Thursday, February 01, 2007 Wenceslao: Matter of fairness By Bong O. Wenceslao Candid Thoughts
WHAT really happened inside Dranix Distributors Inc. when that bloody robbery happened Monday night? Nobody knows, except the perpetrators themselves and they’re nowhere to be found. Not even security guard Edgardo Tabuigi, who said he closed his eyes as ordered. Tabuigi’s companion, Edgar Embolode Sr., was there, but he was shot.
So why is the police sounding certain about their own version of the heist, or that Embolode worked with the robbers as their inside man? Embolode is dead, so he can no longer parry the allegations. This is the reason why the police should have been careful about airing their suspicions to the media. What if Embolode was innocent after all?
Still on the matter of fairness, here’s one tricky case. The Cebu Provincial Board recently opined that Consolacion Sangguniang Kabataan Chairman Margox Quimod becoming pregnant out of wedlock was not immoral. Her situation was unfortunate but not immoral, said Board Member Agnes Magpale. Now, moralists are up in arms.
That reminds me of a friend I met years ago who was still pained by what happened to her when she got pregnant while taking a nursing course in one of the universities here. That indiscretion derailed her ambition---she was kicked out of the school. Not only that; her relatives were hard on her and moralists condemned her.
The dilemma about women getting pregnant out of wedlock is actually no different from that about parents who were not around when their children are killed in a fire. Nobody else is hurt except the people concerned, although the sensibilities of moralists are pricked. For that, let those who have not sinned cast the first stone.
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That the political pot in Mandaue is the one boiling the most this early is not surprising. Mayor Thadeo Ouano is out, so it’s open season there for the ambitious. With that, money is expected to flow there and is flowing even now. (Isn’t businessman Norberto Quisumbing in the equation?) Result: increased noise of paid “media” people from all sides.
The Ouanos are actually in for a big fight because the candidacy of Jonkie Ouano has tested the strength of their machinery. Jonkie, even if he is Teddy’s son, is still a neophyte as far as politics is concerned. That has made the opposition even more daring. But the more opposition candidates there will be, the better Jonkie’s chances.
