|
“Crusader” is one of those words that have lost their luster,
not only because of overuse, but also due to revelations about its
historical origin.
Unspeakable atrocities marked the expeditions
that Christian men-at-arms—notwithstanding their motto of “Deus
vult!” (“God wills it!”)—launched from the 11th to the 13th
centuries in their ultimately doomed attempt to “retake” the
Holy Land from its Saracen rulers.
So powerful is the memory of the cruelty
inflicted by Europeans on the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the rest
of Palestine that to this day the term “crusader” has a meaning
for Arabs and other Muslims that is the direct opposite of its
gallant connotation in the West. Islamic fundamentalists, for
instance, continue to use “crusader” in reference to certain
enemies of Allah.
In the Philippines, however, “crusader” is
still regularly used in heroic terms even though the country has a
Muslim minority that is both large and problematic—in part because
of the Christian majority’s insensitivity and ignorance of
historical context.
Take the case of the award that Winston Garcia,
the president and general manager of the Government Service
Insurance System (GSIS), recently got as “public crusader of the
year.” Conferment of the award on the GSIS boss was flaunted in
several newspaper advertisements.
The ads also caught not a few quarters by
surprise—triggering the inevitable speculation of whether or not
the award and its extensive publication are part of Garcia’s
possible bid for a seat in the Senate.
Perhaps it would have been better if the ads had
enumerated the “crusades” for which Garcia was cited.
If that “award” was intended to highlight
his fight with the Lopez-controlled Manila Electric Co. (Meralco),
then “public crusader” may have been a malapropism.
It has become clear to the public that the
dispute with Meralco was more of a stockholder war, a battle for
boardroom control. Public interest was incidental. The objective was
more to gain additional board seats rather than to champion a
popular cause.
“Public welfare” was just a convenient
pretext to win more board seats. That’s all.
So what was Garcia’s crusade all about?
The joke going around Manila coffee shops is
that it was a “crusade” to cause Meralco share prices to take a
nosedive. On that score, the enterprise proved to be a spectacular
success. Meralco stocks had peaked to an all-time high of P84 per
share in February—only to plunge three months later.
At first, share prices took a P20 hit when
crusader Winston broadcast his intention to take over the
electricity distributor. Then, Meralco stocks began to free-fall
after the May 27 stockholders’ meeting and ended at an all-time
low of P37.50 per share.
Did Garcia hurt his intended target, the Lopezes?
Probably. He, however, also hurt his own constituents: the GSIS
members and pensioners who actually own those shares that Winston
represents in the Meralco board. They lost billions in that gambit.
Was Garcia ever worried that GSIS members were
hurt? Evidently, no.
Other state agencies lost money, too. The Social
Security System, Pag-IBIG Fund and Land Bank of the Philippines also
have large investments in Meralco. But how come the heads of these
agencies never warned Winston that the value of their shareholdings
was also plunging? Were they, too, in on Garcia’s crusade?
As the bourse debacle reached its nadir, reports
had it that a Cebuano-owned securities firm has been gobbling up
Meralco stocks. Question: For whom?
Sources cannot say for sure at this point. But
the securities firm figured prominently in the solicitation of proxy
votes for Winston’s camp prior to the Meralco stockholders’
meeting.
What happens when enough independent shares have
been gobbled up at bargain-basement prices? Would Winston announce a
cease-fire, which would surely raise the prices of Meralco shares
again? It would also show the true picture of his crusade.
A second gag making the rounds of Manila’s
business cognoscenti has Winston leading another crusade against
Sulpicio Lines, which is owned by the Go family of Cebu. Fat chance!
The yarn apparently originated from observations
that not even a peep has been heard from Winston and the rest of his
politically powerful family over the sinking of the MV Princess of
the Stars, which claimed the lives of hundreds of Cebuanos. Even the
Garcia-owned hometown newspaper has reportedly not expressed outrage
in behalf of the Cebuano families who lost loved ones in the Sibuyan
Sea.
Many observers wonder whether or not the Garcias’
silence might have something to do with the fact that the owners of
Sulpicio Lines are co-investors in a property venture, or that a
Garcia law firm had at one time or another also helped the
inter-island ferry operator.
Their silence, as the cliché goes, is
deafening.
Crusader Winston can—and should—step into
the vacuum. So far, it appears that the only prominent politician in
the Central Visayas province who is upset over the accident is Mayor
Tommy Osmeña of Cebu City.
The authorities are already considering two
major moves against Sulpicio: permanent grounding of all its vessels
and government takeover of its operations. Mr. Crusader can champion
either or both of these options.
If Winston does so, then he can truly be called
“senatoriable,” meaning he can rise above the parochial
interests of the Cebu business clique. He can dispel suspicions that
he is merely a crusader for the Aboitiz interest.
And that he is not just a Cebuano, but a
Filipino as well.
dansoy26@yahoo.com
|
