The indolent and the insolent

Before I begin with the main topic, please allow me to share this:

What comes to us as difficult moments are also reminders or second chances from God to love more, do more, give more or simply to catch up with those who deserve more of, and from us. May your burden and sorrows be eased knowing your love somehow unburdens others.

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And now here’s my print version of “Throwback Thursdays” which is Facebook’s version of “Blast from the past.

The current Tit for Tat between Ex-Senator Joker Arroyo and Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda reminds me of a time when then Executive Secretary Joker Arroyo had something similar with my Dad the late Louie Beltran.

My Dad had written a piece suggesting that there was a communist mole within the office of the Executive Secretary during the Cory presidency and Joker Arroyo rebutted the piece not realizing the “mole” article was not about him but someone else. Given both men’s cantankerous dispositions back then, the verbal exchanges quickly deteriorated, and soon Joker reportedly referred to my Dad as “Fat.”

It was a wise man named Teddy-boy Locsin who cautioned Joker Arroyo: “ the one thing you don’t do is call Louie Beltran fat.” When my Dad was informed by his “bubuwit” or mouse in Malacanang about Joker’s technical reference to his “immensity,” Louie Beltran drew deep from his venerable source of wisdom – Garfield The Cat: “I may be “Fat” but you’re Ugly and I can go on a diet.”

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Going back to the “Arroyo versus Lacierda tongue wrestle,” I’m a bit disappointed that given their backgrounds in law and politics, eloquence has been absent in their exchange. If you can’t keep your mouth shut, at least be flowery in your assault. Is it because Joker Arroyo has become an impatient gruff in his old age and can’t be bothered to use choice words against the insolent Lacierda, or does Sir Joker really believes that the members of “the Student Council at Malacañang” are incapable of understanding and appreciating Shakespearean rhetoric?

Technically speaking, Lacierda may qualify as an insolent wet behind the ears lawyer in comparison to the multi-faceted, colorful legal experience of Joker Arroyo. When one compares each other in the realm of public service, Lacierda would have to plead “No Contest.”

As a spokesperson Lacierda is too much of a lawyer to be an effective talking head, especially after resorting to what some of us consider “out of bounds,” “not related to the subject matter” or “below the belt” retort, revisiting how Joker was politically in bed with the last administration and was just as lazy to stand up against the corruption of the GMA administration. As true as that might be, in the court of public opinion and PR, the jury is trying the issue of PDAF/DAP, not Joker’s political sins.

However it was inaccurate on the part of Joker Arroyo to label Lacierda as lazy or “indolent.” Given his workload and the many times Lacierda has reportedly had to take the bullet for the President in terms of PR, lazy is the wrong word. Considering how his team of talking heads has taken over the work of commenting or speaking for practically every branch, bureau and office of the republic, it is a great injustice to suggest laziness or indolence upon the insolent town crier.

Over-achiever maybe. Over-stepping — attention grabbing — overreacting spokesperson maybe. All those terms have been hurled at the team by other government officials who find themselves marginalized by the propaganda driven media team in Malacañang.

At this stage, Secretary Lacierda would be better advised to exercise restraint or pass the mic to colleagues Valte or Carandang. Lacierda has started to border on being personal, and vindictive in his recent tirade against Joker. What he says will of course be magnified by the media and this is one fight where Lacierda enters the ring with “one arm tied behind his back” because he performs his duty not on a personal capacity but on behalf of the President. In addition being out of the Senate has not diminished Joker Arroyo’s ability for being a media magnet, not to mention that the Joker still has allies in the Senate several of whom have no love lost for members of “the Student Council.”

A flowery discourse may amuse us. Passionate disagreements may liven up the blood within, but acoustic battles and “loud noises signifying and accomplishing nothing” is at best empty, and a waste of time, words and relationships.

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“If we save just one life, a little traffic is just a minor inconvenience” said the police official.

But when it takes you four and a half hours to figure out that a suspicious backpack did not contain any explosives and was not a threat to public safety, the last thing you should be calling a 4 ½-hour horrendous standstill on EDSA is:  “a minor inconvenience.” If a suspicious backpack did that, how will authorities handle a major earthquake, an MRT derailment, a collapsed building falling unto EDSA?

Looking back on last Wednesday’s late afternoon disruption along EDSA, it is quite clear that the incident was no minor inconvenience but a major lack of competence of authorities to handle both the situation on the ground and ripple effects of the event particularly in locking down traffic and paralyzing parts of Metro Manila. The incident also revealed how ill equipped and SLOW our responders were particularly regarding probing equipment and containment units for potential bombs.

In terms of crisis or traffic management, the incident revealed that there are no known plans in place, a menu of actions and alternatives to pick from in terms of emergency access and rerouting of vehicles. That major inconvenience made one thing very clear; while we regularly conduct fire and earthquake drills, residents of Metro Manila will be clueless and helpless if any of those ugly scenarios ever happen. Better make sure you have a survival pack in your car because you may have to live in it or simply abandon your vehicle.

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