Handshake - JAYWALKER by Art A. Borjal

"Probable cause" is what the Sandiganbayan justices – who are going to try the plunder case against former President Estrada – are looking for. Is it possible that he committed a crime? That is the simple question that the justices are going to evaluate, based on the evidence presented by the Ombudsman. Here, for the information of the laymen, proof beyond reasonable doubt is not yet at issue.

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Because "probable cause" is easy to show, the possibility of Erap’s imminent arrest is very great. Thus, sooner or later, the Sandiganbayan is expected to issue a warrant for his arrest. Which means that Erap will soon be spending his time inside a prison cell, because the case of plunder is not bailable.

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Will Erap’s arrest win him sympathy from the majority of people? Or will it merely sate the appetite of a good number of Filipinos who would like to see criminals pay dearly for their misdeeds? The answers to these questions will depend, to a great extent, on how the spin masters are going to weave their stories or yarns about Erap’s imminent incarceration.

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The gut feel of many political observers is that Erap will not be able to generate widespread sympathy for his travails. Just consider that pro-Erap crowd, numbering a few hundreds, that have massed at the gates of North Greenhills. One look at their faces and at their demeanor will clearly show that they do not represent the great mass of the masa or the "great unwashed", most of whom are too busy eking out a living. In other words, tens of thousands are not going to march behind Erap when he is thrown into a prison cell.

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Some people in Malacañang made President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo lose a few points in popularity when they brought before her the notorious convict Norberto Manero, whom she subsequently received with a smile and a handshake. But unknown to many, the President is really that kind of person who would be naturally gracious to everybody, without exception.

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It is all in President Gloria’s genes. Oldtime colleagues in the media told us that the late President Diosdado Macapagal – who had his humble beginnings in Lubao, Pampanga – would talk and listen to anyone who would ask for his help, whether inside Malacañang or in some remote barrio he was visiting. He did not ask a person who he was before shaking his hand.

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President Gloria, I learned, gave Manero just one brief chance of airing his grievances on some judicial foul-up on his case. She did not give him any concessions and was simply being gracious and kind. And remember, the handshake with Manero happened at the beginning of Holy Week.

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Our effort to save the life of seminarian Abraham ‘Bambet’ Mirandilla Jr., who is about to become a priest, is gaining ground. Good Samaritans are coming forward to lend a helping hand for the rescheduled kidney transplant of Bambet. Among the latest donors to the Bambet Fund are the following:

* Anonymous lady from Guadalupe, Makati, P30,000 (PNB 0019588)

* Pedro Valenzuela of Judge Luna St., San Francisco del Monte, Quezon City, P2,000

* Benito Ngo & Mayeen Mosquito of Project 4, Quezon City, P1,000

* Anonymous of Pila, Laguna, who is a regular donor to the Good Samaritan Foundation, P1,000

* Elena Z. Monzon of Imus, Cavite, P1,000 (Metrobank 092353)

* S. Chu of Sto. Cristo St., Binondo, Manila, P3,000

* Maricon Castañeda of Assumption College, P2,000 (Metrobank 15900282489)

* R.D. of Quezon City, P5,000 (Metrobank 1700475428)

* Felipe "Pete" Araullo of Ortigas Greenheights Subdivision, Taytay, Rizal, P1,000 (Metrobank 0135357)

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The surgical operation of Bambet had to be rescheduled because the National Kidney and Transplant Institute’s Ethics Committee has to go through the donor-donee relationship. Note that the donee of the kidney needed by Bambet, a teacher and a sister of a Jesuit priest, is not at all related to him. In such a case, rules require an ethics group to evaluate the proposed kidney donation.

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According to Dr. Enrique Ona, the NKTI director, other diagnostic tests must also be conducted on both Bambet and the donee to assure that the kidney transplantation will be successful. He assures, though, that the transplant will be done as soon as possible.

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Thanks a million, and God bless, too, the other donors who lent a helping hand for the other charitable projects of the Good Samaritan Foundation:

* J.C. of V. Luna St., Quezon City, a regular donor, P5,000

* An unnamed gentleman from PLDT, P10,000

* Myrna A. del Rosario of San Fernando, La Union, P1,000 (PDCP Bank 0003646)

* Nick Fletcher, US100 thru RCBC

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There is a racket going on in the United States, perpetrated by some Fil-Americans who are out to make a fast buck. They stage fund-raising activities, allegedly for indigent beneficiaries in the Philippines. And to dupe donors, they show off photographs of alleged beneficiaries, especially Filipino children, to whom were reportedly given medical treatment or goodies.

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The racketeers’ ploy is to make full use of the camera. When they visit the Philippines for their reported medical mission or gift-giving affair, they see to it that plenty of pictures are taken of them handing over some items or giving some dental or medical services to the intended beneficiaries, complete with posters and streamers. These photos are then eventually blown up and displayed to potential donors in subsequent fund-raising schemes.

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What many donors do not know is that only a fragment of their donations go to the intended indigent beneficiaries. Most of the money raised are used for the racketeers’ own personal expenses. That is how heartless some alleged do-gooders are, in their effort to fatten their pockets.

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My e-mail address: <[email protected]>