Sunday, March 23, 2008 Malilong: Buffoonery is enough punishment By Frank Malilong The Other Side
LET us recall the events that took place before the holiday break.
Junior came to Cebu expecting to receive the same public adulation that he has been accustomed to in fanatical Manila. But only a handful showed up at the gym where he was scheduled to speak, leading Junior to conclude that Cebu was an archdiocese of Malacañang. Taking the cue, Leah Navarro, who is a Cebuana by accident, lambasted Cardinal Vidal as a “congressman in cassock.”
The Cebuanos expectedly reacted furiously. I particularly liked Mayor Tommy Osmeña’s quip about refusing to bother with pests. I was so impressed by Tom’s facility with colorful language (matched only by his famous temper) that I told Councilor Edgar Labella that if and when the mayor decides to join this paper’s formidable (ehem) cast of opinion makers but there isn’t enough space to accommodate him, I’d gladly surrender my corner.
Cebu 1st Dist. Rep. Eddie Gullas wasn’t as vitriolic but his reaction was just as strong: they do not know who they’re trifling with; the Cardinal is well-loved (pinangga) by the Cebuanos who will not take too kindly any slur against him.
Gov. Gwen Garcia and Cebu City North Rep. Raul del Mar, meanwhile, asked that Junior and his handlers apologize for the insult. The demand was promptly dismissed by one of Junior’s lawyers as “stupid.” Talk about adding insult to injury.
But I agree with the companero that it is not right to ask Junior to apologize. Doing the right thing is something that is not demanded. It should come from the heart. If Junior is not sorry for what he said, why should he apologize? If he knows that he did wrong but is prevented by pride and arrogance from publicly admitting it, let us just wait for divine intervention, in whatever form it may come.
To hold otherwise is to stoop to the level of Junior and his backers/handlers. Junior and Leah obviously meant what they said (although the former subsequently said that he was only joking; who was he kidding?). Let us respect their convictions.
If we condemn them or ask them to say sorry for saying something that they strongly believe in, we would be no better than Junior’s supporters who confronted and physically assaulted the poor Mr. Po, whose only crime was to dare swim against the tide of pro-Junior sentiment inside the USC gym.
Incidentally, not so long ago when National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales was guest at a forum at the University of Cebu, a group of radicals managed to sneak in and threw insults at the Cabinet secretary. The organizers promptly but peacefully escorted the gatecrashers away.
There were no confrontations or physical assault. Gonzales himself handled the interruption with aplomb, according to a source who was present at the affair.
That is the point I am driving at: tolerance. If I knew Cardinal Vidal, he has already offered Junior and Leah his left cheek for the pair to slap as gleefully as they did the other. Isn’t that what the Good Book says should be done?
To those of us whose spirituality is not as deep as the cardinal’s, who are seething in anger and who want to give the pair their just rewards, here’s consolation from the words of a friend: Buffoonery is enough punishment already.
