Drunk on Margarita

Dismayed that’s how I feel towards Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) Chairperson, Margarita “Margie” Juico.

When she was a guest on The Bottomline a couple of months back, she seemed like the personification of a sincere and well-meaning individual, much like how people perceive her good friend, Cory Aquino, whom she served at one point as appointments secretary.

 She went on to serve in the PCSO for more than fifteen years in my estimate, having served as a member of the PCSO board of the directors under Cory, Ramos, and from 2001 until the ‘Hello Garci’ scandal erupted in 2005, under GMA. She’s currently at the helm of the cash cow agency under the Office of the President, serving as chairperson since President Aquino came to power a little over a year ago.

 When it came to our ‘evaluation’ portion, the last gap of the The Bottomline when we assess the performance or answers of our guests, I even said that she was a good choice to head the PCSO. I praised her along with other panelists saying, “it was a good decision on the part of President Aquino to put someone he trusts…” I could not have been more wrong.

The habit of many a public official in conducting press conferences to expose supposed scandals and mismanagement in government in a supposed effort to expunge the bureaucracy from the ills of corruption has really got to stop. There was a time when I served in government and I myself felt it was necessary to expose all the abuses I witnessed via a blog post. I don’t regret having gone through the entire experience, however testing and taxing it all was. But if it happened to me now, my guess is I would go about things differently. Now that I’m older (hopefully wiser), I’ve learned that doing so subjects people to trial by publicity and denies them the right to process. So even if we’re super sure they’re super guilty from firsthand experience, and we hate their guts for being the corrupt people they are, it shouldn’t change the fact that they’re still entitled to that day in court.

 How many people have seen their reputations sent to the gas chamber, never to be resurrected again, simply because a senator or someone like of Margie Juico decides it’s time to call in the press and announce to the world, acting as accuser, jury and judge rolled into one, the guilt of whomever they so desire to sentence? 

 Save for Bishop Pueblos who wrote that hair-raising letter to former president Arroyo asking for a car for his birthday, the other bishops and the entire Catholic faithful have been unfairly dragged to this controversy simply because Margie Juico was less judicious in her examination of facts and less circumspect in her choice of words. Not a very tall order if you plan to assail the leadership of the Catholic Church and shake the faith of quite a number of Filipino Faithful. And all this for what? Pogi points? To silence the critics of the RH Bill? If I had my way (puera gaba), she’d be burning in hell by now.

In the Senate inquiry on the “Pajero bishops,” she vehemently denied ever using the word “Pajero” when it was found out that she was wrong, and that no Pajero was actually given to the bishops, and that no luxury car was ever bought (again, save for Bishop Pueblos who bought a Montero, but supposedly used it for charity work), and that all their activities for the poor were fully documented. It was also discovered that the Supreme Court has ruled in the past on the constitutionality of donations to churches if these are used for charity (different religions are partners of government in poverty alleviation programs) and not for propagating their respective faiths.

She denied, denied again, and denied some more, she never said the word “Pajero,” according to her, alluding to the media, trying to pass the buck unto them for misquoting her and taking her statements out of context.

 “Marami rin namang mga mahihirap na nakapa-ikot sa kanila sa mga diocese nila noh, nanghihinayang lang ako, sana naman yung pondo ng PCSO na ginamit pambili lang ng PAJERO, marami na sanang natulungan dun sa pondong iyon.” (a direct quote from Marjie Juico I personally transcribed from the video of her I have).

Truly, the best way to catch a fish is through its mouth!

Now don’t get me started on the moronic reactions of some Filipinos defending her and continuing to attack the Church. That shows how drunk and intoxicated we all are from having more than our fair share of this particular and peculiar brand of Margarita. And because I’m drunk, allow me to puke. Just puke. Eew.

Different “Margies” will for always remind me of different things: Margie Holmes will always be about sex, sex, sex, wit, and some psychology. Margie Moran will always be about ageless beauty, timeless class. And Margie Juico? Margie Juico will always be about Pajeros and why some people are called liars.

I’m not asking her to resign. But if I were in her place, having lied through her teeth like that, I most certainly will.

 When something gets me really drunk, I never have it again. So if I’m offered Margaritas the next time at a bar or a party, the Juico variety, it’s thanks but thanks for me.

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Tonight on The Bottomline with Boy Abunda: Quark Henares talks about his passion for directing, going back to school, being stingy, inheriting an empire, and the forthcoming marriage of his mother, celebrity doctor and businesswoman Dr. Vicky Belo to her longtime boyfriend, controversial Dr. Hayden Kho.

Watch it after Banana Split on ABS-CBN. Encore telecast on the ABS-CBN News Channel (ANC), Sunday, 1:00 pm.

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