Lim welcomes charges filed by brandy maker

Senatorial bet Alfredo Lim of the Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino (KNP) has welcomed the charges filed against him by the owner of the liquor brand whose billboard advertisement along Roxas Boulevard in Parañaque he recently stripped off the world "kinse."

Lim, a former Manila mayor, said he ripped a portion of the billboard "so as not to continue offending women and children alike."

He said the action he took was within the bounds of the law, stressing that "any citizen can take action to prevent a crime that is happening or about to happen."

"For every hour and every day that passes by, the said billboard advertisements containing the offensive words, "Nakatikim ka na ba ng kinse años?" are there for the motorists and pedestrians to see. This is clearly a continuing crime against public morals," Lim said.

The law, he explained, should never be used as a sanctuary to shield criminal acts since it is meant to uphold righteousness.

Lim laughed off threats aired by one of the liquor company’s lawyers that they would seek the senatorial bet’s disbarment.

"Any person can a make a fool of himself for all I care, but in the meantime, we cannot allow something that affects everybody, especially minors and women whose dignity and honor are at stake here" he said.

The country’s "Dirty Harry" also branded the charges against him as another move to generate added publicity for the subject advertisement.

"If we wait for the case lodged against the liquor owners to prosper, it will take at least a year and once an order has been issued, it is expected that the decision will be appealed. Wala nang katapusan. In the meantime, tuloy ang exhibition ng ad na may double meaning," Lim said in justifying the move he took.

His action was spurred by complaints lodged before him by concerned students, parents and teachers mostly based in Parañaque regarding the alleged inaction of authorities and even Destileria management on their request that the huge billboard ad bearing the controversial catch phrase be removed immediately.

The KNP senatorial bet was joined by the complaining parties along with social welfare volunteers who cheered loudly as Lim himself led the cutting out of the world "kinse" from the controversial ad.

The women and minors present thanked Lim, stressed that "the said billboard merely promotes seduction of minors by drinking adults and sends the wrong message to young girls that engaging in sex at their age is acceptable."

Meanwhile, Lim said that his colleague in the KNP senatorial slate, Boots Anson-Roa, should be left out of the case since she had no role in the stripping of the word "kinse" in the Parañaque billboard ad.

Meanwhile, workers at Destileria Limtuaco, makers of Napoleon Quince brandy, defended the controversial advertisements yesterday, saying "there was nothing malicious in the billboards."

In a forum, the Lakas Pagkakaisa ng mga Manggagawa sa Limtuaco (Lapamalim) asserted that the catch phrase on the billboard of Napoleon Quince was clearly referring to the age of the liquor, noting there was a bottle of the brandy beside the text.

The employees’ union, however, could not comment on the brandy’s radio commercial saying they have not heard it.

Those seeking the pullout of the ads said the Napoleon radio ad was "more suggestive."

In the radio commercial, the wife confronts her husband after learning he was falling for a 15-year-old. The wife was pacified after the husband admitted the 15-year-old brandy.

Lapamalim yesterday assailed groups and individuals that have expressed opposition to the brandy’s ads.

Group president Alfredo Gabriel said calls by militant groups for a boycott of Destileria Limtuaco products and the staging of protests against the Napoleon Quince’s advertisements "endangers our jobs and compromises the future of our families."

Gabriel pointed out that if the brandy’s billboards were indeed malicious and offensive, Lapamalim would have itself initiated moves against them because 85 percent of union members are women, and most have children under 18 years old. Out of the more than 300 employees at Destileria Limtuaco, 76 are members of Lapamalim. – With Katherine Adraneda