Thank God for Alan Peter Cayetano September 14, 2006
I AM protesting discrimination. My good friend Billy Esposo has had a libel case filed against him by Mike Arroyo. My good friend Ellen Tordesillas has had a libel case filed against her by Mike Arroyo. My friend Lito Banayo has had a libel case filed against him by Mike Arroyo. My colleagues Jake Macasaet, Mon Tulfo and the editorial staff of myfavorite newspaper, the Inquirer, have had a libel case filed against them by Mike Arroyo.
I have not had a libel case filed against me by Mike Arroyo. I feel left out. I protest!
What can I say? The people the First Gentleman -- never has that title taken on richer irony, both the "first" and the "gentleman" -- has decided to sue are excellent company. This is truly one case that proves the local saying that when you point a finger at someone, four fingers point right back at you. You can't get along with one journalist, fine, that journalist is probably disagreeable even if he has a good name. You can't get along with two journalists, fine, those journalists are probably disagreeable even if you start raising doubts about yourself. You can't get along with three journalists, still fine, those journalists are probably disagreeable even if you're really pushing your luck.
You can't get along with these many journalists, you are disagreeable.
The monumentally ironic thing here is that the First Gentleman is suing all these people for libel. What does libel really mean but that someone is lying through his teeth willfully and maliciously for no other reason than that it pleases him to do so? Does that practice ring a bell? Or does it ring a phone with the ring-tone "Hello, Garci"? One is tempted to say that the First Gentleman should look closer to home (literally), but that presumes he can recognize the truth if it fell on his head from a tree.
Still, the one case the First Gentleman has filed that's bound to boomerang on him ferociously is not one against a journalist, but against a congressman. He is Alan Peter Cayetano, who has brought the First Gentleman's ire upon his head by claiming that the First Gentleman has carted off a fortune to a Munich bank. Fuming, the First Gentleman flew off to Munich in the company of lawyers to disprove Cayetano's allegation and came back with documents that showed the account Cayetano said belonged to him does not exist. He demanded an apology from Cayetano and, getting none, has since tried to get the full force of the law -- such as passes for it in this country -- to bear on the young man.
Well, Providence does move in mysterious ways. Thank God, Arroyo has the kind of advisers he has. His frenetic attempt at retribution, which includes ousting Cayetano from Congress, is clearly a blunder. If he had ignored Cayetano's allegation to begin with, it would probably have gone away quietly. Scandals in this country have a very short shelf life, aided in no small way by the sheer plenitude of them -- you've got to top one scandal with a bigger scandal to get noticed, a veritable feat in light of the mind-boggling scandals scandalizing us today. But Arroyo had to get back, and so gave (robust) life to the very thing he wanted to kill.
At the very least, he has drawn attention to the fact that he refuses to sign a waiver, as Cayetano demands, allowing a search of the German banks for any accounts by him and kin. Panfilo Lacson, who also calls himself a gentleman, along with officer, did that when by Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and company accused him of hiding loot in the United States. He waived any restrictions on disclosure by the US banks of any accounts by him. They didn't find any.
Arroyo says he won't sign a waiver because there is nothing to waive. But if so, why did he fly off to Germany in the company of lawyers to try to prove his innocence? If he was as pure as driven snow, why didn't he just fly off to Vegas in the company of Manny Pacquiao and Lito Atienza and dared Cayetano to do his worst? A waiver easily puts all doubts to rest, proving not just that he is innocent but that Cayetano is a liar.
At the very most the First Gentleman has drawn attention to the vehemence with which he has tried to get back at Cayetano. Which can only suggest to a public (grown cynical from being regaled with fabulously wealthy and fabulously fictitious people like Jose Pidal) that Cayetano has struck gold in more ways than one. Truth has been known to hurt, and get people mad. Very, very mad.
Indeed, all the First Gentleman has done is draw attention to the concept of "gentleman." Gentlemen pride themselves on playing fair. All the First Gentleman has done by trying to disbar Cayetano from everything he holds dear is to show the First Gentleman to be a bully first -- and last. All he has done is to show the double standards at work today -- how impossible it is to oust a non-President who called up Garci and switched ballot boxes, and how easy it is to oust a congressman who called wrongdoing into question and tried to switch decency and honesty for lying and cheating.
In the end, all the First Gentleman has done is to turn Cayetano into a gentleman of the first order. I did say last year I hoped the young men and women, in particular those who rose brilliantly to impeach the usurper in Malacañang despite the hurdles put up by their old and jaded colleagues -- though many of them were still young and sprightly -- would never lose their principles along the way. The way many of their predecessors did: Look at the activists who once fought Ferdinand Marcos, now in Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's ranks. I am glad Cayetano has lived up to his promise even if most of his comrades have not. The good thing with people who seem alone in a lonely fight is that they are not really so. The people are with them.
"Hindi ka nag-iisa" [You are not alone], Alan.
http://opinion.inq7.net/inquireropinion/columns/view_article.php?article_id=20867
I have not had a libel case filed against me by Mike Arroyo. I feel left out. I protest!
What can I say? The people the First Gentleman -- never has that title taken on richer irony, both the "first" and the "gentleman" -- has decided to sue are excellent company. This is truly one case that proves the local saying that when you point a finger at someone, four fingers point right back at you. You can't get along with one journalist, fine, that journalist is probably disagreeable even if he has a good name. You can't get along with two journalists, fine, those journalists are probably disagreeable even if you start raising doubts about yourself. You can't get along with three journalists, still fine, those journalists are probably disagreeable even if you're really pushing your luck.
You can't get along with these many journalists, you are disagreeable.
The monumentally ironic thing here is that the First Gentleman is suing all these people for libel. What does libel really mean but that someone is lying through his teeth willfully and maliciously for no other reason than that it pleases him to do so? Does that practice ring a bell? Or does it ring a phone with the ring-tone "Hello, Garci"? One is tempted to say that the First Gentleman should look closer to home (literally), but that presumes he can recognize the truth if it fell on his head from a tree.
Still, the one case the First Gentleman has filed that's bound to boomerang on him ferociously is not one against a journalist, but against a congressman. He is Alan Peter Cayetano, who has brought the First Gentleman's ire upon his head by claiming that the First Gentleman has carted off a fortune to a Munich bank. Fuming, the First Gentleman flew off to Munich in the company of lawyers to disprove Cayetano's allegation and came back with documents that showed the account Cayetano said belonged to him does not exist. He demanded an apology from Cayetano and, getting none, has since tried to get the full force of the law -- such as passes for it in this country -- to bear on the young man.
Well, Providence does move in mysterious ways. Thank God, Arroyo has the kind of advisers he has. His frenetic attempt at retribution, which includes ousting Cayetano from Congress, is clearly a blunder. If he had ignored Cayetano's allegation to begin with, it would probably have gone away quietly. Scandals in this country have a very short shelf life, aided in no small way by the sheer plenitude of them -- you've got to top one scandal with a bigger scandal to get noticed, a veritable feat in light of the mind-boggling scandals scandalizing us today. But Arroyo had to get back, and so gave (robust) life to the very thing he wanted to kill.
At the very least, he has drawn attention to the fact that he refuses to sign a waiver, as Cayetano demands, allowing a search of the German banks for any accounts by him and kin. Panfilo Lacson, who also calls himself a gentleman, along with officer, did that when by Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and company accused him of hiding loot in the United States. He waived any restrictions on disclosure by the US banks of any accounts by him. They didn't find any.
Arroyo says he won't sign a waiver because there is nothing to waive. But if so, why did he fly off to Germany in the company of lawyers to try to prove his innocence? If he was as pure as driven snow, why didn't he just fly off to Vegas in the company of Manny Pacquiao and Lito Atienza and dared Cayetano to do his worst? A waiver easily puts all doubts to rest, proving not just that he is innocent but that Cayetano is a liar.
At the very most the First Gentleman has drawn attention to the vehemence with which he has tried to get back at Cayetano. Which can only suggest to a public (grown cynical from being regaled with fabulously wealthy and fabulously fictitious people like Jose Pidal) that Cayetano has struck gold in more ways than one. Truth has been known to hurt, and get people mad. Very, very mad.
Indeed, all the First Gentleman has done is draw attention to the concept of "gentleman." Gentlemen pride themselves on playing fair. All the First Gentleman has done by trying to disbar Cayetano from everything he holds dear is to show the First Gentleman to be a bully first -- and last. All he has done is to show the double standards at work today -- how impossible it is to oust a non-President who called up Garci and switched ballot boxes, and how easy it is to oust a congressman who called wrongdoing into question and tried to switch decency and honesty for lying and cheating.
In the end, all the First Gentleman has done is to turn Cayetano into a gentleman of the first order. I did say last year I hoped the young men and women, in particular those who rose brilliantly to impeach the usurper in Malacañang despite the hurdles put up by their old and jaded colleagues -- though many of them were still young and sprightly -- would never lose their principles along the way. The way many of their predecessors did: Look at the activists who once fought Ferdinand Marcos, now in Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's ranks. I am glad Cayetano has lived up to his promise even if most of his comrades have not. The good thing with people who seem alone in a lonely fight is that they are not really so. The people are with them.
"Hindi ka nag-iisa" [You are not alone], Alan.
http://opinion.inq7.net/inquireropinion/columns/view_article.php?article_id=20867
posted by dqfan06 @ 9:25 AM
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