Well, that’s exactly what happened to the flamboyant, fearless and the now reckless Cirse "Choy" Torralba last Tuesday afternoon in front of his radio station, Angel Radio of Nation Broadcasting Corp. As he hopped on his Daewoo Espero, a still unidentified gunman began shooting through his tinted windshield with a shiny nickel-plated caliber .45 high-capacity pistol. Choy’s near-fatal mistake was as soon as he got inside his car, he immediately answered a text message and therefore he wasn’t focused on his security. Thankfully, he was able to fire back at the gunman who left in a huff.
Choy intimated to me just a few months ago that he learned that there was a contract out for him from suspected drug lords who he had been attacking in his noontime radio program, "Angel Radio Interaction." Oftentimes when we’re together, we’d kid each other that if an assassin would start firing at the two of us, we might not know who the assassin was targeting — Choy or me… or both! Because he survived this shooting, we can both laugh at this incident and thank God that I’m not writing an obituary for him!
During the last election campaign, Choy Torralba was Sen. Loren Legarda’s pointman in Cebu and Bohol. And yes, if the Pacita Torralba controversy erupted in the heat of their campaign against Kabayan Noli de Castro, strong suspicion pointed to Choy who, after all, is a relative of Pacita from Bohol. But in fairness to Kabayan and for those who might get the wrong idea, Choy never suspected any politician as the mastermind of this attempt on his life despite the scathing attacks he had dished out, especially at the height of the campaign season.
While he was still inside the emergency room of the Cebu Doctors Hospital, I was monitoring his condition through my doctor-friends in the hospital and when he was wheeled into his room, I immediately placed a call to our Philippine STAR publisher Max Soliven who is also a good friend of Torralba because when I’m out of the country and Sir Max comes and visits Cebu, it is Choy who takes good care of him. For sure, Choy has to replace his bullet-ridden Espero because I don’t think Sir Max will ride in that car again. Incidentally, Sen. Loren Legarda dropped by to visit her loyal friend last Wednesday morning and flew back to Manila to watch the Congress canvass.
Meanwhile, despite the regionwide manhunt initiated by the Philippine National Police (PNP), we still have no idea of the getaway vehicle used by the gunman after he pumped bullets into Choy. For sure, there is a gunman out there who has not been paid full by the mastermind and we have to find out and arrest this fellow so he can’t do a double-take on Choy. Mind you, Choy counts as his close friends Mayor Tomas Osmeña, Raul del Mar and Luis Quisumbing and we do meet so often in public places and knowing that the gunman is still scot-free makes it very uncomfortable to be seen with Choy.
A similar incident also happened in Cebu on June 12, 2003 when radio blocktimer Rey Cortez was shot by a still unknown gunman and survived because he was able to fire back. Now didn’t we say that we are really living in interesting times? Dangerous, but interesting!
But while we await the final answer to this question, another controversy threatens to explode; this time, it is about the issue on the importation and inspection requirements for materials containing controlled substances which are used in the manufacture of furniture. Wait a minute, is someone telling us that the furniture industry uses banned substances? Well, apparently, my good friend Jay Yuvallos, president of the Cebu Furniture Industries Foundation Inc. (CFIFI), told me that they are in a quandary because of this problem.
Apparently, "toluene" is a chemical that is an ingredient in the manufacture of methamphetamine hydrochloride, aka shabu. Thus, there have been reports that shipments of this substance have been held by the Bureau of Customs (BoC) and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) because some of them have been "misdeclared" as paint. But were these shipments really misdeclared or was someone in the Customs trying to make things difficult for exporters so that they could reach some kind of "cashabutan"?
Expecting a controversy to ensue, the CFIFI immediately issued a position paper stating quite clearly that toluene is a component of polyisocyanic hardener, which functions as a hardener for paints. This and three other chemicals (hydrochloric acid, methyl ethyl ketone and acetone) are widely used in the furniture industry as components of substances for use in finishing products. In short, toluene is not imported in its pure form, but rather as a component in paints. So what’s the problem? PDEA requires users/importers of controlled precursors and essential chemicals to secure licenses from its Manila office since the regional office cannot issue such licenses.
Perhaps it is time for the government to act on such matters of serious implications. After all, the Cebu furniture industry contributes close to $270 million in revenues annually and is considered one of the top exporters in this country, not to mention the huge employment it gives to our labor sector. The PDEA or the Customs should help uplift and not bring down our furniture industry!