Tool of desperation

I never thought I would see the day when a person like Joavan Fernandez would be quoted extensively as a substantial source for a news story that has all the trappings of a political hatchet job against Rep. Eduardo Gullas and then not having a single word from Gullas in it.

Joavan Fernandez is the adopted son of Talisay City Mayor Socrates Fernandez. Except for Mayor Soc, nobody in Talisay City loves Joavan. Joavan is a suspected drug user with a violent streak. His brushes with the law have been too numerous even law enforcers have lost count.

But Joavan never stays in jail for long. Mayor Soc always sees to it that his adopted son does not suffer the same fate that awaits others with far weaker connections. And so Joavan keeps doing what he does best -- getting into trouble and causing trouble on others.

Recently Joavan got involved in yet another shooting incident. As usual he managed to elude arrest for days, until police cornered him in, where else, but the house of his father. Now one would have thought that the news would be about this latest chapter in his criminal career.

But lo and behold, the news screamed that Joavan was blaming Gullas for his woes, that Gullas was using him to divert attention away from whatever political issues the congressman is facing in his bid to become Talisay City mayor again.

Gullas, for those who do not know him, is generally acknowledged as the Father of the City of Talisay, having crafted and shepherded the law that created the city out of the town that it used to be. Upon becoming a city, Gullas became its first city mayor.

Mayor Soc succeeded Gullas after Gullas went back to being a congressman representing the first congressional district of Cebu, a position he held with distinction for many years. Aside from being a congressman, Gullas had also been governor of the province of Cebu.

As politicians go in this country, Gullas sits on a threshold far superior than most. There is not a criminal taint to his name and his political victories are verifiable and have never been stolen.

Whatever shortcomings Gullas may have in the eyes of the electorate, I am pretty sure he will be more than able to address them in a fair and respectable forum, which is how things ought to be resolved in a mature, civilized and democratic environment.

Yet it seems that sometimes we only pay lip service to a mature, civilized and democratic environment. We invoke it only when it suits our selfish purposes. But in dealing with others, especially our enemies, out the window flies such a mature, civilized and democratic environment.

For how else can one explain the use of such a character as Joavan Fernandez to assail Gullas? Gullas may not be the son of God, but Jesus Christ, the word of Joavan Fernandez versus Gullas? What a topsy-turvy world have we become?

I probably would not have been floored had Joavan badmouthed Gullas in the dark and seamy haunts that he frequents in his confused life. But in the respectable profession of journalism as a primary source? And going unchallenged without benefit of rebuttal as is required?

It is good that Gullas did not choose to respond to the mouthful of Joavan. I would have been terribly disappointed if he did. Joavan is not the kind of person you dignify with an answer or as a primary and unchallenged news source.

These elections have become one of the dirtiest and most unprofessional political exercises that I have ever seen in my life. Mudslinging and below-the-belt attacks have become more of the rule rather than as the exception.