Unpresidential Estrada
Unpresidential Estrada
Updated 02:55am (Mla time) Jan 14, 2005
By Rina Jimenez-David
Inquirer News Service
Editor's Note: Published on page A15 of the January 14, 2005 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
A LADY radio commentator wanted to know why former President Joseph Estrada arrived in Hong Kong clad only in a denim jacket and jeans, and a checkered cotton shirt. The look, she implied, seemed fit for one of the ruffians that Estrada, popularly known as “Erap,” used to portray onscreen rather than a former head of state.
Erap replied that he had wanted to change into more formal wear but he wasn't allowed to pass by his family home in Greenhills, and so he was "forced" to travel to Hong Kong only in the clothes that were available in his Taytay rest house.
But it seems that it would take more than a spiffy suit to make Mr. Estrada "presidential." Certainly, his remark that the burning of the OB van owned by broadcast giant ABS-CBN should serve as a warning to media organizations "engaged in biased reporting" is not only not presidential, but irresponsible and dangerous, too.
Is the ousted president supporting, by implication, the torching of media facilities by people who happen to disagree with the opinions expressed by employees of a media establishment, or with the manner in which they cover the news? Malacañang is right, at least in this instance. The attack on the ABS-CBN remote coverage facility is part of the general campaign of intimidation and suppression of our supposedly "free" media. It finds its crudest and most extreme expression in the murder of journalists, but burning vehicles and officially sponsored advertisers' boycotts are also arms in the arsenal of those who would bend media to their will.
Our Constitution protects freedom of the press, recognizing how a free press serves the ends of democracy by helping create an informed citizenry and serving as a check to abusive government. So when the press comes under attack, democracy is attacked, too.
* * *
INSTEAD of expressing concern or appealing to the alleged followers of Fernando Poe Jr. who claimed responsibility for the attacks, Estrada chose to fan the flames of discord. When FPJ's widow Susan Roces castigated ABS-CBN reporter Karen Davila for what she claimed was the network's "mistreatment" of her and her late husband in the recent presidential campaign, many were aware that hers weren't isolated sentiments. "Tita Swanie" was merely echoing the feelings of most, if not all, opposition supporters. This, even if an independent content analysis of the media coverage of the last elections showed that there were more news reports about Fernando Poe Jr. than any other presidential candidate, including the incumbent Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
I'm sure the destruction of an OB van was not what Roces intended when she let loose with her "real" feelings about the local media. Her husband's followers have also been quick to distance themselves and their organizations from this act of vandalism. Rez Cortez, a movie actor and organizer for FPJ, even speculated that "other parties" might have wanted to widen the gap between them and the media.
But all their denials and diplomatese have been rendered useless by Erap's latest unpresidential pronouncement. He sounds like he's even condoning what those hooligans did. And by going on about how the media are "abusing" their powers, he even seems to be encouraging copycat attacks. Nanggagatong pa.
* * *
QUERIED about speculations on how he and the Arroyo government have arrived at an "accommodation," Erap replied: "If we have really arrived at a compromise, do you think I would be talking this way?"
Well, from the looks of it, Erap does seem to be enjoying extraordinarily special treatment, if not from Malacañang, then from the Sandiganbayan anti-graft corut. When he complains about how he has to beg for favors at every turn, he sounds more like a churlish ingrate than a statesman enduring the hardships of imprisonment out of principle.
Filipino doctors had long been saying that the knee operation that Estrada underwent in Hong Kong could have been performed by Filipino specialists in a Philippine hospital. That he was allowed to travel to Hong Kong (he wanted to go to the United States) already constituted a huge favor. And how does he receive his good fortune? By abusing the trust of the court and leaving his hospital room to live it up in a deluxe resort-hotel!
Not only should Estrada be returned to the country posthaste, he should be punished for his misbehavior by being removed from his "rest house arrest" and placed in a real penitentiary. Okay, if he needs physical therapy for his knees, the Veterans Memorial Medical Center will do for now. But it's time we put an end to this travesty of a long-extended trial and comfy detention. How can we teach our people that "crime does not pay" otherwise?
* * *
THE LOVE of luxury, the need to live it high on the hog, that has always been Erap's weakness.
If you remember, he began his presidential term by plunging into major and costly renovation projects, from the Malacañang Guest House to the presidential yacht. And his three years in the presidency was marked by daily bacchanals that featured groaning buffet tables and "pa-morningan" drinking sessions at the presidential residence.
Such a stupendous lifestyle demanded high financing, of course, and so Erap stumbled into his Waterloo, the jueteng scandal. If love of money is the root of all evil, then love of the good life is the earth upon which corruption thrives.
Despite his years of detention, Erap hasn't learned any lessons, it seems. I think there wouldn't have been too much of a fuss raised about Erap's Hong Kong treatment if he had been circumspect and kept within the bounds of the Sandiganbayan's orders. But Estrada obviously believes he shouldn't be made to suffer the fate of ordinary mortals and that he deserves no less than the highest standards of living. The government should respond in kind and subject him to the strictest standards of detention.
Updated 02:55am (Mla time) Jan 14, 2005
By Rina Jimenez-David
Inquirer News Service
Editor's Note: Published on page A15 of the January 14, 2005 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
A LADY radio commentator wanted to know why former President Joseph Estrada arrived in Hong Kong clad only in a denim jacket and jeans, and a checkered cotton shirt. The look, she implied, seemed fit for one of the ruffians that Estrada, popularly known as “Erap,” used to portray onscreen rather than a former head of state.
Erap replied that he had wanted to change into more formal wear but he wasn't allowed to pass by his family home in Greenhills, and so he was "forced" to travel to Hong Kong only in the clothes that were available in his Taytay rest house.
But it seems that it would take more than a spiffy suit to make Mr. Estrada "presidential." Certainly, his remark that the burning of the OB van owned by broadcast giant ABS-CBN should serve as a warning to media organizations "engaged in biased reporting" is not only not presidential, but irresponsible and dangerous, too.
Is the ousted president supporting, by implication, the torching of media facilities by people who happen to disagree with the opinions expressed by employees of a media establishment, or with the manner in which they cover the news? Malacañang is right, at least in this instance. The attack on the ABS-CBN remote coverage facility is part of the general campaign of intimidation and suppression of our supposedly "free" media. It finds its crudest and most extreme expression in the murder of journalists, but burning vehicles and officially sponsored advertisers' boycotts are also arms in the arsenal of those who would bend media to their will.
Our Constitution protects freedom of the press, recognizing how a free press serves the ends of democracy by helping create an informed citizenry and serving as a check to abusive government. So when the press comes under attack, democracy is attacked, too.
* * *
INSTEAD of expressing concern or appealing to the alleged followers of Fernando Poe Jr. who claimed responsibility for the attacks, Estrada chose to fan the flames of discord. When FPJ's widow Susan Roces castigated ABS-CBN reporter Karen Davila for what she claimed was the network's "mistreatment" of her and her late husband in the recent presidential campaign, many were aware that hers weren't isolated sentiments. "Tita Swanie" was merely echoing the feelings of most, if not all, opposition supporters. This, even if an independent content analysis of the media coverage of the last elections showed that there were more news reports about Fernando Poe Jr. than any other presidential candidate, including the incumbent Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
I'm sure the destruction of an OB van was not what Roces intended when she let loose with her "real" feelings about the local media. Her husband's followers have also been quick to distance themselves and their organizations from this act of vandalism. Rez Cortez, a movie actor and organizer for FPJ, even speculated that "other parties" might have wanted to widen the gap between them and the media.
But all their denials and diplomatese have been rendered useless by Erap's latest unpresidential pronouncement. He sounds like he's even condoning what those hooligans did. And by going on about how the media are "abusing" their powers, he even seems to be encouraging copycat attacks. Nanggagatong pa.
* * *
QUERIED about speculations on how he and the Arroyo government have arrived at an "accommodation," Erap replied: "If we have really arrived at a compromise, do you think I would be talking this way?"
Well, from the looks of it, Erap does seem to be enjoying extraordinarily special treatment, if not from Malacañang, then from the Sandiganbayan anti-graft corut. When he complains about how he has to beg for favors at every turn, he sounds more like a churlish ingrate than a statesman enduring the hardships of imprisonment out of principle.
Filipino doctors had long been saying that the knee operation that Estrada underwent in Hong Kong could have been performed by Filipino specialists in a Philippine hospital. That he was allowed to travel to Hong Kong (he wanted to go to the United States) already constituted a huge favor. And how does he receive his good fortune? By abusing the trust of the court and leaving his hospital room to live it up in a deluxe resort-hotel!
Not only should Estrada be returned to the country posthaste, he should be punished for his misbehavior by being removed from his "rest house arrest" and placed in a real penitentiary. Okay, if he needs physical therapy for his knees, the Veterans Memorial Medical Center will do for now. But it's time we put an end to this travesty of a long-extended trial and comfy detention. How can we teach our people that "crime does not pay" otherwise?
* * *
THE LOVE of luxury, the need to live it high on the hog, that has always been Erap's weakness.
If you remember, he began his presidential term by plunging into major and costly renovation projects, from the Malacañang Guest House to the presidential yacht. And his three years in the presidency was marked by daily bacchanals that featured groaning buffet tables and "pa-morningan" drinking sessions at the presidential residence.
Such a stupendous lifestyle demanded high financing, of course, and so Erap stumbled into his Waterloo, the jueteng scandal. If love of money is the root of all evil, then love of the good life is the earth upon which corruption thrives.
Despite his years of detention, Erap hasn't learned any lessons, it seems. I think there wouldn't have been too much of a fuss raised about Erap's Hong Kong treatment if he had been circumspect and kept within the bounds of the Sandiganbayan's orders. But Estrada obviously believes he shouldn't be made to suffer the fate of ordinary mortals and that he deserves no less than the highest standards of living. The government should respond in kind and subject him to the strictest standards of detention.
posted by Dante at 1:50 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home