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Did you enjoy the show? The networks had a free run of the Senate
presentation of “Face Off,” which kept people on the edge of
their seats for long hours this month. Surely, we are grateful for
this commendable effort of our honorable senators.
The Senate was in almost full attendance, of
course, in two whole-day sessions, and the other cast of characters
that took us to emotional highs and lows was impressive. In the
first session on the second Monday of February, it was a rare
occasion that a big number of senior government officials attended a
Senate hearing. I heard one senior official went around checking
their first names. Maybe, he thought it was a high school class
reunion.
The star of the show was Rodolfo Lozada Jr. He
immediately gave us a hint of the high drama that was to come by
admitting he’s a “probinsiyanong intsik” and presidential
legal counsel Sergio Apostol immediately called for his deportation
to China. (Was it part of the script?). Anyway, Apostol’s bluster
triggered a wave of protest from the Chinese-Filipino community and
he promptly apologized. It was a quick about-face in lieu of a
face-off, and the plot thickens.
Lozada made a great performance with a dazzling
display of emotions. He told the senators how he was kidnapped by a
group of armed men after stepping off the plane that brought him
home from Hong Kong a few days before he was brought to the Senate.
He sobbed, he sighed, he smiled broadly, he moped, he gasped with
surprise, he was incredulous, he was happy, he was sad. At one time,
he said: “Ayoko ko na. Pagod na ako.” Great script. Great
performance.
“There was no kidnapping. The men who
took him were policemen sent to protect him,” said Police Director
General Avelino Razon Jr., another Jun, who was garbed in military
uniform bedecked with stars and medals. Razon was seated next to
Lozada and sometimes they put their heads together and engaged in
animated whispers. (Was that part of the plot, or did one of them
miss his line?)
The distinguished senators pounced on the
conflicting statements of one Jun to the other Jun. They showed
great dexterity in pointing out discrepancies and gaps in their
reasoning. The senators scowled, admonished and scolded the
witnesses, and smiled and nodded their heads to show understanding.
Some of us nodded our heads, too (ZZZZZ?)
As Jun keep insisting he was kidnapped, his
former boss, environment secretary Lito Atienza, looked chagrined
and he contradicted Jun. Atienza said he was the one who sought
police protection for Jun. “There was no kidnapping,” he boomed
in his baritone voice. Looking at the faces around him and showing
deep understanding of the issues, the former mayor of Manila added:
“We are all politicians here.”
The show took a dramatic turn when it was time
for Sen. Joker Arroyo to speak. Taking a hard look at the situation
and showing admirable perspicacity, Arroyo said the Senate is
playing into the hands of its critics by doing only 30 minutes of
legislating and spending the whole day investigating. “We have
been accused of not doing our job as legislators by spending more
time on investigation.”
But the fans of Jun ask: Does it matter that the
senators are the highest-paid investigators in the world? Some
people believe the fans and admirers of the good senators don’t
mind that they spend all their time on investigations as long as
they put up a good show. People don’t live on bread alone. They
also need to be entertained.
Another high point of the show was Sen. Mar
Roxas contradicting Arroyo. “I beg to disagree. We have a
situation here,” he said, stressing that Jun was kidnapped at the
airport. “I consider this important, and I want to get to the
bottom of this.” (Now, you know who to call if you are kidnapped).
Other senators who were part of the show were
Juan Ponce Enrile, committee chairman Allan Cayetano, Jamby
Madrigal, Miriam Santiago, Chiz Escudero, Francis Pangilinan and
Richard Gordon.
The second session looked like a reprise of the
first except that the senators keep reminding Jun that he is a hero,
and the administration is getting a beating in their questioning.
We don’t know when and how the show will
unravel. (And people have to suspend their disbelief?) But
questions crop up, such as: If Jun was kidnapped why did the
kidnappers give him a tour of southern Manila instead of bringing
him to their hideout? Jun had insisted he never wanted to go to the
Senate. What made him change his mind? The plot thickens some more.
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