BY REY O. ARCILLA
MALAYA
MALAYA
‘Ambassador Brady nearly lost her life doing her job and for her to be treated like discarded furniture is despicable.’
I THOUGHT it was rather insensitive of Foreign Secretary Albert “Amboy” del Rosario to have made public the instruction of President Noynoy Aquino to find a replacement for Sonia Brady as ambassador to Beijing so soon after she had a stroke.
Sure, he showed sympathy for her when he flew to Beijing to see her in the hospital. When he returned to Manila two days later, he said Brady was recovering well, although she could not speak. In other words, Brady couldn’t have possibly told him she was quitting.
I, therefore, find the indecent haste with which Del Rosario announced the decision of Noynoy to find a replacement for Brady barely three or four days after she was stricken ill utterly disgraceful. I doubt if Noynoy told him to announce the decision. He could have carried out Noynoy’s instructions quietly without announcing it publicly. After all, there was no extreme urgency to name her replacement. As he himself said, the charge d’affaires will be looking after the affairs of the embassy.
Del Rosario obviously did not consider how Brady would feel when she gets well enough and find out that she is being replaced. Couldn’t he have waited before making the announcement? What he did left a very bad taste in the mouth. The woman nearly lost her life doing her job and for her to be treated like a piece of discarded furniture is despicable.
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Del Rosario seems to have the propensity to open his mouth when he should not. Take for instance the time he announced that the Chinese ships in Scarborough Shoal had all left when they actually hadn’t. No less than Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin repudiated his claim.
He later accused the Chinese of duplicity. It turned out there was a verbal agreement with the Chinese to withdraw simultaneously from the Shoal but obviously no agreement to make it public.
Last week, Del Rosario announced that Noynoy is contemplating deploying anew our ships to Scarborough Shoal.
He also said he was scheduling visits to Southeast Asian ministers while preparing to address the United Nations General Assembly on the West Philippine issue this month.
Was it necessary to announce those contemplated moves? Didn’t Noynoy say we should no longer telegraph our future moves on the issue? What’s with the guy? Is he so obsessed with seeing his name in print that he couldn’t resist keeping his trap shut? He should take the cue from Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno who has opted for “dignified” silence. He can try “quiet” diplomacy.
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What is taking the DFA an inordinate amount of time to conclude its investigation of the “fake” passport used by fugitive and former Palawan governor Joel Reyes. Reyes is allegedly the mastermind of the murder of environmentalist and broadcast journalist Gerry Ortega.
Ms. Sara Fabunan of Manila Standard reports that “a source inside the DFA said there is no need to launch a thorough investigation on the matter because it is very easy to trace who approved the issuance of the ex-governor’s fake passport; that all DFA has to do is to check the system and find out who was the signing officer on duty; that when applying for an e-passport, the documents of applicants pass through two stations – first is data and image capturing and the second is the authentication of the documents presented by the applicants; and that after station 2, the e-passport is approved.”
We wonder how long we would have to hold our breath before we see heads roll as promised by future DFA ex-undersecretary Rafael Seguis. The ultimate responsibility, of course, rests with Del Rosario. The question is, is the latter even aware of the case? It appears he has no taste for dealing with such “trivial” administrative matters. As a businessman, one would think he is aware of the principle that good administration is essential to the effective implementation of policy.
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A month ago, I wrote about a local hire in our embassy in Damascus named Jay Labrador. This character is so notorious for his alleged wrongdoings that Migrante International has petitioned Seguis to take appropriate action against him.
After duly looking into the allegations against this character, the former charge d’affaires of the embassy recommended the immediate termination of his services. She was severely reprimanded for doing so.
It must be mentioned here that about two years ago, derogatory reports on this same character were sent to the DFA by the embassy under the then ambassador, Wilfredo Cuyugan. (He was the one ordered relieved by Noynoy allegedly for submitting reports not consistent with the government’s own assessment of the situation in Syria.) No action was ever taken on the reports on Labrador who is reportedly close to Seguis..
As Del Rosario’s chief coordinator, Cecille Rebong, commented last July:
“The memoranda of Mr. Marlowe Miranda (an officer in the Damascus embassy at the time, now charge d’affaires in Baghdad) show that the services of Mr. Labrador should have been terminated in 2010 and a case should have been filed against him then. That would have given him a chance to prove that he is innocent if that was his claim. I wonder why the very serious allegations were not pursued and worse, he remained as a staff at the Embassy until now.”
I asked Rebong if it is true that Seguis has directed the present charge d’affaires in Damascus to retain Labrador and if she and her boss, Del Rosario, knew about it. Characteristically, she at first said she would check. It turned out she knew! She didn’t say though if her boss knew too.
Either Rebong is also now in the pocket of the all-powerful Seguis or she does not realize she is doing a great disservice to the Department and to her boss, i.e., if she kept him in the dark about Labrador’s case.
Del Rosario would be well-advised to stop traveling too much, and I mean too much, which is bad for his health and the government coffers, and start tending to his turf.
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DILG Secretary Mar Roxas said he will continue what his predecessor has started, among which is stamping out jueteng. Will he be able to do it? With Undersecretary Rico Puno out, Roxas now has full control over the Philippine National Police. Let’s watch what happens. As Noynoy himself once said, stamping out jueteng was not a priority.
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US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last weekend said during her visit to Cook Islands that the South Pacific is big enough for both China and the United States. She didn’t specify what she meant by that. But the average reader would interpret that statement to mean that the US and China could divvy up the islands in the region between themselves – “one for you, one for me”, sort of.
Clinton also said China should distribute her growing aid to the region fairly. Again, she did not specify how China should do that. Come to think of it, is that any of her business?
Unfortunately for Clinton, she was directly rebuffed by Prime Minister Henry Puna of the Cook Islands who welcomed the renewed US interest but made clear the region would not distance itself from China.
“We have a very close relationship with the People’s Republic of China and I make no bones about it,” he told reporters.
Earlier, the prime minister of Samoa also reportedly said that China was a better friend than the US.
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Reminders (for Noynoy’s action):
1) Filing of charges against officials of the National Food Administration (NFA) during Arroyo’s illegitimate regime. Noynoy himself said on several occasions that there is documentary evidence to prove the venalities in the past in that agency; 2) Investigation of reported anomalies in the GSIS during the watch of Winston Garcia; 3) Facilitating the investigation of rampant corruption in the military and police establishments; and 4) Expeditious action by the AFP on the case of Jonas Burgos.
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Today is the 121st day of the sixth year of Jonas Burgos’ disappearance.
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From an internet friend:
A group of bikers were riding through a bridge when they saw a girl about to jump off it, so they stopped.
The leader, George, a big burly man of 53, gets off his bike, walks through the gawkers, past the State Trooper, and says… “What are you doing?”
“I’m going to commit suicide,” she says.
While he didn’t want to appear “sensitive,” he didn’t want to miss a be-a-legend opportunity either so he asked … “Well, before you jump, why don’t you give me a kiss?”
With no hesitation at all, she leaned back over the railing and did just that … and it was a long, deep, lingering kiss followed immediately by another one.
After she’s finished, George gets approval from his group, the onlookers, and even the State Trooper, then he says… “Wow! That was the best kiss I have ever had, Honey! That’s a real talent you’re wasting, Sugar Shorts. You could be famous if you rode with me. Why are you committing suicide?”
“My parents don’t like me dressing up like a girl.”
The onlookers are still unclear whether she jumped or was pushed.
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Email: roacrosshairs@yahoo.com
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