Mortals of lesser stuff would have stammered, stumbled or fell under the intense grilling of battle-tested legal luminaries like Senators Aquilino Pimentel Jr. and Edgardo Angara during the Senate’s Question Hour last Tuesday. But Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes is apparently a man of greater stuff. He did not wilt under the searing cross-examination of the senators. At the witness stand, he was unbowed, demonstrating firmness, consistency and logic as he parried the questions thrown at him by Senator Pimentel and Senator Angara.
What was distinctive about Secretary Reyes was his uncanny ability to think before he spoke. Responding to the senator’s questions, he did not immediately blurt out replies but mentally crafted the answers he would give. Apparently, that was the key that enabled Secretary Reyes not to stammer, stumble or fall, the factor that made televiewers believe in the genuineness and credibility of his answers.
The ANC news network of ABS-CBN should be congratulated for covering live the Senate’s Question Hour. Listening to the questions of the senators and the answers given by Secretary Reyes was truly enlightening and educational. Many concerned people hope that similar live coverages of important events will be provided not only by ABS-CBN but also by the other television networks.
Before that tragic August 17 Senate hearing into the charges lodged by Col. Victor Corpus against Senator Panfilo Lacson, former Senate President Jovito Salonga issued an opinion that the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee should be the lead committee in conducting the probe. And Senator Salonga gave three reasons why an honest-to-goodness investigation will help the Macapagal-Arroyo administration.
First, the transparent ventilation of the truth, via nationwide media coverage, will help clear the air.
Second, it could lead to some kind of ideological differentiation among the senators. And
third, a credible, thorough-going investigation may help boost the image of the government.
It had been suggested that the charges raised against Lacson be brought before the regular courts, for instance, through a libel case filed by Lacson against his accusers. Senator Salonga, though, believes that libel suits in the regional trial courts are usually protracted, due to the clogged court dockets and the dilatory tactics employed by resourceful lawyers. In the case of the Ombudsman, the office has a "mixed record" and there is a prevailing belief that the present Ombudsman cannot be trusted. Salonga thinks that a simultaneous investigation by the Ombudsman and a Senate committee might be a wise option.
My nieces in the United States, Carrie Yates and Diana Tabbada, both residing at 36 Via Contento, Rancho Santa Margarita, California, USA, are active parishioners at the Our Lady of Fatima Rosary Parish. Recently, their lay organization undertook a fund-raising campaign, and one of its beneficiaries was the Good Samaritan Foundation.
I have just received the amount of US$400 as the parish organization’s donation to the Good Samaritan Foundation. The amounts were in checks of Bank of America and Washington Mutual Bank. In her letter to me, Diana, whose nickname is Ziga, said that the amount came from Christian-hearted parishioners of the Our Lady of Fatima Rosary Church who, thousands of miles away from the Philippines, showed their sense of sharing for the less fortunate in life, wherever they may be. Thanks a million, and God bless!
In the meantime, the Good Samaritan Foundation turned over a brand new wheelchair to Rodrigo Kapunan, founding chairman of Cerebral Palsy Association of the Philippines, who is himself afflicted with cerebral palsy. He will use the wheelchair to enable him to move from place to place.
And let me report to all those supporting the Good Samaritan Foundation that John Micah Mendoza of Quezon City, the boy with a heart problem who was assisted by the GS Foundation in getting medical treatment through the Philippine Rotary Pacemaker Bank of Heartbeat International, is now enjoying a second lease on life. According to Ramon P. Cumagun, director of Heartbeat, Dr. Ludgerio Torres of the Philippine Heart Center performed the heart surgery on John over a year ago, and the boy is now doing well.
Ken Miller, an American retiree who opted to stay in the Philippines in August 1998, bought a Smart Communications Motorola Prepaid cellular phone when he did not yet have a landline. After he got a landline, he kept his cellular phone in his car, only for emergency use. He bought small denominations of prepaid cards and use them occasionally.
A couple of months ago, Miller tried to load a new card into his cellular phone, but it would not take it. He brought the phone and card to the Smart Service Center in Angeles City, but he was told that his phone number had been cancelled because he had not used it of rover two months. He was also told that it could not be re-activated.
Miller asked where such a policy was written down and got no reply. Had he known there was such a policy, he would have made it a point to use his cell phone every so often. Now, he owns a P5,000 phone which can only be used for a paperweight. What he regrets is that the complaint he filed with Napoleon Nazareno, president and CEO of Smart, over a month ago has not been given the courtesy of a reply.
THOUGHTS FOR TODAY:
How much does God love you?
So much that He turns His ear to you constantly.
He always answers your requests,
Maybe not with a yes but always with what is best. No matter how softly you whisper a prayer,
God will surely listen and understand.
He knows the hopes and fears you keep in your heart,
and when you trust Him, miracles happen. My e-mail addresses:
<jaywalker@skyinet.net> and
<jaywalker@pacific.net.ph>