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When Manuel Lim, the 44-year-old son of Manila Mayor
Alfredo Lim was arrested recently for alleged drug pushing by agents
of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), Mayor Lim’s
immediate reaction was that he would not lift a finger to protect
his son.
“Whatever trouble he has got
himself into, he must bear it by himself,” the feisty mayor, known
as the Filipino “Dirty Harry,” said. The mayor has made the
grammatically impaired slogan “The law must apply to all, or none
at all” as his guiding principle in public life.
During his first term as mayor,
Lim launched a spray-painting campaign on houses of suspected drug
pushers to shame them, never mind if they have not yet been
convicted.
Now that his son has been caught
red-handed by PDEA agents in a sting operation, some are saying that
this could be some sort of a poetic justice. Because of numerous
complaints from human rights groups, his spray-painting campaign has
been discontinued, so the house of his son would not be sprayed with
“Pusher ako, huwag tularan.”
But even if the mayor has vowed
not to protect his son, the fact is Manuel is still his son. In one
interview, Lim candidly admitted that like all fathers, he loves his
son but since he is now an adult he has to face the consequences of
his acts.
Osmena, Teehankee cases
In March 2007, former Cebu vice
governor, John Gregory “John-John” Osmena, son of former Sen.
John Osmeña, was charged, along with 10 others for alleged
smuggling into the country of prohibited drugs worth P3.6 billion.
Although at first the former
senator’s reaction was that the charges were politically motivated
because he was then running for senator under the opposition, he
later said that he would not intervene in the case.
He said that Johnjohn, then 38
years old, must be responsible for his actions. “I can do no more.
All I can say [is that] they can go ahead and let the law take its
course,” he said.
On the early morning of July 13,
1991, the nation was shocked to learn about the brutal murder in the
posh Dasmarinas Village in Makati City of Roland Chapman and Maureen
Hultman by Claudio Teehankee Jr., the namesake of his illustrious
father, the late Supreme Court Chief Justice Claudio Teehankee Sr.
The younger Teehankee is now serving time in Muntinlupa for the
crime.
How did these children of
prominent families go wrong? What made them take the path to
perdition and disgrace? Perhaps this could be answered when we look
into the case of former US President Bill Clinton.
Brother’s keeper
When Clinton was governor of
Arkansas, he had no choice but to approve the sting operation
conducted by undercover state troopers against his younger brother
Roger Clinton and another wealthy businessman who was his top
campaign contributor after they were suspected of being involved in
the cocaine trade.
Roger Jr., the namesake of
Clinton’s stepfather, Roger Clinton Sr., later pled guilty to a
charge of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and was meted a jail
term.
In the book, First in his Class:
the Biography of Bill Clinton, by David Maraniss, Clinton said that
he was in torment after what happened to his kid brother. His
stepfather, Roger Clinton, Sr., died when Roger was still young and
he partly blamed himself for not looking after his only brother
while he was growing up. He said he was obsessed first with his
studies and later with his political ambition.
Clinton’s idol and predecessor
to the White House, Jimmy Carter also had a problem with his
brother, Billy. Billy was an alcoholic and there were not a few
times when he embarrassed his brother and the US with his big mouth
and weird manners.
Billy Beer
While his brother was busy
running the country, Billy hit the talk-show circuit, cracking
one-liners and hawking his own brew, Billy Beer.
In September 1978 Billy made a
highly publicized trip to Libya with a group of Georgia legislators
and businessmen eager to make deals. At that time, the US perceived
Libya as a terrorists’ haven. Several months later, he hosted a
delegation of Libyans in Atlanta.
When asked why he did this, Billy
said, “The only thing I can say is there is a hell lot more
Arabians than there are Jews.” He also lambasted the
Jewish-controlled American media for their bias against the Arab
countries.
Billy’s self-deprecating wit
and bizarre ways made him popular but at the expense of his brother.
Carter later lost in his reelection bid.
opinion@manilatimes.net
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