The 43 supposed health workers that the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) arrested in Morong, Rizal were finally presented before the Court of Appeals (CA) and the truth has finally surfaced… that no one was sexually molested (as was reported in a headline story) and that the media outlets crying foul merely quoted the family members of those who were arrested. This proves my point that we’ve written time and time again that the AFP and the PNP always lose out on the propaganda campaign because even legitimate media favors and prints the lies of those who help the struggle of the Communist Party of the Philippines.
LP Senatorial bet, Sen. Franklin Drilon also questioned the motives of the military in a communiqué he sent to the press. He is obviously siding with these health workers who for all we know might just be using their position to help push forward the sinister agenda of the CPP/NPA? As the AFP/PNP statement says, these health workers were allegedly caught doing a bomb making seminar. Now while this hasn’t yet been proven in court, let me say that it is reckless for Sen. Drilon to already take sides in this legal issue.
The CPP/NPA propaganda that was splashed in the front page (not of this paper) screamed “Female detainees abused, mom told”. But this turned out to be a complete falsehood. Now these health workers insist that they were not holding a bomb-making seminar. Is this another lie? So I really would like to know what is the real truth behind this incident. I dare say that these 43 so-called health workers be subjected to a lie-detector test so that we will get to the bottom of who is lying and who is telling the truth!
* * *
Exactly a week ago, former Cebu City Councilor and former Land Transportation Franchising & Regulatory Board (LTFRB-7) Regional Director Rogelio “Jing-Jing” Osmeña, one of my good buddies, who loved big bikes, guns and golf was buried at the Osmeña Mausoleum in the old Catholic Carreta cemetery in Cebu City. I couldn’t attend his funeral as I was already in Clark for the 15th Phil. International Balloon Fiesta.
Jing-Jing was a man for all season, having created the Hotel, Restaurant, Resorts Association of Cebu (HRRAC) in the mid-70’s, then in the early 80’s we were the original members of the Cebu Pistol & Rifle Association (CPRA) and in 2004 he created the V-Max Owners Group (VOG) motorcycle club and eventually became one of the incorporators of the Star Touring & Riding Group in Cebu. While he was our golfing buddy, we didn’t need to create any club or organization for this.
Unfortunately for Jing-Jing, we didn’t realize that he was so sick that he wouldn’t be able to make it to the 16th Annual Convention of the National Federation of Motorcycle Clubs of the Philippines on March 4-7th. . This is an annual motorcycling event that much-awaited not only by Cebuano big bikers, but by big bikers all over the country.
While all is set for the big bike convention, certain issues remain unresolved as the leaders of the two motorcycle clubs, namely, VOG (the host club for this year’s event) and the Star Touring & Riding Group were at odds at each other and VOG didn’t invite the Star Group to the convention. Efforts to bring the two parties to reconcile failed, hence I wrote a column in The Freeman to make an appeal for unity and brotherhood, after all, that is the essence of motorcycling. Unfortunately, I was also misunderstood by the bike group, even if our intentions are purely noble.
But with the death of Jing-Jing Osmeña, the two big bike groups, including my own EasyRiders Motorcycle Club, in a rare show of unity went out of their way to escort the funeral of Jing-Jing Osmeña. But even after that, I gathered lately that the Star Group hasn’t gotten their invitation to this convention and if this situation continues, I’m sure that other motorcycle clubs might just decide to ride somewhere else because there is no brotherhood to speak of, which in my book is of utmost importance to big bikers!
Thanks to Hollywood movies, big bikes earned a poor reputation as thugs, goons and hooligans preying on innocent towns folks. These were the days when the so-called Hell’s Angels movies stereotyped motorcyclists even as criminals on two-wheels. Somehow, the reputation of motorcyclists have changed through the years, after all many professional people do ride big bikes and join conventions just like other civic clubs like Rotary Clubs.
I just hope that both VOG & Star would come together even just to make the Cebu Convention a success. So I’m writing this appeal to leaders of these two big bike clubs to set aside their differences for the sake of unity and motorcycle brotherhood. Let the politicians quarrel amongst themselves, but it should never be allowed to happen amongst big bikers!
* * *
For email responses to this article, write to vsbobita@mo-pzcom.com or vsbobita@gmail.com. His columns can be accessed through www.philstar.com.