When will Lapu-Lapu be accepted as our hero?

With all the grave problems happening in this country today, there is an issue that is little known in Manila, but it has now caused a big stir in Cebu. I’m referring to the Lapu-Lapu Statue that was erected at the Agrifina Circle on April 2005, which I only heard last week was being removed (I don’t know if it’s still standing there or not) and will be shipped to Cebu.

This was one of the most heated issues that I took in the year 2005 with Sen. Richard Gordon who was a former Secretary of Tourism. This was the presence of the Statue of Lapu-Lapu at the Agrifina Circle in the Luneta which the Tourism Department in those days, including the officials of the National Historical Institute (NHI) did not want to be put in place in the Luneta because they considered it a “sacred ground” and inclusive only for our national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal. So they say!

But I went to the Luneta and found out that there were indeed smaller statues of other Philippine heroes lined up within the Luneta. So the issue wasn’t about the presence of Lapu-Lapu as he had a smaller statute already inside the Luneta… the issue was that the Lapu-Lapu statue given by the South Korean government towered that above the monument of Dr. Jose Rizal. But to us Cebuanos, including Sen. Dick Gordon, the issue was whether Lapu-Lapu was accepted also as a hero of this island archipelago?

After a long and bitter word war, Sen. Gordon successfully had the Lapu-Lapu statue, erected in the Agrifina Circle. But now it is crystal clear to me that the officials of both the NHI and DOT were just waiting for another opportunity to have this statue removed… and they found a weak spot in Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Paz Radaza whom they cajoled into writing them to accept the statue of Lapu-Lapu so that once and for all they’ll get this offending statue away from the Luneta.

As I was still out on vacation when this issue erupted in Cebu, I really don’t know why Mayor Radaza did not even raise a finger to fight and keep the Statue of Lapu-Lapu in Luneta. Forgive my suspicions, but I would like to believe that some kind of “arrangement” might have been made in return for something that maybe connected to her criminal case for bank fraud, when she was president of the Rural Bank of Sugbuanon filed by the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC). I mean, why isn’t she fighting for the recognition of Lapu-Lapu in the heartland of Manila?

Mayor Radaza obviously doesn’t realize the importance of Cebuanos seeing the statue of Lapu-Lapu inside the Luneta. When I first went to see that statue at the Luneta, I was filled with emotion, after all, together with Sen. Dick Gordon, we won our case and the statue was erected there. At this point, I will check with my friends if the statue of Lapu-Lapu is still there then I will resume our comments on this.

I was alerted on this issue because Mayor Radaza was reported in the news as preparing a new site where this statue would be erected. If you ask me, we’ve already got a statue of Lapu-Lapu at the historic site in Mactan. Moving this statue anywhere in Mactan won’t honor Lapu-Lapu and his exploits as the first of the Filipino race to fend off foreign invaders. Having Lapu-Lapu’s statue at the Luneta was the greatest honor Filipinos ever gave to Lapu-Lapu… now they are taking that honor back. Abangan!

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The editorial in The Philippine STAR yesterday entitled “Special Treatment” is a story that every Filipino ought to read and ponder, that this is the Philippines they live with today… where ordinary crooks or criminals who get caught are thrown in an overcrowded jail with no special privileges, except perhaps when a corrupt jailer accepts small favors here and there. But for our political elite who get caught, like Senators Jinggoy Estrada, Bong Revilla and Juan Ponce Enrile (JPE) who are suspected of getting millions of the people’s money…they get special treatment.

Now we ask…is this fair? Should we allow special treatment for those who may have stolen more money than all the crooks languishing inside the National Penitentiary? It seems that co-conspirator Jessica “Gigi” Reyes may end up in a real jail because she is not part and parcel of the Political Elite and therefore not a VIP.

Again we ask…why should ugly politicians who steal millions of the people’s money be given special privileges? Gads, we heard about Sen. Jinggoy Estrada holding a wedding anniversary inside his special jail, where food was even catered. How low could we go? As the editorial says, “Detention cells are so crowded inmates who can no longer be accommodated on tiered bunks are forced to sleep side-by-side on folded cartons on the floor.” This is what we want to see happen to those incarcerated Senators to at least show that we don’t have a double standard of Justice. But alas… we do!

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