Friday, September 05, 2008 Malilong: Joavan in the limelight By Frank Malilong The Other Side
LISTENING to some people’s reaction to the latest incident involving Joavan Fernandez, one would think that it was the fault of the Talisay mayor’s adopted son that he was hacked.
I overheard a conversation between two tennis enthusiasts who were watching a local TV newscast in the clubhouse late Wednesday afternoon.
One claimed that the hacking incident was a “moro-moro” aimed at earning public sympathy for Joavan while the other slammed the media for “lionizing” him.
From the tenor of the conversation, it was apparent that it wouldn’t have bothered them so much if the younger Fernandez had sustained a more serious injury than the graze in his thigh.
It is unchristian to wish someone ill. That some people do in Joavan’s case shows how hugely unfavorable public sentiment is towards him. He and his father can accuse the media of demonizing him but they cannot deny that Joavan is largely to blame for his terrible perception problem.
Joavan knows that the limelight is on him. He is the current “flavor of the month,” has been so since the time a pump boy accused him of threatening to blow up a gas station that refused to fill up his father’s vehicle on credit.
A more prudent person in his place would have done everything to avoid further attention. But Joavan seems to have a knack for figuring in controversies.
First, he allegedly led in the mauling of two young boys whom he suspected of stealing a car tire belonging to his father; then while the police were looking for him, he went on a joy ride on a city-owned boat with two girls whose families complained to the police that they had been kidnapped; and then the hacking incident last Tuesday.
Joavan has claimed that he didn’t hit the two boys, except for a back-handed slap on one of them. On the contrary, he said, it was he who rescued them from being beaten to a pulp by his neighbors. His story may strike you as a little outlandish but who knows? He could be telling the truth.
As for the supposed kidnapping, it turned out that the girls went sailing with him voluntarily. And you certainly couldn’t fault him for wanting to have a little fun even if the police were supposedly trying to locate him in vain.
The latest incident is also the first one in which Joavan was, for a change, at the receiving end. That is probably why the public reaction was generally skeptical. After being bombarded with reports about his brushes with the law, they think that Joavan is always the bad guy, he couldn’t possibly be a victim.
He hasn’t even been tried yet but in the eyes of many, he has already been convicted.
I feel sorry for Joavan, even sorrier for his father. Mayor Soc is one of the nicest men you’d ever meet; the kind who couldn’t even hurt a fly. But he should do something more than just passively carrying his cross. He should listen to well-meaning friends who have asked him to keep his son away from the public in the meantime.
The hacking incident should convince Mayor Soc and Joavan that limiting the latter’s public appearances is now less an act of hiding him than of keeping him out of harm’s way.
***
Ricky Ballesteros called the other afternoon to explain why the gate to the Cebu City Sports Center oval remain closed: to save a portion of the rubberized track near the entrance from further deterioration.
I am not persuaded but I am still grateful to Ricky for taking the time to explain. Juan de la Cruz should feel privileged every time he receives a surprise call from the ruler. Many thanks, Rick.
In the meantime, I will ask Raffy Chan, Alex Ong and the rest of the Walk Talk and Eat gentlemen to continue praying that you will finally see the light and give back the gate to its users.
