Shining through

I can't recall what channel it was that I came upon late yesterday, but what was being shown was the coverage of a raid on a terrorist hideout somewhere in Indonesia. Before I heard the report, however, I thought it was another replay of the unfortunate incident in Iloilo when Regional Mobile Force men, out to implement an order to remove the Provincial Governor, were behaving in almost exactly the same manner.

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Men clad in combat gear, high-powered guns pointed and with fingers on the trigger, were breaking into a building said to be a hiding place of terrorists. So that's how the troops that stormed the Iloilo capitol thought they were doing, laying siege to the quarters of enemies. Anyway, I did not wait to finish the footage, I had seen similar scenes too many times in the past few days with all the replays of the Iloilo attack. But the one shown yesterday happened in Indonesia, and they were trying to catch or eliminate terrorists. In Iloilo, they were only supposed to enforce the law, and did it by a method that seemed lawless.

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The focus on the Iloilo affair, however, led some people to look further into the track record of the Ombudsman, and one of the things discovered was that Ilocos Sur Governor Chavit Singson has reportedly nine administrative and criminal charges pending against him involving some P500 million. People have questioned the timing of the dismissal orders - and implementation. If one were malicious, one might believe that the timing was actually perfect. Remember that the ASEAN summit was then ongoing, or just ending. Since we have been rated among the most corrupt countries in the world, it might impress the ASEAN leaders that we are doing something about it. See?

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Yesterday was almost like a fiesta in Pontevedra, Negros Occidental when the birthday of Gretchen Cojuangco was celebrated by her loving and beloved husband, former Ambassador Danding, and their children and grandchildren, as well as thousands of townsfolk, and relatives and friends from other places in the province. It was indeed an appropriate tribute to this very gifted and very compassionate lady who has been doing so much for the poor and underprivileged, but has been hiding the candle of her accomplishments under the proverbial bushel.

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Ever since she and her family moved back into the province of her childhood, and settled in Pontevedra, that place has never been the same again. The sleepy town that used to be just like a through-street for other towns and cities in the south of Negros Occidental has been blossoming under her green thumb, and producing under her husband's savvy in agriculture. Not only that, they have also reached out to the education sector, and the Fourth District of the province is now known for having the biggest number of teachers with master's degrees, thanks to a scholarship program the family set up a few years ago.

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She herself has been highly instrumental in putting up the Providencia, where, with the help of religious sisters from different countries that she had taken under her wing, has been home to orphans and abandoned children who now have brighter hopes for their future. And she has been working on this, and many other projects, like the building of churches, without fanfare. And yet, such things have obviously not gone unnoticed, because yesterday one could only wonder at the outpouring of affection and appreciation that was almost palpable in the air.

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One would think Gretchen would be a pampered lady of the manor, she with her beauty, talent and the facilities available to her. After all, she is not only convent-bred, but also the product of the world's best finishing schools as well. But she is actually at home with all classes of people, as shown by the crowds that came to greet and celebrate with her, who included both high officials and farm workers. No wonder her family and friends are so proud of her.

A very happy birthday and more blessed and fruitful years for a very rare woman, a caring wife, mother and trail-blazer!*

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