IT was hard to explain why PACC Commissioner Atty. Manuelito Luna chose something as incredibly stupid as calling for the investigation of the Vice President Leni Robredo for competing with the delivery of government aid without as much as venturing that it would degrade President Duterte himself.
The backlash of this kind of ass-licking had to be certain and true. Luna was rumored to be the political strategist of former senator Mar Roxas and was probably out to prove himself beyond measure to the President by putting down the principal opposition figure. A good fried has just commented that stupidity and ass-licking should be made causes for disbarment. Did he not think that Robredo, and not the President, would earn the public sympathy and the attendant political mileage from his move? Or did he have a deeper political agenda that has prepared him for the consequence of falling out of grace from Malacañang?
***
Senate President Tito Sotto did not take it too kindly to Mayor Isko Moreno almost berating senators and congressmen for not stepping up to help in the anti-COVID-19 relief efforts. Yorme must have difficulty getting over Sen. Cynthia Villar’s personal injunction against going out to help as she bickered over the Luzon-wide quarantine that has kept her indoors. Sen. Manny Pacquiao was a cut above the rest as the poor boy who rose from the gutter would help his countrymen rise up again and again by customarily giving away millions upon millions of pesos during any calamity. He egged on his fellow legislators and local officials to be true leaders who should choose the frontlines in battling this disease.
Moreno may have been somewhat rough in calling out the mostly scarcely-visible lawmakers, prompting Sotto to question apparently the way he sees things in the midst of the chaos and crisis. His strong statement reads, “pinasasalamatan natin ang mga tagapangalaga ng kalusugan na tumutulong ng taos puso at walang pagyayabang.ng pagtulong sa kapwa na walang hinihintay na kapalit o papuri. Para naman sa ilang kababayan natin na nagyayabang at mahilig maghamon ng mga senador at congressmen sana mahimasmasan kayo at magkaroon ng tamang katinuan ng isip.”
Sotto may be partly right. The Yorme has been a constant media figure for his consistently-outstanding work in Manila and could no longer restrain himself from assuming a more critical role similar to a news reporter and a commentator.
***
In a unique way, the AFP tried to pay tribute to an elderly medical doctor with reported links to the CPP/NPA, who was gunned down in an alleged encounter last month in Baguio City. Two others were killed with her. Because her family, mainly forced by the lockdown, had agreed that no public tribute would be given her by the Left, the military brought her remains to a memorial chapel in Quezon City, near her home in San Juan. But, the family of Dr. Lourdes Dineros Tangco found no comfort in an AFP propaganda video going viral with an original song meant to demean and not honor her. Part of the song goes, “Kung nakinig ka lang nuon hindi sana nangyari ito…” Her death requires an independent probe and verification.
LouTang as she was fondly called by fellow doctors and friends alike belonged to Class of 1977 of the UP College of Medicine. She had regretted that she was not doing enough at PGH and so to the provinces she went, joining the Health Physicians Program. At Kalinga, Apayao, it did not take her long “to realize that the traditional doctor’s role would only end up in frustration. People had to learn that health is not a privilege but a right and a responsibility.
They must be equipped to take on this responsibility.
However, I knew I could not do it alone. I found other doctors doing similar work, and together we helped each other develop the community-based health programs.” She was listed in the military’s battle roll as “Ka Tita.” Class ’77 knew Lou as a “principled and brave doctor committed to her ideals with the strength and tenacity to fight for them, but with the open-mindedness to accept others as they were.” Lou’s son, Lauro, wrote a poem in her memory, that says in part, “Her blood joins the martyrs’ that water the paddies. So rice may grow golden and in the harvest time dance.”