Monday, August 25, 2008 Seares: Sins of the son By Pachico A. Seares News Sense
A LOT more must have been written or said about the sins of Joavan Fernandez the son than the good deeds of Soc Fernandez the father.
Google them. There are more sordid entries about Joavan in the last few months than about Soc in the last few years.
The mayor is usually in the public eye, not the son who merely shares stray light beamed on the father.
Not in Joavan’s case though. Incidents of abuse of power have put him at center stage with Soc an unwilling but essential participant.
May Soc say he’s not his son’s keeper?
The mayor is father to Joavan by fiction of law, not by force of genes. Joavan as an adult decides for himself and must account for his own acts.
But he’s sheltered, clothed and fed, and supplied with cars, gas, and car fresheners by the mayor. He totes guns, toy or real, presumably bought with Soc’s money.
And this compelling fact: The power the son abuses comes from the influence the father wields.
“How can I refuse?”
Thus the heaviest downpour of blame falls on Soc. He has failed to keep his son in check, a duty more exacting because he’s mayor.
But something is askew or missing. Almost everyone is demanding about the father’s duty but tolerant about the law enforcers’ job.
Keepers of law and order have looked the other way or maybe conspired in having Joavan’s cases diluted or dropped.
“How can I refuse the mayor’s son?” asks a Bantay Dagat chief who granted Joavan and playmates a joyride on a city-owned boat.
Soc has protected Joavan from the law, but with a lot of help from cops and underlings who can’t say no.
