What a let-down
Published Nov 11, 2020 04:54 pm
MEDIUM RARE
Jullie Y. Daza
Is the President mellowing?
After promising us bread and circus by forcing the “pastillas” gang of bribe-takers at Immigration to eat their pastillas, PRRD had a change of heart.
Still, it was quite a show, watching how a Palace usher moved among the President’s special guests of the day offering each of them the colorful, paper-wrapped sweets from a delicate-looking tray. All 44 agents and officers were in uniform and had their face mask on. Ai-ya, the more’s the pity, that we could not tell if they were shamefaced or just shameless. Even without any foreboding music playing in the background, the silence was suspenseful, a cliffhanger without sound or words. What were they thinking at the exact moment the usher waited for each of them to take one candy from the tray? Did they think they’d be ordered to swallow it right away?
We cannot try to think their thoughts. The criminally minded don’t think like you and me, that’s why they succeed at daring and doing stuff that you and I could not imagine committing.
The President sat across the accused from a respectfully healthy distance. What a waste, the cameras of the government network denied us close-ups and reaction shots of the President. What little we could see of his face, he was not smiling, more like he was playing poker.
If the colorful wrappers did not contain poison, how much money was in them? Supposedly a P100 bill in each. The presidential spokesperson explained why the Immigration agents were spared from swallowing the bitter pill: “In deference to the presence of Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra,” head of the mega task force investigating mega-corruption in government. What a lame excuse! You wanna bet, Mr. Guevarra would’ve enjoyed the public execution as much as the rest of us bloodthirsty citizens? As a monumental crowd-pleasing event, it would have earned President Duterte a 98 percent approval rating on Pulse Asia and SWS; instead it was downgraded to a shaming exercise on people who have no shame.
They have all the time in the world to wait with their lawyers for the wheels of justice to grind exceedingly slow. Let’s see how politely or how typically the President will deal with those s.o.b.’s in PhilHealth.
Jullie Y. Daza
Is the President mellowing?
After promising us bread and circus by forcing the “pastillas” gang of bribe-takers at Immigration to eat their pastillas, PRRD had a change of heart.
Still, it was quite a show, watching how a Palace usher moved among the President’s special guests of the day offering each of them the colorful, paper-wrapped sweets from a delicate-looking tray. All 44 agents and officers were in uniform and had their face mask on. Ai-ya, the more’s the pity, that we could not tell if they were shamefaced or just shameless. Even without any foreboding music playing in the background, the silence was suspenseful, a cliffhanger without sound or words. What were they thinking at the exact moment the usher waited for each of them to take one candy from the tray? Did they think they’d be ordered to swallow it right away?
We cannot try to think their thoughts. The criminally minded don’t think like you and me, that’s why they succeed at daring and doing stuff that you and I could not imagine committing.
The President sat across the accused from a respectfully healthy distance. What a waste, the cameras of the government network denied us close-ups and reaction shots of the President. What little we could see of his face, he was not smiling, more like he was playing poker.
If the colorful wrappers did not contain poison, how much money was in them? Supposedly a P100 bill in each. The presidential spokesperson explained why the Immigration agents were spared from swallowing the bitter pill: “In deference to the presence of Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra,” head of the mega task force investigating mega-corruption in government. What a lame excuse! You wanna bet, Mr. Guevarra would’ve enjoyed the public execution as much as the rest of us bloodthirsty citizens? As a monumental crowd-pleasing event, it would have earned President Duterte a 98 percent approval rating on Pulse Asia and SWS; instead it was downgraded to a shaming exercise on people who have no shame.
They have all the time in the world to wait with their lawyers for the wheels of justice to grind exceedingly slow. Let’s see how politely or how typically the President will deal with those s.o.b.’s in PhilHealth.