MEDIUM RARE
Jullie Y. Daza
Da nerve, da nerve, da nerve, da nerve!
Yes, repeated four times, once in behalf of each sector that was stabbed in the back by that patently illegal and treacherous order to import 300,000 metric tons of sugar, those targeted sectors being the Office of the President, Department of Agriculture, the sugar industry, and consumers.
I know a few bad words in Filipino and English – in any event, they’d sound outdated here -- so I’ll just quote Sen. Migz Zubiri’s “walanghiya!” (without shame) to describe that person who affixed his signature directly above the typed name of the President, his boss. “Walanghiya” sounds old-world civilized compared to the words young people gamely throw at their enemies and ex-lovers, usually phrases laced with reference to certain unphotogenic body parts.
Does that now-resigned newsmaker hope that stepping down will spell the end of the scandal? Let’s hope Malacañang doesn’t think so, although the Press Secretary did mention probable “negligence” and “bad judgment,” almost like suggesting a way out for the resignee and cohorts, if any. In Japan, such a dastardly deed would’ve culminated in calls for a ritualistic seppuku. Over here, the worst-case scenario would be to imagine an investigation being in progress, oh yes, like he neglected to remember he was a public servant and he made a bad call because he woke up on the wrong side of the bed.
In the bad old days, the Bureau of Customs was the most scandal-ridden, tagged “flagship of corruption” by Ernesto Maceda. Currently, as Rep. Joey Salceda puts it, DA is the “mother of all smuggling.” Times have changed, but when PBBM swallowed the bitter pill of supervising the department from the very top, how could he have suspected his underlings, not even 100 days into his administration.
The fake order to import sugar sweetened by the lie that sugar stocks will run out soon was a ploy to hoard supply while pushing up prices, then blame the President-DA secretary! For their treachery those fibbers should be forced to drink their coffee with 10 tbsp sugar 10 times a day, or be buried alive under a mountain of brown, white, or washed sugar, their choice. Otherwise, let them pay for the dialysis sessions of one million diabetics.