Bungling its job

The Senate was easily the loser in the August 17 hearing into the serious charges aired by Col. Victor Corpus against Senator Panfilo Lacson. By showing its "institutional arrogance" on live nationwide television, the Senate became a villain and a heel. And the ugly image raced across the nation, through text messages, through media, and word of mouth.

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Can the Senate recover from that first-day debacle? It all depends on how it will conduct the probe against Lacson during the next several days. If the Senate investigation remains a circus, rudderless and off course, then the Senate will dig itself deeper into a dark pit.

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Another question. Can Senator Loren Legarda remain an impartial investigator of the charges against Lacson, insofar as witness Ador Mawanay is concerned? Remember that she had already branded Mawanay as a liar, as one whose credibility has completely been shattered. When Mawanay finally testifies on the charges versus Lacson (if that time will ever come), will Loren be able to set aside her prejudices and biases against Ador, if only to find out which portions of his testimony are true?

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This is Loren’s dilemma. If she participates in the grilling of Mawanay, she can be suspected of merely trying to find holes and loopholes in the witness’ testimony, not to find out which portions of his testimony are credible. That is how serious the damage was done, when Loren went on a rampage during the August 17 committee hearing at the Senate.

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Thanks a million, and God bless, the following Christian-hearted individuals who lent a helping hand to the Good Samaritan Foundation:

* Presidential economic envoy and former Finance Secretary Edgardo B. Espiritu and his wife Lydia who celebrated their 42nd wedding anniversary last August 15, who opted to donate to the GS Foundation P10,000 (Metrobank Check No. 0001031) in lieu of having a get-together with friends

* An anonymous lady doctor, P10,000

* TMP, P20,000 (Allied 45196)

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In the meantime, the Good Samaritan Foundation turned over the amount of P3,300 to Daryll and Danred Garcia of Caloocan City, 3rd year high school students of New Era College in Quezon City, for their semestral tuition fee. The amount of P3,400 was also given to 23-year-old Dolores Santiago, who has a spinal cord injury, for her physical therapy sessions at St. Camillus Polyclinic in Pasig City.

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Andres Torres (a pseudonym because of his request to withhold his real identity), 25 years old, is going to finish his Masters of Engineering degree at the University of Tokyo in September of this year. Idealistic that he is and wishing to help build our country through the technological knowledge learned from one of Asia’s best institutions, Torres turned down the offer of his professor to continue his research in Japan and decided to head back home.

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For the past two months, Torres has been looking for a job in either the government or the private sector. Now, the realities of life have come dawning on him. "It really pains me to realize that my Mother Land is not so anxious to welcome me into her arms. I couldn’t even get back the old teaching position that I used to hold in UP for two years, due to the budget cut imposed by Congress. UP couldn’t anymore afford to hire as much talent as it could," he rued.

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"Now, I experience, first hand, the stories of my friends, which I first refused to believe, about how terrible it is to look for a job after obtaining advance degrees abroad. The story of a Filipino professor in Stanford comes into my mind. After completing his PhD. degree in Stanford, he went back home, with the same idealism as I have, inspite of the teaching position offered him in Stanford, only to realize that he had no place to go. Desolate, he went back to Stanford and accepted the job offer," Torres said.

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Torres, in the prime of his youth, cannot understand the backwardness that prevails in our country, inspite of the many intellectuals in government. And he envies his friends from Korea, China and Taiwan who are just as anxious to go home to the exciting opportunities awaiting them in their homeland. His friends are soon going to occupy key positions in the R&D departments of various private and government entities.

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Torres, though, remains optimistic. "I am still very hopeful that things will change for the better. I hope that our government will realize that in order to attain self-sufficiency and sustainable development, it has to put primary emphasis on science and technology and it has to provide venue for engineers and scientists to use their expertise for the betterment of society," Torres said.

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PULSEBEAT: Ligaya Lunizo-Ravelo of Lagangilang, Abra, is requesting Mayor Lito Atienza to look into the obstructions at Morayta and P. Paredes streets, fronting the Professional Regulations Commission. She says that the area has been converted into a terminal for passenger jeepneys plying the Divisoria route, blocking traffic flow…Dr. Afadal B. Kunting, rural health physician in the town of Sergio Osmeña Sr., Zamboanga del Norte, wishes the "Books to the Barrios USA Program" to consider the mountainous municipality of Sergio Osmeña as a beneficiary of its program. The town is very backward and people there can only see ABS-CBN during good weather. There are no newspapers there, no Internet, no phones, and only three radio stations can be heard by the townsfolk. In the local one-room library, most of the books are 28 years old or older. Dr. Kunting appeals for donations of books for the benefit of the youth of Sergio Osmeña town. Will Senator Serge Osmeña also look into this request?

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THOUGHTS FOR TODAY:
If you keep God inside your heart,
There is nothing that will come into your life
That you won’t be able to handle.
God bless you always!

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Friendship is a chain of gold.
Each link a smile, a laugh, a tear
A grip of the hand, a word of cheer.
No matter how heavy the load,
I’ll be your friend till we grow old.

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