Friday, September 29, 2006 Seares: Tomas, Ayala: being naughty By Pachico A. Seares News Sense
IN THE debate about water from Carmen town, Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeńa called Mr. Ayala “naughty boy.”
No specific Ayala named. So Tomas must mean Ayala collectively: the clan or institution.
But perhaps he doesn't wish to make the attack sound personal. Malice in libel or slander is diluted if flung at a group, not a person.
In Proverbs (6:12), naughty person is “a wicked man” who “walketh with a froward mouth.”
But that’s not what naughty means today, if the word goes with boy.
Little sin
Experts tell us that naughty, often applied to children, refers to “a slight offense against propriety,” a mere pecadillo, which they say comes from Spanish pecado (sin) and pecadillo (little sin).
Is Tomas then just mildly, playfully censuring Ayala?
But then people, and courts, don’t isolate word or phrase in gauging malice. They look at entire texts to dig out meaning.
And they see charges of “sowing political friction and intrigues to divert people’s attention” and selling “overpriced” water. Gospel of San Tomas, which can’t be printed in full, may yield ill-will.
But lawsuits and a bruising fight must not be what Tomas and Ayala intend.
Ayala has done a lot more for Cebu than many other entities. Tomas has said a lot more than anyone else about defending the city.
They can balance competing interests to reach some shared goal.
