Wednesday, October 15, 2008 Carvajal: Putting the perspective on brother Soc By Orlando P. Carvajal Break Point
A FATHER’S unconditional love for his son is never a problem. It is in fact the solution. Unconditional love is the only true love. It is the love Christ has for us when he did not put any conditions to dying for us. It is this unconditional love that has become the foundation of morality in a good part of the world. It is the same unconditional love that makes life worth living anywhere.
Yes, unconditional love blinds. But that is why it can forgive and give the other person a new lease on life, a second chance, again the way Christ keeps giving us not one but many chances at cleansing our hearts, at getting rid of the devil, if you will, that is inside all of us. A rational human being can never forgive unless he irrationally blinds himself to the faults of the other person.
I will not be surprised, therefore, if one of these days Soc’s love for his son will eventually solve Joavan’s problem, whatever it is, for it is quite obvious the young man has some king-sized problems. Joavan is lucky to have his father’s unconditional love going for him.
So, what is Soc’s problem if it is not his unconditional love for his son? Soc’s problem is he is a public official and he does not seem to see the implications of this in the way he deals with the problem of his son. Because Soc is a public official his son becomes just another citizen of the municipality that he is sworn to serve. He is mayor and must apply the laws and ordinances of Talisay fairly and equitably to all.
The impression he gives, it would seem, is that he is favoring his son officially as mayor. But that is really not a problem because people sort of expect that. I think Soc’s problem is the impression that he is unduly favoring his son which is unacceptable. I myself am inclined to believe this since all he has done in response to media’s negative exposure is accuse the latter of unprofessionalism or worse.
Soc does not seem to fully realize that as a public official he necessarily gets in the cross-hairs of media. He is mayor and comes under media’s watchful eye. Of course, we in media are the first to admit we are no angels. Yet, it is too facile for him to blame his problems on media persons whom he suspects of doing PR work for his political enemies.
If Mayor Soc wants media to put him in a better light he must solve the problem of his son publicly and legally the way we solve problems legally with all other suspected offenders. Privately he can love him unconditionally, and that is admirable, but publicly as mayor he has to do this without compromising fairness and justice for the rest of the community. Only when he clearly demonstrates this in public will media report on him differently.
