Toothless

As I opened my e-mail during Christmas break, a forwarded message was placed through the UPLAW groups regarding an alleged incident regarding Agrarian Reform Secretary Nasser Pangandaman Sr.’s and Mayor Nasser Jr.’s mauling of a certain Delfin Dela Paz and his son Bino Lorenzo, 14 yrs. old. As the issues between the two camps went on, public opinion has boiled over, with the Philippine Daily Inquirer even opining that “despite the public anger over the incident, [it] hasn’t led to more than pro forma apologies from Secretary Pangandaman.” Worse, the PDI also opines that the calls for resignation would only lead to “the present administration to drag cases in court until the Dela Pazes are bankrupted or, when public attention wanes, intimidate them into settling the case.”

Hearing and reading about the case aside, and taking into account the opinion column of the PDI, the present state that we are in, is in essence, our fault. Passive constituents beget a passive government. Unfortunately, the Filipinos have the habit of forgiving and forgetting, thus, the tactic of ignoring clamor and braving opinion has been a tried and tested path that Pangandaman, if ever he is indeed guilty, would/could resort to. Heck, if Marcos or Erap is forgiven, then why not Pangandaman? I am betting a good chunk of my allowance that months from now, the incident would be forgotten as long as new news pour to the public. Heh, only in the Philippines.