Wednesday, May 21, 2008 Ledesma: Good news and sad news By Jun Ledesma Sunbursts
THE good news is that Davao's Jesus Dureza, the Presidential Adviser on Peace Process, will be the next Press Secretary. The appointment looks innocuous but if you consider the significance of the Office of the Press Secretary, our Jess will always be within the whispering distance from the President.
If you ask me, Jess should have been in that position from day one. He is a journalist at heart, a persuasive and gentle person in character, a bar topnotcher (which should convince you he has a lot of gray matters between his ears) and one of the hardworking government workers that I knew. From what I read from the papers, Jess will take on the Press portfolio mid-July. Until then he will still be in the helm of peace negotiations. The MILF leaders had been critical of Secretary Dureza. But you cannot take it out from Jess to be focused on the interest of the government and to be ever vigilant on attempts at dismembering the Republic.
I understand that Secretary Dureza is now in Tripoli to firm up the commitment of President Moamar Khadaffi to beef up Libya's membership in the international monitoring teams.
As I said before, there will always be nations who are interested in the pursuit of peace wherever and whenever needed. Malaysia has developed fatigue and they will pull out. Libya is coming in to fill that void. I am sure that the Libyan contingent will be acceptable to both the MILF and the government. This being the case, maybe Libya might just as well step into the shoes of Malaysia as the chief mediator. This will altogether free Malaysia from the torment of monitoring clashes and getting the negotiators to agree on contentious issues.
It cannot be denied that some sectors cast doubt on the role of Malaysia as mediator given the fact that it has the unresolved Sabah issue with the Philippines. The country has also provided sanctuary and support for the secessionist MNLF forces in the past. Of course that is past and half forgotten.
In the course of historical and current events, enemies become friends and friends become enemies. Conflicts are resolved not in arms clashes but in a more civilized and humane solutions. Malaysia and the Philippines have worked together in many areas of concern to the Asean nations.
Settlements of conflicts and the much hankered for peace agreement may not have been forged during the watch of Dureza, but ceasefire agreement had been reached and is holding on. We are so near in reaching an accord except that the peace negotiators remained rigid in their respective stands.
Well, that is how negotiations work. Jess nevertheless is leaving us Mindanaowons a prospect for peace. That is good enough to thank him for and to remember him by.
But Secretary Dureza is not abandoning what has been gained. He will be replaced by for Chief of Staff Hermogenes Esperon. While some militant fronts are spewing out acerbic commentaries against Esperon, the MILF accepts the change as a matter of course.
Jess Dureza has finally found the right niche in government. At least for the next two good years, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo will now see the difference in style between Toting Bunye and Jess. I have said this before: there is so much that this administration has done that had not been articulated and revealed to the public. This administration is busy defending itself from detractors, surveys and leftist propaganda it forgot to showcase what it has achieved for the past years.
If I know Jess, he has the right formula to make a public accounting for all that this government had done but had been buried in the magma of negative publicity and in the din of condemnation of rattling and salivating opposition.
On the sad note, I was shocked by the untimely demise of Al Aboitiz. Al at 47 is a denim-clad exec who is on top of the successful operations of Davao Light and the Visayan Electric Company. I do not want to speculate on what brought about his flight into that good night, but I share the pain and anguish of his family. I cannot imagine what his father, Ernie, is going through. He lost his wife Marie and now his son Al. Al (Alfonso) is a big loss to Davao indeed. Under his watch, Davao Light & Power Company provided the City Government the 911 access, which is a vital component in the city's anti-crime drive and emergency alert mechanism.
On a personal note, Al became an active member of the Rotary Club of Davao during my presidency of the mother club. On my inaugural address, Al approached the presidential table and whispered to me that he will support my projects. Two months later the Aboitiz Foundation sent P33,000 to RC Davao which we used to purchased a freezer and other utensils for the San Roque Central Elementary School non-formal educational training school.
I knew too that he has caused the release of funds for various community projects. Too many to account but I am sure that the beneficiaries of the projects which he and the Foundation funded keep him in their hearts. Goodbye Al. I am sure that God looks after you with kindness and compassion because you have been a good man.
(In my column yesterday, "Who killed Diarog and other unanswered questions" the first two questions I posed were a bit juggled. The questions should have read: "1. Who is WILLIAM DIAROG and who killed him? Where are his sons? 2. Where is the wife of WILLIAM? Can she shed light on the murder of her husband?")
