Will the flame get to China?

The Senators working for a reconsideration of the Supreme Court decision supporting the “executive privilege” sought by ZTE-NBN witness Romy Neri, must be greatly encouraged by the statements of former Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban slamming the SC ruling. The Senators have already submitted their appeal, but we still hear criticisms from Panganiban. I wonder if he cannot be scolded by the High Court for that? Is he exempt from the sub judice principle? Just asking.

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Anyway, the appealing senators have reason to be hopeful. Not only have they managed to cast doubt on the impartiality of at least three justices, they also have the support of a former chief justice and an incumbent one. Just as Panganiban is not pulling his punches against the decision, incumbent Chief Justice Reynato Puno had also submitted a stinging statement of dissent, which should put the fear of God in the “Pro” justices. Well, we just have to wait and see. In the meantime, there’s Romulo Neri, the man in the center of all, on the front pages, laughing gaily after a successful golf game with other Malacañang chums. Is it all a game for him?

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What a difference one can see between two retired chief justices of the SC. On one hand, we have Artemio Panganiban who is so openly critical of the decision on the Neri case that he has even coined – albeit in the form of a question – the term “Arroyo Supreme Court”. This was because, in his preceding statement in his column in the Inquirer, previous SC compositions had been named after the chief justices then, but this one could be named after a president. The other retired justice, Hilario Davide, who had been appointed by the President to a sinecure at the United Nations since, has come out appealing to the public to “respect” the SC decision. Well, as the French would say it, C’est la vie (That’s life) and Tagalogs would say “Ganyan ang buhay” in this country.

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But the scams and exposes sprouting everywhere these days are bringing some benefits to certain sectors. Note that the President has just signed a bill increasing the pension of World War II veterans from P500 to P5000. Will the tottering old soldiers continue to be absorbed in such matters as the ZTE-NBN deal, or the “Swinedling” as a senator termed it, and even the ZTE-Diwalwal mining thing? Even the overseas workers are being placated by reports that the administration has secured increases in pay for them from their foreign employers. That should keep them quiet about the reduction of the exchange for the “foreign aid” they send home to their families.

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It was appalling to see the long lines of people, braving the sweltering heat of the sun as they waited to buy rice from an outlet in Luzon. This was shown in a TV footage, while another one shown later had the President getting hoarse as she stressed that there is no rice shortage in the country. All right, there may be thousands of sacks coming from other countries, so why are distributors of rice marking the fingernails of purchasers, the way election officials do to voters? Why can’t they buy again if they can, so they can save transport money, and not have to stand and wait under the sun? Sounds strange, doesn’t it?

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Meanwhile, the world is watching the trek of the Olympic Flame which is now traveling across countries as part of the ritual preceding the holding of the games. Ah, but it is going through a windy road on the way to Beijing, which is hosting the international competitions for the first time. Because of its manner of handling the Tibet affair, protestors all over the world are now slamming China, some of them going as far as trying to attempt to put the flame out on the way. And indeed, reports in fact said it was put out twice in Paris. Will it reach China alive?

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Yesterday, a foreign wire report even said that the International Olympic Committee is thinking of scrapping the torch rites altogether. Well, what is it to us? I don’t think there’s any chance of the Philippines hosting the Olympic Games, anyway. At least not in our lifetime. When we do, technology may have advanced so much that if there is still a torch, the flame could probably be thrown across countries electronically already. Meanwhile, it is interesting to see in what condition it will reach Beijing – if it does, at all.*

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