Beware of cards and calls

Today is Ash Wednesday, the start of the Lenten Season. Catholics all over the world will troop to their churches for the imposition of the blessed ash on their foreheads, which is a reminder that they are dust and to dust they will return. When Ex-Speaker Jose de Venecia goes to church today to go through this symbolic ritual, he will be thinking: An ordinary congressman was I and as an ordinary one I will return at the next session.

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Well, as they say, the old order changeth. But many Filipinos who have become cynical now, are asking, What change? What old order? This will be the same order, rather, the orders will come from the same source. Yesterday, the country woke up to find that the House of Representatives had unceremoniously yanked out their Speaker of almost 15 years and replaced him forthwith. Among the reports in yesterday's papers was one about a strong earthquake in Southern Luzon . Those who reported it did not realize that the stronger quake had hit the House of Representatives, knocking the Speaker off his chair.

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By the way, I looked over the front pages of five national dailies yesterday and these were their headlines:

Manila Bulletin – “De Venecia joins political opposition”

Manila Standard-Today – “Embattled speaker burns bridges with the Arroyos”

Philippine Star – “De Venecia breaks away from GMA”

Daily Tribune – “JDV blasts Gloria, spills poll fraud”

Daily Inquirer – “JDV slams GMA, family”

DAILY STAR readers must have noted that their own local paper was able to say – “HOUSE VOTES TO OUST JdV, NOGRALES IS NEW SPEAKER”, its staff having waited up to make sure they got the freshest story.

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That, of course, is not the end of it, more and more sidelights, speculations, rumors, recriminations, etcetera, will be heard in the coming days. Most interesting to watch for is the decision of the former speaker: Will he succumb to the siren song of the Opposition wooing him to their ranks? I'm sure the temptation will be great, hurting as he does now. But he's an astute politician, as well as a cunning man, so we do not know what he is cooking up even at this moment. All those years of maneuvering in Congress were not for naught. So don't play any dirges for JdV yet.

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What is very interesting is the disclosure of Malacañang boy Ignacio Bunye about what happened in the family, and why the President, despite her assurances (five times, he reportedly said) to De Venecia that she would support him, back him, maintain the status quo, did not do anything, or failed to do what she promised. According to Bunye, the President may have tried but was reminded by her two sons about the independence of the legislative from the executive and was also told to lay off. Lay off, not Back-off, note.

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Meanwhile, let's focus on ordinary day-to-day matters, particularly on the operations of swindlers and con-men who will try any trick to deprive you of your cash. Yesterday, my sister got a phone call from somebody claiming to be from a “Standard Bank” who said they were offering her a loan of any amount and with no need for collateral, mind you. They only wanted her to give them some information about her credit card company, her other identifying documents, and her present bank. When my sister told him that she didn't need a loan, never had one, and does not believe in borrowing, and what's more would not disclose any information, the caller just hang up on her.

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Schemes of this kind must be going on in various forms because even genuine credit card companies are now sending warnings to their card-holders to beware of people who may pretend to represent the company and elicit vital information to be used for some form of swindling. Even if it is not intentional, you could get into trouble with the use of cards, such as what almost happened to me yesterday. I bought some items at a big supermarket and used a card. I don't know how it happened but when I looked at the screen at the cashier's counter, my purchases had registered P1,594,031.00! Two pounds of washing machine soap, two boxes of tropical fruit cups, a packet of Tide soap – costing more than a million pesos? Of course it was an error and was later corrected, but that's just an example of why we should always be careful.*

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