Thursday, October 09, 2008 Espinoza: Time to let the law take its course By Elias L. Espinoza Free Zone
WITH the arrest of Joavan Fernandez for the crime of serious illegal detention, Talisay City Mayor Socrates Fernandez should now let the law take its course and not stand in the way of the complainants.
Mayor Soc no longer has to additionally exhibit to the public his love for his son, Joavan, because the public already knows it. Since Joavan is not a minor anymore, the mayor should let him answer for his crimes.
Meanwhile, the mayor’s political career is in jeopardy. Businessman Cris Saavedra is soliciting 20,000 signatures of Talisay City voters to support a petition for recall against Fernandez for alleged “loss of confidence.”
Rep. Eddie Gullas, Mayor Soc’s political patron, earlier advised him to send Joavan to a rehabilitation center but he refused. Instead, he took a leave of absence then returned earlier than scheduled probably out of fear that he could not help his son while out of office.
It must have pained EddieGul, author of Talisay’s cityhood and who was its first mayor, to see the awful state of the city’s peace and order situation because of Joavan’s notoriety. Gullas was governor of Cebu for several years and I don’t recall that Didi, his only son, landed in the headlines of newspapers for unlawful behavior.
Mayor Soc should be man enough to accept that Joavan is a drug addict and that he should be sent to a rehabilitation center for his sake and that of the city and its residents.
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Aping Gen. Douglas McArthur, Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña promised, “I shall return” when he told reporters he was leaving for the US to get second opinion on the condition of the tumor in his bladder.
Obviously, the proposed P80-billion City-Filinvest Land joint venture at the South Road Properties is more than enough reason for him to return to the city immediately and to live beyond his term (2010) to see the fruits of his labor.
Mayor Tomas, of course, trusts Vice Mayor Mike Rama and his councilors, who will take the reins of the city while he is away. It’s just that he is so concerned with the state of the city.
But it was shocking to learn that instead of expressing gratitude to those who are wishing him well, Osmeña suspected their sincerity. He is such a character. Imagine that even with his illness, he did not believe that his former political ally, Rep. Tony Cuenco, was sincere in wishing him well.
Understandably, even those who are terribly angry at the mayor and who want him out of office are not saying unkind words against him in public because of his illness.
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Senate Bill 2150 authored by Sens. Aquilino Pimentel, Bong Revilla, Jr. and Chiz Ecudero is an attempt to emasculate the press through legislation. For the “sins” of a few journalists or radio commentators against politicians, these legislators now want to punish the nation’s media industry.
The Senate bill imposes a fine of P50,000 for disobedient editors or station managers. Worse, Rep. Monico Puentevella’s version of the bill imposes a fine of P200,000 and 30 days imprisonment. The newspaper will also be padlocked or the franchise of a radio station cancelled.
The only time some radio stations and newspapers were closed or sequestered was during the martial law years. The right to reply bill will make the situation even worse than that under the Marcos dictatorship.
Senator Pimentel must have forgotten that he ran to the press, particularly that in Cebu, when he was persecuted during the Martial Law years. Now he would crucify it by co-authoring an unconstitutional right to reply bill.
