Hello Michael Ray! Hello Tony!

What else have President George W. Bush and President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo have in common in addition to so many other things? They have people handling their legal problems who both have the same surname, Gloria has Raul Gonzalez, while Bush had Alberto Gonzales. The latter could no longer stand the heat and so he quit. The former appears to be impervious and is still at it.

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Both men have been in the so-called eye of the storm where their bosses are concerned. Alberto Gonzales was the U.S. Attorney General, while Raul Gonzalez is the tenacious secretary of the Department of Justice. The two been the objects of brickbats, but have willingly absorbed the blows for their presidents, who, as events have shown, have also backed them up when the going got tough. Alas for the one named Alberto, it just got too much, and the other day he tendered his resignation which Bush admitted, he received "reluctantly". As for GMA's version, not even bleeding ulcers could keep him away from protecting her.

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Yesterday, TV footages showed Senator Miriam Santiago addressing diplomats from various embassies at a gathering and, as the sub-titles said, she was showing her "comedic" side. Indeed, Miriam did trot out some funny bromides as tartly as only she could, but I think she is still far from being a comic, because she often laughs or smiles before giving her punchline. You don't see Dolphy or the late Tawa Marcelo doing that. They remain poker-faced, and it is only their audience that laughs.

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News reports in yesterday's national dailies only said that Nueva Ecija Congressman Carlos Padilla had filed graft charges before the Ombudsman against Transportation and Communication Secretary Leandro Mendoza and some of his fellow DOTC officers, as well as against officials of the ZTE Company. Yesterday, Padilla again released a blockbuster by disclosing that Commission on Election Chairman Benjamin Abalos had been traveling to China while the deal with the ZTE was going on, and that his fares and hotel accommodations were paid for by that company.

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So far, Abalos had not explained his side - at least, as of this writing. But if he did go a-visiting, and on unofficial trips at that, what could be the implications? Padilla also said that Abalos had been seen playing golf with the ZTE officials in Mandaluyong, as well as in China. Oh my. Unofficial, it must have been, but, if true, that was really indiscreet. Well, we have to listen to what he has to say, after all, who knows, he might be able to prove that this is only a case of mistaken identity.

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So the Senate has decided to exhume the Hello Garci case. However, the condition is that the probe is to be handled by the Committee as a whole. But some senators are warning those who are gung-ho for the reinvestigation that replaying those damning tapes would be a crime and they risk prosecution for doing so. But who cares if the tapes are not replayed? It seems everybody got a copy at the height of the exposé. If not the tapes themselves, clippings of the published full transcriptions of their contents can refresh their memories.

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But take note and anticipate this. With the alleged disclosure by government witnesses that Senator Ping Lacson was behind, not only of the Oakwood Mutiny, but also of the espionage cases that earned convictions for Michael Ray Aquino and Leandro Aragoncillo in the U.S., somebody from Malacañang or from the DOJ may soon come out with more interesting tapes entitled "Hello, Leandro!" and "Hello, Michael Ray!" For more emphasis, there may also be another one addressed to a mutiny leader saying "Hello, Tony!" Tit for tat, as the Justice Secretary would say.

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It's good to note that some of our local officials are trying to impose some sense of decency and stress the need to comply with laws intended for the protection of the citizenry. In Mandaluyong, an ordinance has been passed banning the appearance of people in markets and public places without shirts, or with most of their bodies exposed. In most towns and cities, the police are given a hard time by motorcyclists who continue to defy the helmet law that could protect them from injuries during accidents. There is also some resistance to the seatbelt law which, personally, I feel should not be strictly imposed within the city proper where traffic is often so slow, the chances of being thrown off are almost nil.*

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