The "Hello" that
continues to echo

At least we got two heartening reports yesterday, and the top one is the entry of Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Rosales into the exalted College of Cardinals in the Vatican. The rites, as shown on TV yesterday, were very moving, and who is the Filipino, especially Catholics, who did not feel touched by the sight of our prelate being imposed the office by the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI himself. We were proud of Cardinal Rosales, but he himself looked humbled by the responsibility and stature.

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In the art and cultural side, a Filipino singer, Mon David, confirmed the superior musical talent of Pinoys when he bagged the grand prize in the London International Jazz Competition Wednesday. Mon had to compete initially with 106 singers coming from 27 countries. The number was later whittled down to six finalists but in the suspenseful final performances, Mon David stunned his audience and his fans back home by standing out as Number One. The singing prowess of Mon David is familiar to Bacoleños, he has performed here a few times. I think, in one of those times, he was with the group called "AngFourgettables" when they appeared at the L'Fisher Hotel.

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Even if he is not exactly a Teacher's Pet as far as Malacañang is concerned, Education Undersecretary (on leave?) Mike Luz continues to be an educator at heart and apparently cannot be silent where teachers are involved. Yesterday we received a text message from him saying "One bad teacher doesn't make everybody suspect. The media shouldn't have such knee-jerk reactions to that one (few) case. There are 500,000 teachers in the system. Be fair to the majority that do well for our kids".

***

That's true, of course, but that one case was quickly followed by another report from General Santos City where another teacher has the penchant of making her adolescent pupils strip - well, not fully, only blouses for the girls and pants for the boys - and that has come to media attention, too. So one can't entirely blame parents, and media people for over-reacting, probably in fear that the ONE in the 500,000 could be torturing their children.

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The next mystery involving the mischievous Garci is the one about the "virgin" passport supposedly issued to him, but which the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, which produces such documents, is disowning. A BSP official was shown comparing the passport they issue and the one bearing the name, photograph and signature of Virgilio Garcillano. I think the plot is thinning now. If this is a decoy passport, then the genuine one must have been the one used in the peregrinations of the former Commission on Election commissioner when he was reported to have fled to London via Singapore.

***

The case is no longer a simple internal matter, because the Foreign Affairs Office of Singapore had confirmed that a Virgilio Garcillano did land in that country. Would you believe that those officials would invent such a story just to confuse our investigators? Senator Serge Osmeña also claims that a flight manifest shows that the wily Garci did fly away on July 14, 2005. But Garci, it seems, is still bluffing off, dismissing the issue. His lawyer is also angrily denying that his client has a fake passport, and even hinted that his accusers are the ones who produced it. As they say, the best defense is a good offense. The echo of that "Hellooo…" will continue to reverberate for a long, long time, I tell you.

***

In the meantime, the finger-pointing is going on so rapidly, one could get cross-eyed trying to keep up with who is pointing and who is pointing back. There's Governor Chavit Singson, claiming that Erap was getting jueteng money, then there's Erap's son Jinggoy pointing back. There is also Ping Lacson, looking holier-than-thou, telling the media that he had refused offers of jueteng money while at the same time confirming that Erap did get some, but for his foundation for Muslim scholars. Swiftly, Singson points back, telling all that Lacson had even wanted five percent of the Jueteng take. Hopefully, they'll all trip each other and the truth will set us free.*

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