Credibility problem

It was just as well that Gen. Edilberto Adan has taken over the job of acting as spokesperson on the information gathered by the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines on alleged money laundering activities of Senator Panfilo Lacson. The ISAFP head, Col. Victor Corpus, was getting overexposed on media and, as what usually happens, overexposure can lead to mistakes and booboos.

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That wrong photo of Kim Wong, as presented to media by Corpus, was very damaging to the ISAFP head’s credibility. Now, Corpus must take some dramatic initiatives, like coming up with some pieces of fool-proof evidence against Lacson, to stem the tide of mistrust that has turned against him.

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Corpus has many opportunities to strike back in regaining his credibility. For one, he can use his appearance before the Senate Blue Ribbon committee to show that what he had been presenting to media – before that fatal error on Kim Wong’s photograph – was based on documented facts. For another, he can be more careful and circumspect in parading the pieces of evidence his ISAFP team had gathered against Lacson.

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"No talk, no mistake; little talk, little mistake; much talk, much mistake." That is a lesson that Corpus must have learned as he realized that his overexposure to media has dented his credibility. Henceforth, to save his case against Lacson from crumbling to pieces in the eyes of the public, Corpus must refrain from talking too much to media, prior to the official proceedings of the Blue Ribbon committee and, eventually, the courts. This way, he can shunt aside the criticism that he is resorting to trial by publicity in pursuing the serious charges against Lacson.

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Manila Mayor Lito Atienza should look into what seems to be a valid complaint of Michael K. Rockey of 1944 M. Torres St., Pasig Line, Sta. Ana. The complainant says that squatter shanties have completely blocked off F. Torres street in Sta. Ana. And what is deplorable is that the number of shanties is growing, despite Mayor Atienza’s promise made three years ago that he would have the illegal obstructions demolished.

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Rockey also noted that one family has turned portions of F. Torres street into a garage and a bodega – garage for three vehicles, and a bodega for an inoperable taxicab. Correctly, he wondered how the authorities concerned have allowed squatters to completely take over a city road. Now, let us see if Mayor Atienza will make good his vow to get rid of all illegal obstructions in city streets and public places.

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Last July 24, Vic P. Rusiana, a Lay Minister who serves with Fr. Anton C.T. Pascual at the Shangri-La Community Mass, wrote a letter to Chairman Benjamin Abalos of the Metro Manila Development Authority. The three-page, single-spaced letter gave a blow-by-blow account of how he was harassed by MMDA traffic enforcers and by representatives of a tow truck company as his car stalled at EDSA near Cubao, in the afternoon of July 24. Apparently, the incident gave a very bad image of the MMDA, and Vic even suspects that some of the people who harassed him were not really agents of the MMDA.

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I hope Chairman Abalos will have time to read citizen Rusiana’s letter-complaint. If action will be taken on this, the MMDA’s image can very well be protected. For the info of the MMDA chairman, Rusiana’s address is Apt. #3, SDM Apartments, Terra Verde Executive Village, A. Rodriguez Avenue, Santolan, Pasig City. His telephone number is 681-1288.

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Remember that column entitled "Religion of Blame," written by Danny Martinez, which I featured several weeks ago? I understand that Martinez, who is now living in the United States, is going to publish a book where "Religion of Blame" constitutes one chapter. Now, let me give a biosketch of Danny Martinez, who seems to have led a very colorful life. The biosketch was given to me by Manuel Lino G. Faelnar.

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Martinez finished law at Silliman University in 1970, passed the bar the following year, lawyered for peasants, got arrested, detained, then later placed under house arrest when martial law was declared in 1972. He fled to Sabah by way of Sulu, got incarcerated there for three months (he was suspected by Sabah authorities of being a Marcos spy), and was forcibly repatriated thereafter.

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Martinez fled the Philippines again to Brunei, where he stayed for nine months while UNCHR was trying to resettle him. He fled Brunei when Bolkiah (the son of the Sultan) decided to repatriate him to Manila, made it to Japan, where UNCHR arranged for his wife and two little ones to leave the Philippines and rejoin him.

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He became a refugee in the US with the assistance of then Senator Walter Mondale, joined Raul Manglapus’ Movement for a Free Philippines and became director for refugee affairs and chapter chairman in L.A. He quit the MFP when they decided to send M-16s to "revolutionaries" back home, founded the Social Democrats of the Philippines in 1978, edited a Filipino American newspaper, fell out of grace with Ninoy Aquino’s camp when he criticized them for sending terrorists to the Philippines

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Martinez worked for an alternative L.A. weekly, worked as personal and corporate secretary for the late Serging Osmeña for five years. He has remained a Filipino citizen all this time, won first prize for an English short story and second for English poetry in 1977 the first time he joined the Palanca awards. He hopes to finish his book on the Philippine phenomenon by the end of this year, with the title A Country of Our Own. He intends to return to the Philippines for good.

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Thoughts For Today:

Don’t wish it was easier,
wish you were better.
Don’t wish for less problems,
wish for more skills.
Don’t wish for less challenges,
wish for more wisdom.

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A day without prayer
is a day without blessing,
And a life without prayer
is a life without power.

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My e-mail addresses: <[email protected]> and <[email protected]>