“MOM, that is not fair,” quipped my niece. “Life is never fair,” retorted my cousin, who proceeded to explain in a nutshell the sad realities of living in this world full of diversities.
The former Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales, who was denied entry in Hong Kong just recently, must have felt the same way as my niece.
Morales, as a doting grandmother, simply wanted to fulfill a promise to her grandchildren that she will bring them to the happiest place on Earth: Disneyland.
Some would consider the incidence as a ramification of the communication filed by Morales with the International Criminal Court against Chinese President Xi Jinping, for the alleged crimes against humanity in connection with China’s encroachment in the West Philippine Sea. I would rather put weight on her purpose of visiting Hong Kong, and her desire to have her grandchildren enjoy the number one tourist destination in Hong Kong. Immigration authorities should have confronted Morales in a separate occasion and allowed her family entry.
So, is life fair?
This is the same question I would like to ask the people mentioned by Peter Joemel Advincula alias “Bikoy,” a supposed whistleblower who, in many occasions, have smeared the names of several politicians to include the family of President Rodrigo Duterte, universities, priests and religious.
Senate president Vicente Sotto III had already dismissed him as a person with questionable credibility. The outcome of the 2019 elections is proof that nobody believed Bikoy’s video series in the internet.
On this Bikoy controversy, if ever there will be someone who should be held accountable, it should be Advincula for trying to divide our country that is already polarized with so many issues.
Had I been in the press conference called by the leadership of the Philippine National Police where Advincula was presented as a credible speaker, I would have asked Advincula to initially furnish the media copies of documents as support to whatever information he had to share. Media should not be used in any black propaganda or character assassination. The police as an organization should have validated the information given to them by the whistleblower, and then have him file a formal complaint so that those allegedly involved will be given due process of the law.
Is life fair to our fishermen who are banned from harvesting “tacobo,” an endangered species, while big vessels manned by Chinese fishermen continue to enjoy our “tacobos”?