Jawo's basketball shoes for an ailing boy who's homeward-bound

L'affaire Laquian has an impact that is disturbing. Henceforth, the best and the brightest will think, not twice, but a hundred times, before saying yes to invitations for them to join the public service, especially for posts in the deepest corridors of power. With snakes and vampires and vultures lurking all over the power centers, what guarantee is there that the best and the brightest will survive? And if they are not used to working in the murky political terrain, how will they survive in the snake pit?

For Aprodicio Laquian, the biggest factor that did him in as, I mentioned yesterday, was his ego. Apparently, he wanted to be recognized, to be known as a man above his peers. Probably, he wanted to be acknowledged as Malacañang's Best Supporting Actor. Which is why he had to make noise, especially in front of a newsmen's forum, so that his presence would be felt.

What Laquian did not realize was that he was working for a person who is the President of the Republic. Someone who is very sensitive about his image. One who wants to be remembered as one of the greatest leaders the country ever had. To taunt the Big Boss and make him look just like any ordinary human being was, indeed, a grievous error. And that the error was committed by a man touted as the venerable Chief of Staff of the President of the Republic is truly as eye-opener.

This is the problem with people from the academe. They may be intellectual giants within their realm, but when they get into the outside world, into the turf dominated by politicians, into a terrain trod by realists, the academicians get lost. That is when their egos get deflated.

In the meantime, the merry-go-round in Malacañang continues to twirl. There is no certainty on who would last, on who would go up or go down, on what final course the Estrada administration will take. The only thing that's certain is that the snakes and vultures and vampires continue to hover over the political landscape, waiting to do their thing.

Fr. Donald Bennet, the parish priest in the area in Olongapo City where leukemia patient Rudy Geronimo lives, called me up yesterday to inform me of the deteriorating condition of the 18-year-old boy, a victim of toxic waste in the Subic Naval Base. Fr. Bennet and I agreed to coordinate in bringing the boy back home to Olongapo City. The priest, who first brought Rudy's attention to me, would make arrangements with the Olongapo doctors and nurses who would give the needed medical protocol, and I would settle Rudy's final bills with the UST Hospital.

Learning about Senator Robert Jaworski's visit to Rudy a few days ago at the UST Hospital, I contacted Jawo's secretary Desiree Guasch to arrange for the ambulance that would ferry Rudy homeward. Desiree promised that the ambulance would be ready after 5 o'clock yesterday afternoon, so that probably by now, the young man must be back home in Olongapo.

When Jawo visited Rudy at the hospital and asked what the boy wanted, Rudy asked for a pair of basketball shoes. Apparently, the boy thought he can still make it, in his battle against the Big C. By this time, the basketball shoes must already be in the possession of the youngster.

It looks like Rudy is homeward-bound. When I talked to Dr. Edwin Rodriguez, one of the doctors who looked after Rudy, during the boy's six-month chemotherapy sessions at the UST Hospital, we agreed that it was time to bring Rudy back home. No more aggressive medical treatment. no more additional chemo sessions. I asked Dr. Rodriguez to merely give the pain relievers that Rudy needs as he goes through his agonizing ordeal. Let Rudy go back home in peace, a place where he wants to be, as he prepares to meet his Maker.

Rudy's mother was in tears when she dropped by my office yesterday, to get the P20,000 that will be paid for Rudy's hospital bills. She told me that her son no longer eats, but only through a dextrose. That Rudy is in great pain, from his head down to his legs. That there are tumors all over his frail body. As she wept, I consoled her that going home to one's Maker can be life's most joyful event.

With Neal Cruz's hard-hitting column against Parañaque Mayor Joey Marquez, for the showbiz figure's refusal to settle a long-outstanding account with businesswomen Liza Carreon, for the supply of textbooks duly acknowledged and received by the Parañaque city government, Marquez might just wake up one day to find out that he has become the object of President Estrada's campaign against erring local government executives. Yes, Marquez might be forced to try to ward off a suspension order, just like what Pampanga Governor Lito Lapid is now doing.

Marquez's problem, though, is that he does not have the massive masa popularity of Lito Lapid. In fact, there are some who say that Marquez has become an almost forgotten figure in the showbiz world. "Laos na" is the term used by the kanto boys. In the more sophisticated world, the term is "a has-been." This means that Joey Marquez cannot do a Lito Lapid.

An unsolicited advice to Marque is to do away with irritants. And one irritant is that long-unsettled bill with Liza Carreon. By the way, Marquez should realize that Ms. Carreon has already filed against him with the Ombudsman. And a case with the Ombudsman is not a joke, not something that can be treated lightly.

Dr. Miguel R.S. Cornejo, cardiologist-internist and connected with the Presidential Security Group General Hospital, is one doctor who is very close to several military officials, retired or in the active service. The military bigwigs include Lt. Gen. Jose Calimlim, deputy AFP chief of Staff, Gen. Ramon Montano, Gen. Lisandro Abadia, Gen. Job Mayo, Gen. Gerardo Flores, and Lt. Gen. Ismael Villareal. And they are close to Dr. Cornejo because of his Medical Preventive Maintenance Program, which has been the good doctor's apostolate for the past many decades.

Rendering professional service for free to the AFP and Philippine National Police personnel, Dr. Cornejo has been using an effective preventive maintenance program adapted from the countries associated with the Eastern Europe Medical bloc. The program focuses on preventive measures against the early hardening, thickening and clogging of blood vessels in the body, before their symptoms appear. The medical program is now available in the Philippines, through directed order from pharmaceutical companies in Europe, and is given by Dr. Cornejo's Heart Care Center at the Makati Cinema Square in Makati City.

Arturo A. Borjal's e-mail address: [email protected]