“Finding Ecleo is hard,” the CIDG was quoted by The FREEMAN as saying. And risky, too, right?
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This ad here says: “Laugh and the world laughs with you.” Old hat this. Today, says my good friend press fotog Loy Jurado, you laugh and the world says: “What’s funny?”
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Because of so many problems, the world today can no longer afford to laugh with you, says Loy J. If you insist on laughing, the world will laugh at you.
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Everytime the nation remembers Sen. Ninoy Aquino and his assassination, I also remember my good friend the late Joe Macachor, one of the most loyal followers of Ninoy.
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Just a few months before Ninoy’s tragic return to Manila, Joe would drop by our editorial office evenings and we would talk about nothing but “Things Ninoy” including his impending return.
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Being a Ninoy fan myself, I enjoyed the bits of news Joe got from the grapevine and passed on to me in whispers. Being an advertising/public relations pro, Joe always sounded convincing when he talked about Ninoy.
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“Hapit na, Nitz,” was Joe’s constant greetings as he approached me. He was referring to Ninoy’s homecoming and the nation’s “political liberation” (his words). His “hapit na” greeting did come to pass but sadly.
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Today is the 29th anniversary of Ninoy Aquino’s assassination, nay, martyrdom at the Manila International Airport. On the day of the murder, The FREEMAN came out with an extra edition with only Jerry Tundag and myself putting out the historic issue. Mrs. Cory Aquino (before she became President) said ours was the only extra that came out on Ninoy’s assassination.
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I join the whole nation in grieving over the sad fate of DILG Secretary Jesse Robredo. As I write this, the search for him and the two pilots of the ill-fated Piper Seneca is still going on. Jesse’s family is bravely bracing for the worst and hoping for the best.
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I have been told — and I have personally observed — that Sec. Robredo was the most hardworking among PNoy’s Cabinet members. “His work ethic was hard to duplicate,” according to a mediaman who had long been covering the DILG beat in Manila.
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OVERHEARD. A key man in a regional government office recently got so mad at his lone housemaid. His “madness” was caused by his maid’s telling her fellow maid from another family about his secret. The maid was heard saying: “Dili moadtog opisina si Sir kon dili makapamulbos.”