A4 :: TUEsDAY JUNE 18,20le
mst.daydesk@gmail.com
A cut above the rest
NO MAITER how tle Chinese Embassy
and Beijing try to downplay the ramming
of a Filipino fishing vessel by saying that
itwas an ordinary maritime incident, from
the looks of it and upon the testimony of
the 2l crew members, it was clearly a case
of hit and run.
Let's look at what happened. First, the
Chinese vessel rammed the Filipino boat
with all its lights on, while the crew mem-
bers were asleep.
Second after this, the Chinese .vessel
, turned around and fled while the Filipino
i vessel was sinking.
I Thild" knowing that the crew were al-
, ready in the water, frantic to save tlem-
' selves, the Chinese did not even try to save
i their lives. This would have been the nor-
; mal thing to do given any accident.
i The excuse given by the Chinese Em-
i bassy that their vessel had to tum away be-
, cause it was being attacked by other Fili-
I pino vessels ispure baloney. A lot of bull!
:ffi........'.'.'.''..'.''.'''''.'''.'''..'.
: li otoria Arrovo's
i ditigence is lefiendary
11
;N
i fro* the looks of it, the claim that
: some eight Filipino fishing vessels tried to
: retaliate just does not add up. Why was it
; aMetnamese vessel that savedthe Filipino
,crew? The argument simply insults our in-
' telligence. The Chinese must think that we
Filipinos are stupid.
. Pursue reparations! Make them pay!
' What is tragic about this incident is that
ithe President's spokesman said we still
i can't cut ties with China, eveir if it is found
: that the Chinese vessel acted intentionallv-
lWorse, the President has been mum'about
;the incident.
i The hit and run becomes douLly tragic
'when we Filipinos are not outraged. Why
don'twe march andprotest? Why don'twe
shout "enough is enough" about the way
China is trampling on our sovereignty?
Contrast this wi& what is happening in
Hong Kong, wherc people showed their
outrage over a bill that would enable Bei.
jing to exfadite Hong Kong offenders to
show cause,why they should not be pun-
ished for wrbngdoing.
. As a resulq the bill has been suspended
The protesters did not relent despite the
brutality of the llong Kong police.
Here in the Philippines, is seerns that
only media and some opposition ssnators
are expressing outrage over the incident
And why isn't the President salng any-
t\ing?
Have we been r"y:{i* silenc?
Outgoing House Speaker Gloria Maca-
pagal Arroyo said that upon her ietirement
from politics, she will write her memoirs
and be a consultant to Pampanga Governor
Pineda in develo'ping her home provire.
Gloria's political hislsry is" worth writ-
ing about, inH" Her stmy $ated wheo
sFe walayoung girl" a p'resial€tfial dargh-
ter.
The next time I met Gloria was when
she became,trndersecretaxy of the Depart-
ment of Trade and Industry and adminis-
trator of the Garments and Embroidery
Board. My wife's nephew, Willie Villara-
ma, sought me out to meet the GEB head
to explain her side during the fight between
the Textile MillsAssociation and the GEB
over smuggling. The former was accusing
the latter of smuggling.
When I saw Gloria and she explained
the side of the GEB, I was convinced that
all claims of smuggling were overboarrd.
The textile mills group just wanted the
GEB abolished.
The next time I heard of Gloria was
when she topped the Senatre race. I was
impressed with horv hardworking she was.
She filed many bills that were enacted into
law. That led to her being elected Vice
President.
At that time, Gloria used to visit our
house in Ecology Village to buy paintings
for gifu to friends. We became close to her
such that whffi my youngest sonNicky got
married, she, together with Estrada, were
principal sponsors.
When Erap was ousted and Gloria be-
IuntoA5
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