RICARDO Cardinal Vidal was controversial. For instance, there are still those who debate whether the cardinal called on PNoy to resign. Or did he not?
Having covered Cardinal Vidal as a correspondent of the Union of Catholic Asian News (UCAN) and for SunStar some two decades ago, I think this was largely because of the cryptic way he usually answered reporters’ questions on controversial issues.
A journalist without a firm grasp of the context would be lost. Perhaps, it is his way of being able to talk, be a pastor to all sides, and forge peace.
But I could not forget that time when the UCAN editor asked me to do an exclusive interview on the cardinal. There was no public event that I could do an ambush interview, so I had to make an appointment at the archbishop’s palace.
I did not realize it until I was with Cardinal Vidal that he thought I was going to do a confession. I already forgot what I said except for the embarrassment. Though Cardinal Vidal called for Monsignor Achilles Dakay, I remember eliciting some of his few cryptic words on tape. It was great though that Monsi later explained and helped me with my story.
Last Thursday, I decided to just wait outside the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral for the funeral procession to pass by to bade farewell.
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President Rodrigo Roa Duterte paid his respects at the wake of the late cardinal without much fanfare a little past midnight. The president did not say much. But his presence said a lot. I agreed with the reporter who wrote that the cardinal seemed to be working for peace even in death.
However, I could not help but lament that an EPAL official brought along a discredited social media outfit to document his presence with the president during the visit.
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Instead of eliciting a favorable press release from Tacloban Mayor Kring Kring Gonzales or blaming others for negative publicity, perhaps Presidential Assistant for the Visayas Mike Dino would just show what he has done so far.
Yesterday, I read this story in a national broadsheet about flooding in five Antique barangays caused by an unfinished Yolanda housing project. Isn’t being on top of this within the ambit of Dino’s job as President Duterte’s Yolanda housing czar?
Being mum might convince editors to bury or kill an adverse story (kay wa kintahay side), but one cannot hide for long as the fourth year since super typhoon Yolanda – November 8, 2017 -- approaches.
The Yolanda housing czar must explain why he had remained silent for several months about the anomalies uncovered by the House inquiry of Rep. Albee Benitez and Rep. Ben Evardone in Samar along with the unfinished relocation sites in Tacloban City, Antique and northern Cebu.
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Congrats for the Duterte administration’s military victory in Marawi. The time has come for rebuilding the city. But let’s not divert funds from Yolanda rehab efforts. Not at the expense of Yolanda survivors, please. Instead, let’s do away with non-performing officials.