Tuesday, November 25, 2008 Malilong: Repentant sinner? By Frank Malilong The Other Side
FORMER speaker Jose de Venecia’s revelations about the First Couple’s participation in the NBN-ZTE scandal and the P500,000 bribe that he and other congressmen accepted from Malacañang would have been earth-shaking if only it was somebody else telling them.
As lawyers are wont to argue, a testimony must not only be credible but must also come from a credible source.
By his own account, de Venecia was a direct participant in both crimes against the people. Not only was he present during the First Couple’s visit to the ZTE headquarters in China, he was also aware that something in the negotiations on the project has gone awfully wrong. In the case of the bribe to support a bound-to-the-wastebasket impeachment complaint, de Venecia wasn’t any ordinary congressman at the time he took it; he was the speaker, the father of the House.
A claim may be made that de Venecia is a repentant sinner. Is he really? He had all the time in the world to come out clean but never did so until he was unceremoniously booted out from the speaker’s chair with the implicit consent, if not upon instructions from, Malacañang.
If de Venecia now regrets having conspired with Malacañang in the two attempts—that he has revealed so far—to fool the people, it is for reasons other than remorse. He is less Dimas than avenging angel.
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The Tagalogs have a term to describe what former vice gubernatorial candidate Archimedes Reroma did to Gov. Gwen Garcia in City of Naga Sunday night: nanggigil.
Arking may be difficult to understand sometimes but he is harmless. I’m sure Naga Mayor Val Chiong and his councilor brother Boy know that because at one time I saw the engineer lecturing to the brothers on the effects of trucks passing in Naga on the health of the people.
The last time I saw Arking, he was watching a chess game between Colonel Alvisa and Onel Rojo. I do not know exactly what happened because the next thing I saw, Onel had walked out of the game, mumbling something about physical injuries.
I am glad that Governor Gwen has decided not to press charges against her “attacker.” Her arm hurt from his firm grip but otherwise she was unharmed, thanks to her and Val’s security people.
Arking, I’m sure, must have already learned his lesson. You can shriek and shout when you see our lovely governor but that’s as far as you can go. You can’t let your emotions run amuck even at the St. Francis de Assisi’s Ocean Park where the breeze is sweet and embracing, where the sea purrs rather than roars and where the lamps are not overpriced.
