Wednesday, October 03, 2007 Ledesma: Counterfeit heroes By Jun Ledesma Sunbursts
THERE'S SO much brouhaha over the resignation of the embattled Comelec Chairman Ben Abalos. I personally think he deserves what he deserved and, pulling the rug on his salivating inquisitors, surreptitiously resigned.
Then came the "whistle blower" Joey de Venecia who talks like he really thinks he can fool the public into believing that he is the republic's knight of the shining armor. Far from it.
Problem is, in the rabid desire of the opposition senators and congressmen to pin President GMA on the shady broadband deal, they forgot to ask the younger version of JDV why he wants to bag the deal when his father is only the SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE and his firm Amsterdam Holding Inc. is capitalized only to operate a Suez hotdog mobile store.
Ostensibly secured over the fact that his father is on top of the power totem pole with far-reaching influence he had used that awesome clout. He invited DOTC Secretary for a breakfast meeting with his father, not in the more public confines of a golf course clubhouse, but in the privacy of the family breakfast table.
Maybe with no less than Lady Gina serving breakfast while listening to the gargantuan estimates of a national broadband network which Joey DV is cooking.
So you see, it's not only Joey DV carping and whining. The lady of the house too came in defense of her stepson.
My friend who used to be the top spy in the PNP texted me Tuesday that with all the show of upmanship and showmanship in the Senate hearing, no one seemed to be surprised why the whistle blower who had undoubtedly conducted a high profile negotiation with the government to clinch the NBN contract is not being grilled like they do Abalos and Neri and instead is being treated like a knight with a shining armor!
Nope, I don't think that Abalos will just file a libel case. That's too soft. The Comelec chairman and his accusers are both living in a house of glass. They throw him stones, expect that he will requite with the Rock of Gibraltar.
There is too much show of pretense. Abalos and Secretary Neri have their sins of omissions and commissions but some of those who grilled them have their hay days and going. Problem with us Pinoys we have very short memories and are extremely forgiving. We vote them back to power and so the cycle of corruption just keeps on rolling. It is like a wheel of fortune. The problem is we are the ones at the bottom while the politicians are the ones up there. What is more startling is that we adore a plundering president, we hero worship actors and elect them and we idolize those who make millions overnight wondering in awe how they can get rich quick out of politics.
As I ponder these, I wonder as to when shall we be able to recognize and appreciate a genuine public servant from counterfeit heroes that prey on our foolishness and gullibility.
And so Abalos resigned to save his family and grandchildren from the pain of insults and harassment. But his saga will not end there. The Senate, which had been converted into a virtual inquisition court, will beat him to the pulp until he spills the beans on GMA.
Two of those in the Senate are military men who are not strangers to "third degree" treatment of witnesses. Good that Greg Honasan seemed to have simmered down. The rest are masochists. A grown up kid among them thinks that Abalos is a fall guy. One of them cannot even look at straight the TV camera, despite his love for the kleig lights, afraid that his own past will be revealed through his eyes that are peering through sagging eyelids.
And Lady Miriam, you should have maintained your cool because you seemed to be the only one asking the sane questions.
And what of Joey DV? Smart son of his father, this guy. He managed to blow the heat away from him.
