Day: June 24, 2011

By Delon Porcalla
The Philippine Star

President Aquino dreads seeing two or three members of his Cabinet he considers harbingers of bad news.

Aquino’s candid admission was made before dozens of officials and employees of the Department of Public Works and Highways gathered for the department’s 113th anniversary celebrations yesterday. He made it clear Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson was not among the three.

“Sa totoo lang, meron akong na-obserbahan na mga miyembro ng gabinete, mga dalawa o tatlo – kada makita ko agad iniisip ko, ano kayang bad news ang dala-dala nito (In truth, I have observed Cabinet members, about two or three – each time I see them I wonder what bad news they bring),” he said.

He said that other Cabinet members, including Singson, are always ready with solutions.

Aside from Singson, Aquino said he considered as outstanding Secretaries Mario Montejo of the Department of Science and Technology and Florencio Abad of the Department of Budget and Management.

“Whenever I see the others like Babes Singson, Mario Montejo and Secretary Abad, they are most of the time prepared with solutions,” the President said.

He said this is the reason why he is always ready to accept the three officials’ requests for appointment.

“Iyung iba ho, pinipilit ko na lang na harapin, dahil itong (mga) tao na ito, talagang, penitensiya ko na yata sa mundong ito kaya okey na lang (For the others, I have to force myself. Maybe it’s part of my tribulation in this world),” he quipped.

He also said he felt glad to set foot again at the DPWH main office, and that his last visit was ages ago when he was still a lawmaker deprived of his pork barrel funds by then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Before he was elected senator in 2007, Aquino was a congressman from Tarlac. He joined the opposition against the Arroyo administration shortly after the “Hello, Garci” scandal broke out in 2005.

Closure

Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano again called on the Aquino administration to put closure to the scams of the past administration by holding those involved accountable for graft and corruption.

While the senator lauded the Aquino administration for its good work in instituting good governance, Cayetano said he found it “lacking” in holding the Arroyo administration accountable for alleged corruption.

“Holding people accountable is an effective deterrent against future abuses to power. It is the only way we learn. When a person is removed from office, charged and incarcerated, we send a message that crime does not pay. If not, they will just resort to better timing or hiding,” he said.

Cayetano made the call as President Aquino is set to mark his one year in office by the end of the month.

In a statement, Cayetano pointed out that while it is only right for the government to go after the “big fish” in graft and corruption cases, there is also a need to go after the “small fishes” who are tasked to do the paperwork necessary to commit these crimes.

“If we look at the scams that happened during the Arroyo administration – fertilizer scam, ZTE, swine scam, etc – no one is held accountable so far. And worse, we are only focusing on the mastermind,” he lamented.

The minority leader used the “Hello Garci” scandal to illustrate his point, stating that while the Garci tapes may not be used as evidence, they can provide leads to independent investigation should Malacañang decide to initiate one.

“How important is it for Malacañang to go after the evils or the sins of the past administration?” he asked.

Cayetano also reiterated his call for the purging of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) of commissioners and other officials tagged in the Hello Garci controversy.

“If the Garci boys are still present and even promoted here in Comelec, who’s to say that the Fertilizer boys and the Swine Scam boys are not roaming at large at the Department of Agriculture (DA) or in the other agencies? Or the ZTE boys still lurking at NEDA (National Economic and Development Authority) and DOTC (Department of Transportation and Communications)?” – with Christina Mendez

Last Tuesday, June 21, on the 40th day of the death Chit Estella-Simbulan, journalist and teacher, her family and friends brought her ashes to her earthly resting place at the San Agustin church columbarium in Intramuros after a mass officiated by Fr. Joe Dizon and Fr. Robert Reyes.

At the dinner that followed the interment, we launched “The Chit Estella Awards for Journalism.”
The idea of the awards came about in a brainstorming session with Chit’s husband, Roland, and her father in-law, Dante, about two weeks after she passed away.

Chit died early evening of May 13 when the taxi she was riding in was rammed by a Universal Guiding Star bus she was in near on Commonwealth Avenue, Quezon City, near the Ayala Technohub where she was supposed to have dinner with some of her high school (St. Joseph College) classmates.

Chit, aside from fighting for genuine democracy for the Filipino people which includes freedom of the press, has always stood for good journalism. And that means excellent writing.

She has pursued this advocacy of good journalism in her work as reporter, editor, and teacher and as trustee of VERA Files. Her family decided that the sudden death of Chit should not be the end of her advocacy. Thus, the “Chit Estella awards for Journalism”

We still have to finalize the mechanics but initially, an award-giving body composed of veteran journalists, and journalism teachers and trainers will be formed to select the year’s best stories in the print and online media. The entries will cover different forms of journalistic outputs: news, features, explanatory articles, investigative reports, photo essays.

The award will be for the story. The citation will include the writer and the editors that processed the story.

The Simbulan family will provide seed funding. VERA Files, a non-profit organization that does in-depth reporting and media training, where Chit was a trustee at time of her death, will serve as administrators of the awards.

A university journalism department, most probably the University of the Philippine College of Mass Communication in Diliman, where Chit was a member of the faculty at the time of her death, will assist in the scanning of news papers and the internet for possible entries, initial screening of entries and in the judging.

The awarding will be held every August, Chit’s birth month. She would have been 54 on Aug. 19. We are targeting the August 2012 for the first “Chit Estella awards for Journalism.”

We still have to formalize our cooperation with UP Masscom, where Chit’s colleagues are also thinking of other activities to keep alive her ideals.

We will be giving out more information about the awards in the coming weeks and months. Check out from time to time VERA Files website (www.verafiles.org).
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The mass that preceded the interment of Chit’s ashes was made more meaningful by the music rendered by soprano Joscephine Gomez accompanied in the piano by Jesper Colleen Mercado. If Chit were listening, she must have enjoyed Joscephine’s interpretation of Albert Hay Mallotte “The Lord’s Prayer.”

At the reception, Joscephine sang three more songs : “Ikaw” by George Canseco, “Diligin mo ng Hamog and uhaw na lupa” by Ernani Cuenco and “Ang Maya” by Jose Estella.

At the interment, there were not a few dry eyes when Roland read his letter to Chit, which he included in the crypt with her ashes.

A portion of the letter read: “Chit, you are alive in all of us whom you have touched with your example, your nerves of steel even under fire, and your acts of kindness.

“But, I will see you in every courageous reporter or editor whose mission and zeal is to write and print the TRUTH, no matter what powerful forces are offended. I will see you in every student and journalist you have taught to be upright and honest, and who knows the meaning of what you call “the right thing to do,” Mahal, I will see you in others who will continue what you stand for. I will see you in every Filipino who fights for sovereignty, good government and the welfare of this country which you love and served so well. I know that they will fight harder to honor your memory.

“Many say that even if your life was cut short by this tragedy, “you lived life to the fullest” with the power of your pen and the genuine respect that you have gained from your peers and students. As journalist, editor, teacher and friend, you touched so many lives, who showed and expressed their outpouring of love, gratefulness and respect for you and our family these past few days. Your life is emulated by so many who strive to live by your ideals and example.

“I will see you—a beautiful human being whom I will always love, respect and adore—in every brave Filipino who, like your favorite Prometheus, takes fire and knowledge from the gods to share it with the common people so that the latter can be empowered. You live in the hearts of those you touched- the hoi polloi and oppressed especially.

“Beloved, I will not really say goodbye.”