Of heroes and heels

Let me tell you about a Marine, Sgt. Edwin A. Roldan, who, six years ago, gave up his life in defense of freedom and his country. He had led his team in infiltrating enemy territory in Sitio Limbutolan, where they subsequently encountered a large number of Abu Sayyaf terrorists. In the ensuing firefight, Roldan's team was subjected to awesome fire from the numerically superior enemy.

Despite the heavy artillery from the terrorists, Roldan kept on moving in the battlefield, exhorting his men to fight on and defeat the enemy. As the fighting raged, Roldan saw some of his wounded comrades. As he dashed to help a wounded teammate, he was hit at the leg.

Disregarding his bleeding wound, Roldan cradled the wounded Marine, to whom he administered first aid. Then, Roldan was again hit, with his right hand severed from his wrist. But still, he carried on. He got hit a final time in the head, and he fell dead. Roldan's death encouraged his comrades to fight more fiercely, eventually repulsing the terrorists.

I wonder how the family of Roldan struggled to survive after his death. Were his children able to continue to go to school? Was his widow able to take care and feed the family he left behind? I wonder, too, whether Roldan ever thought of his own personal safety, as he led his team of Marines in the battlefields in Mindanao. For our country. For our freedom. Those thoughts must have raced in the mind of this heroic soldier as he fought the Abu Sayyaf.

I think that Makati Rep. Joker Arroyo, who was a staunch supporter of candidate Joseph Estrada in the 1998 presidential campaign, is still a secret admirer of President Estrada. While he may no longer have direct access to President Estrada, Joker still takes time to send a friendly message to his idol in 1998, offering unsolicited advice. Look, just the other day, Joker went out of his way to send to me a message which, I think, he hopes President Estrada will listen to. Joker's message deals with the TIME magazine article where President Estrada was the cover story.

Here is what Joker asked me to convey to the President, through this column:

President Estrada should resist the advice of his staff to boycott or even protest the TIME article on him. They should ignore it, even if they have valid reason to be mad about it, because the ensuing publicity over the protest will only arouse more curiosity about what was written rather than whether it is true or false.

In short, instead of the problem being contained, the protest will only prolong the controversy.

Malacañang should take a leaf from Louis Nizer, a great libel lawyer during his time who gave this usual advice:

"If you cross the street on a rainy day and an inconsiderate speedy auto spatters mud on you, don't try to wipe it off immediately. You will only spread it all over your clothes. Wait a day or two until the mud dries, and will flick off."

Malacañang should wait for a little time for the mud to cake and flick off.

In the meantime, all bookstores and magazine stands have run out of issues of the controversial TIME magazine. Whenever additional copies are sent to these shops by the TIME mag distributor, the copies are immediately gobbled up by curious readers. What a way to sell a magazine, without any hassle!

Credibility is one big problem that many government officials are facing. They make promises that they cannot keep. And they do not even go out of their way to explain why they have failed to comply with their promise. Furthermore, many government officials say one thing, but do another. As a result, they lose their credibility.

Take a look at the recently-appointed director of the Department of Public Works and Highways' Urban Roads Projects Office, popularly known as URPO: Director Danilo Trajano. He holds a very sensitive post, handling a job that can ease the traffic jams in Metro Manila and make life more bearable for tens of millions of people.

When he learned about my comments on the Marikina River Bank C-5 Bypass Road, and on the failure of the DPWH to finish the road construction job at the Ortigas Bridge area in Pasig City, Trajano sought me out, apparently to brief me on the two URPO-handled projects -- and to promise that action would immediately be taken. I met Trajano, through a meeting arranged by PR lady Aida Salazar, at the EDSA Shangri-La Garden Cafe, more than two months ago.

You know what? Nothing has been done by Trajano regarding the two important road projects we talked about. The parked vehicles in front of the Iglesia ni Cristo Church near Rosario Bridge are still parked there. Two lanes of what is supposed to be a road network for Libis-bound vehicles have not yet been opened up. And the teeny-weeny 300 meters of land that is supposed to connect Marikina River Bank to C-5, through a bypass road at Camp Atienza, have not been made passable. Apparently, for a public official like Trajano, promises are made to be broken. Yes, he is like a turtle, when it comes to project-implementation. Or worse than a turtle.

PULSEBEAT: Under the Accessibility Law and Republic Act 7277, the Secretary of Public Works and Highways is tasked to implement these laws. Unfortunately, these two laws have not been strictly implemented. This explains why some buildings, like the Makati Cinema Square which had been renovated several times, does not have accessibility features for physically-handicapped persons. Will DPWH Secretary Gregorio Vigilar look into this?.... A Filipino is expected to become the next president of the prestigious Rotary International. He is Rafael Hechanova, the basketball superstar several decades ago. By the way, early next year, all the Rotary district presidents all over the world will meet in convention in Manila.... Reader Armando C. Ballesteros IV wrote to say that the Philippine General Hospital does not admit patients unless they have enough funds for the required deposit. "Please do something to correct this social malady," he said.... According to Dr. Hector C. Osi, administrator of the Children's Medical Center Philippines and General Hospital, the hospital has not denied any medical care to any patient because of financial constraints. He said that the CMCPGH has a charity section with a bed capacity assigned for indigent patients.

Art A. Borjal's e-mail address: <[email protected]>