A bad image in Italy

What kind of reputation are we getting in Italy these days? First, their countryman, missionary Fr. Giancarlo Bossi, gets kidnapped in Zamboanga and, until now, almost four weeks since, he has not been rescued, nor has his location been determined. Of course the Army Chief is saying that they have contact with Fr Bossi, that he is alive and well, and that should ease the fears and anxiety of his family back home. But AFP chief Hermogenes Esperon just said "We have proof of life but we do not want to discuss the details because it will give away the location." We journalists are always skeptical, and that statement somehow sounds like "We don't know" to me.

***

The angst over Fr. Bossi has not yet been eased, and now we have this report again of a Filipina working in Italy who just took it upon herself to kill both her husband and her pre-teener son in a very gruesome way the other day. She also tried to kill her eight-year-old daughter, but perhaps the girl's guardian angel was covering her because she was able to fight back and escape. She even had the presence of mind to call the police, although reports said she was very seriously injured.

***

Italian police were later able to ferret out the information that the woman had a record of mental illness even while back home in the Philippines and had been behaving strangely, but nobody ever thought she would go that far. Her siblings who are also working in Italy were shocked, and so was her mother-in-law whom she even called up to tell her "We are all dead now". Naturally, the gory story must have hit the headlines of both print and broadcast media in Italy and the natives will again remember the case of Fr. Bossi whose picture, I hear, is posted all over their country.

***

In Japan, meanwhile, the country's Defense Chief, Fumio Kyuma had to resign after his countrymen rose up in indignation over what they called his insensitive comments about the atomic bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima during World War II. In a speech, Kyumi had said that the bombing was inevitable and could not be helped because it actually ended the war. He was speaking his mind, and, of course we agree that it did end the war, but those who had lost entire families among the thousands killed when the Enola Gay aircraft dropped its lethal load on the big cities got hurt by what they think was a heartless comment. He was also reprimanded by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

***

Our own cabinet members here are much luckier. They can say anything they like and hurt people's feelings anytime and nobody scolds them, much less asks them to resign. An example is Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez who opens his mouth too widely at times, but we never hear of the President telling him to go slow. Yesterday, he was again on TV triumphantly (so it seemed to me) declaring that, under the anti-terror bill, euphemistically known as the Human Security Act that will take effect July 15, the government can do wiretaps on media people who are perceived to be security threats, and that he is the one who can determine who are the "STs (security threats, what else)". To my colleagues, I say, En garde!

***

Another who should beware is newly-elected senator Antonio Trillanes. It is known that neither of the two outspoken Ilonggos in power, Gonzalez and Senator Miriam Santiago, have any love lost for him, so his hopes of being allowed to attend all sessions of the august body may lie there and die there at the office of Gonzalez, without any hope of help from Santiago. The latter has openly declared that Trillanes should get the same treatment as Congressman Romeo Jalosjos, who had been reelected even while already in jail.

***

Perhaps the feisty senadora has not considered the fact that Jalosjos could be a different case from that of Trillanes. Jalosjos had already been convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment, all right, that means only 40 years at the maximum will be served, while Trillanes has not been convicted yet, in fact his trial has barely started. So, who knows if he will be found guilty or not at the moment? Somehow, he has a parallel in the case of former President Joseph Estrada, who has been getting furloughs and times-out from his plush detention quarters in his own resort in Sta. Rosa, to visit his aging mother, to attend the wedding and oath-taking of his "favorite" son and for many other reasons. Both are also considered "well-behaved" detainees, not convicts yet.

***

And what is this we hear about the President mulling over the possibility of forgiving, er, granting amnesty, to all rebels, be they communist, Muslims, or military? Is that what she means when she said her government will "crush" the insurgency and attain peace in three years? Gringo Honasan and Trillanes are classed with the military, aren't they?*

back to top