Feedback on Feedback

I always like reaction to what I take up, in agreement with me or not. That’s why this column has been named Feedback.

Two friends who have rice farms in Bago called up and said, they were happy fourth district Congressman Jeffrey Ferrer will take up with the National Irrigation Administration the problem of the repair of the irrigation that has adversely affected rice production as well as the livelihood of the Bago farmers.

The problem has been the China Waters and Electric Corp. (CTE) that sounds like the controversial ZTE and the notorious ZTE-NBN deal. It’s good Congressman Ferrer is looking into it.

After the ZTE-NBN deal, there might be the CWE-NIA deal. We ask our Tsinoy friends here to inform the Chinese Embassy in Manila to look into it and prevent its escalating into a bigger issue.

One farmer told me Congressman Ferrer must be with the Bago farmers’ side. Bago voters are twice bigger than La Carlota voters. If Bago gangs up on him, he will find a problem in 2010.

I just want to commend both Engineer Sammy Japitana, NIA project manager, and Engineer Tito Dato-on, NIA superintendent. They are working hard for the farmers but the problem is with CWE that still owes local contractors some P15 million.

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In our column yesterday, we got two reactions on both sides. Some disagreed with me that  the President must not step down. Others said, she must step down.

I was asked, “What is really your stand? My own stand and that has been since the problem started, that the President – to put it correctly – must finish her term. I think the opposition, like the CBCP, is also for that. And it can be easily defended.

* * *

If GMA is driven out, there will be euphoria, dancing in the streets, celebrations. People now, in the spirit of merriment, will forget that the main problem is corruption.

Those who drove her out will be the new heroes. And they are not clean either. So, they shout “Happy days are here again!” And they feed themselves from the carcass left by the past administration.

Who will go against them? They are the new heroes. They drove the corrupt out.

* * *

And this was our experience with our Edsa 1, which drove Ferdinand Marcos out and sent him into exile.

This happened again in 2001 when people drove Joseph Estrada out of office and sent him to jail. The new heroes took over and became more rapacious.

If Arroyo steps down, what guarantee have we that those who take over will not do what had been done before? Dangerous!

Ousted and jailed Joseph Estrada said he could be a caretaker. What?

What is important is let the President stay there. Pressure her into cleansing the government of crooks. The people also must not just limit their fight against corruption by the President.

All the corrupt must be identified and charged. The Cabinet members, all top officers, the lawmakers and local officials down to the barangays.

* * *

Another feedback was from a chess buff Bacoleño in the United States  who sent the DAILY STAR an  e-mail.

He corrected me on my item on chess and politics. He wrote chess world champion Jose Raul Capablanca was not a Spaniard but a Cuban. He spoke Spanish so I thought he was a Spaniard.

The championship was taken from him in 1927 by Russian-born French citizen by naturalization Alexander Alekhine. Our friend in chess said, Capablanca lost the game to Alekhine when, in the championship game a beautiful girl was there in front.

He was distracted by that beautiful girl that he made a weak move which Alekhine exploited to beat him. Moral lesson: When playing chess, don’t allow beautiful girls to be in sight.

Bobby Fischer learned from this that, I recall, in his championship game with Spassky, he demanded that he should be in a glass cage whose glass I want to believe now was one-way. He also could not hear the audience’s noise.

* * *

I was very happy yesterday to be visited by an old friend John Murray. He was not with his wife Alma Rufy. I recalled he brought lechon to NPC here and we had a picture with Mayor Bing Leonardia, Ric Yanson, and Pompey Querubin.

John so liked the dedication in the marker of the Negros Press Club at the plaza. I said, I wanted to write that because as a tribute to media, this is needed as a reminder.

The other night we were texting with our friend lawyer Willy Mirano and agreed the crucial role of media in this turbulent period of our history.

Media has successfully brought all the events to the public attention that developed public awareness. Were it not for media nothing would have happened. Probably Sen. Antonio Trillanes or even Jun Lozada might no longer be around.

The NPC marker at the public plaza was dedicated to our dead ascendant. It’s very relevant. It was copied by John Murray from the marker and given to me:

“Few men have pens for power,/ Some use their skill/ Others let it lie still.

“Fewer still are they who have the art/ Who take the pursuit of truth, justice, and liberty at heart.

“Let them who fell in the night/ With the pen as their might/ Be not forgotten.”

John Murray said he would come and personally scrub and clean the marker which has not seen some cleaning.*

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