drive.

Labor champions picket DOLE

More than 50 employees of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) picketed their office in Bacolod on Tuesday, calling on Labor Secretary Patricia Santo Tomas to sign their union’s collective negotiation agreement.

That was reportedly just part of a nationwide protest action by other DOLE employees in Iloilo, Cebu, and the National Capital Region.

Edilberto Diogenes, spokesman of the Bacolod union, said the picket was launched only during the lunch break to prevent disruption of the office’s operations.

Their placard read: "DOLE employees, guardian of labor rights, but deprived of their human rights."

Aside from calling for the release of their CNA incentive bonus, Diogenes said the employees are also pushing for a P3,000 across-the-board salary increase, pointing out that the DOLE employees, who are implementing labor laws, are being deprived of their own benefits.

That’s a clamor that does not need additional comments from this writer. The champions of labor are now the ones clamoring for their rights.

Consult LGUs on mining applications

Negros Occidental Gov. Joseph Marañon urged the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ (DENR) Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) to consult local government units before granting mining permits.

This was after the four bishops of Negros Island — Bacolod’s Bishop Vicente Navarra, San Carlos’ Jose Advincula Jr., John Du of Dumaguete and Patrio Buzon of Kabankalan — briefed the governor of their campaign against large-scale "environmentally destructive mining in our land."

Marañon has a point. Of the six approved mining rights in Negros Occidental, only one — that of Colet Mining and Development Corp. — had been furnished to the provincial government.

"The application permits do not pass through us. All the DENR does is copy-furnish us when they approve them," commented Marañon.

The four prelates earlier had called for a moratorium on the grant of large-scale mining permits, licenses, agreements, and other instruments until the new legal framework is put in place. They also called for the recall of all approved financial technical assistance agreements.

Marañon intends to attach the provincial government’s comments to the position paper of the bishops which they will submit to the President, the DENR and MGB.

It may be recalled that until two years ago, the provincial government had demanded that Maricalum Mining Corp. of Sipalay City address Barangay Mambaroto’s complaint that dust storms from mine tailings dumped there had been plaguing barangay folk.

An untold Christian gesture

Last week, I mentioned the many charitable works of the late Manila Mayor Ramon Bagatsing who died recently and was buried only after a brief wake.

But I did not expect this "secret gesture of Christian charity" from a close friend, Joetor or Jose Ma. Torres, one of the outstanding law practitioners of Bacolod City and Negros Occidental. But let Joe tell his story himself:

Dear Rolly,
I read with mixed feelings your column on Mayor Bagatsing ( I always called him Mayor!) and I thank you for remembering a very warm, helpful and sensitive person. Thirty-four years ago, right after my graduation from the College of Law, I was faced with the problem of not being able to take the Bar exams for financial reasons! Your friend, Tutay Kilayko (another guy to whom I owe so much and who has just celebrated his 80th birthday last Feb. 13) suggested that I talk to Mayor Bagatsing who was then in town and discuss my problem. I went to the Lady of Mercy Hospital where he was then billeted. When I was called in to his room, he asked me what he could do. I told him about my problem. He got my name and address and told me that he would arrange it. That was it. In less than 15 minutes, he dismissed me and my problem. I was wary and confused! I was not sure. I was thinking that this may be a case of another broken promise by a politician. After all, the only common link between him and me was that we were both graduates of Negros Occidental High School (him in 1934 and me in 1962) which I did not miss to mention, knowing as I do his great love for his alma mater.

Almost two months passed and I was worried. The Bar review would soon open and I had not heard from Mayor Bagatsing. Until one day I received a telegram telling me that I was already enrolled at the San Beda College of Law Review and that all my fees were already paid for and that a member of his staff would fetch me at the pier when I arrived in Manila. Very few moments or events can equal the happiness and joy I felt at that time. From then on I knew that the Lord wanted me to take the Bar exams and pass it. When I did pass the bar, I went back to him and he was very glad. He offered me a job in his office but I politely told him that I was already working with the law office of Attys. Digoy, Montalvo and Fedor Bernabe. I thanked him for his help and told him that I would always be indebted to him. And then he said, quietly and with a smile: ‘Just pass it on.’

Needless to state, Mayor Bagatsing’s kindness and love for a stranger had been passed on many times over. I always thank God for being privileged to share the love and kindness of this man, who unmindful of his own hurt and suffering, extended a helping hand to a complete stranger. This incident clearly defined my legal practice. His love and generosity is deeply ingrained in my heart. Indeed, love begets love.

I cannot eulogize him any better than you did. I wrote this letter to share with you the joy of a Christian passage. Life, death, life. You lost a friend and ‘compadre’ and I lost a benefactor but we should be happy because we both gained an angel. Thanks be to God!

Thank you and warmest regards to your loved ones and to the members of your community.

Your friend in the way,
Atty. Jose Ma. B. Torres