Ligas case, a Houdini misdirection

Many people acclaimed Hungarian-born Erik Weisz, known professionally as Harry Houdini, to be a great magician and an escapologist for his incredible escape acts that caught his audiences in awe. Profound observers though recognized him to be more of an illusionist because in many of his performances, he was capable of creating the appearance of impossible or supernatural events. Portraying illusion was an art he perfected. According to the internet, Houdini was a master in theatrical misdirection and let me highlight the word “theatrical”. While I have read only a few of the tomes written about him, he was observably without doubt a non-politician in his action.

I have decided to dwell a little of Houdini’s being an apolitical illusionist because I could draw a similitude of both his personality and the era whence he lived to our times. I am trying to link the dots of extremely opposite situations. The Houdini psychology and the props he designed in his shows baffled and entertained his audiences the way socio-political events are developing.

The present. I was shocked to hear that cyber libel cases have been filed against my radioman friend Edward Ligas and even more disturbed that warrants for his arrest were issued by the court. My sensibilities were shocked not because Edward is a friend but because no matter how regularly the legal process might have been observed, to me this is weird as I understand the word to mean something highly unusual, strange, or unexpected.

It is bizarre to think that Edward faces libel cases for commenting in his radio programs certain questionable flood-control projects. He did not open the issue. It was President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. himself who started talking about corruption in his State of the Nation Address last year. After the president sighed “mahiya na man kayo” news reports on ghost and sub-standard projects abounded. Following the president’s naming alleged top contractors involved, specific supposed projects were identified. Legislative inquiries were conducted and where projects were pinpointed, news organizations visited these places and reported that government documents indicated full payments done for non-existing projects. That’s why ghost. But I have not come across of any reporter, radio commentator, or news columnists being hailed to court for such reporting.

Edward was invited to the Kapihan sa Sugbo regular meeting last Thursday, few days after he submitted himself as an accused, to the jurisdiction of the court. In his opening statement he said that he asked questions why a certain flood-control project in Mandaue City collapsed even if “there was no flood or earthquake” that would have damaged it. I listened to my friend intently in order not to miss legally-actionable declarations. He opined, from his layman’s point, that it could only be constructed as sub-standard. How else? And he proceeded to identifying the builder. To someone it, apparently, tarnished his reputation and that was why it libelous.

Someone did a Houdini “misdirection”. The libel case against Edward will misdirect our attention from asking what flood-control projects were implemented in Cebu, how much of our taxes were used, who were the contractors, and who could possibly be our political leaders who herded the funds to certain projects. If we ever ask these questions, our queries will certainly be treated as maligning someone in probably the same cases as Edward is facing. Ah, what a sword of Damocles!