VP Leni’s apology

I first saw that controversial photo of Vice President Leni Robredo and officials of the Liberal Party (LP) sitting on tomb-like monuments at the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin, Germany, which I learned was posted by Rep. Teddy Baguilat on Facebook. But I didn’t care to comment on that photo owing to the reality that it could have been a fake photograph. Yes in this era of fake news, even mainstream media shouldn’t just jump into the fray and start criticizing things that people do. The caption that photo was that the LP always uses the dead as backdrop for their photos.

So when I read the report about this in the Philippine STAR yesterday that VP Leni Robredo apologized for her being “insensitive or disrespectful” in that photo during the Asian Forum on Enterprise in Pasay City, then it was my confirmation that that photograph I saw on Facebook wasn’t a fake one. VP Leni said, “While there was no malice in it, I take full responsibility, I would like to apologize for whatever offense to the sensitivities of the people it caused. There was no excuse for it.” Apology accepted!

This incident reminded me of the time when the LP gave the husband of VP Leni, the late DILG Secretary Jesse Robredo a state funeral after his plane crashed in Masbate. The Aquino Cabinet had a formal photo with the coffin of Jesse Robredo, with their faces in somber mood, but only Jesse’s widow Leni was smiling in that photo which so many people found to be odd! I have always questioned the Aquino regime why they gave Sec. Robredo a state funeral because when he was still alive, the LP in the Commission on Appointments (CA) rejected him.

Meanwhile Ifugao Rep. Teddy Baguilat also made his own apology saying, “We, as human rights advocates, fully understand the plight experienced by Jews under the Nazis and we would be the last to disrespect their memory, in the same way that we condemn injustice anywhere in the world, including our own country.” There is no question that the worst human rights violation in world history happened to the Jews under the hands of the Nazis.

* * *

My favorite Legal quotation has always been Justice delayed is Justice denied,” which in Latin is, “Qui iustitiam moratur iustitiam negat.” This is what came to my mind when I read that the Supreme Court (SC) in a unanimous decision in Baguio City declared the decision of then Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Leila de Lima as unconstitutional, her Circular No. 41, that she used in 2011 to stop former Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo from leaving the country to seek medical treatment while facing electoral sabotage charges.

That SC decision would have been proper if Sec. De Lima was still with the DOJ, but alas it came seven years later and in my view this piece of news has become irrelevant to the times. But for us who back then believed that Sec. De Lima committed a grave error, the SC decision validates what we’ve always believed. But then like I said, the SC decision is just too late.

What is relevant in that SC decision is their 9-5 vote denying with finality Sen. De Lima’s motion for reconsideration of their decision in October last year to dismiss for lack of merit her petition seeking her release from detention and stopping her indictment for her alleged taking part in and benefiting from the illegal drug trade inside the New Bilibid Prison. Indeed, the SC issued a double whammy decision against Sen. De Lima.

* * *

I wrote about the Madrid Fusion a couple of weeks ago, questioning among many others why there was no proper accounting of monies of such a huge magnitude. So when Mr. Tourism Robert   “Bobby” Joseph was in Cebu yesterday, I asked him what his thoughts were about the Madrid Fusion issue? His reply to me was, “Madrid Fusion sells Madrid or Spain in the Philippines or in Asia.” How very true! Yet the Department of Tourism (DOT) spent millions of pesos to promote Madrid Fusion.

While the Madrid Fusion brought in foreign media to our shores, they only brought media from Spain who are focused on culinary events. They should have also shown some interest in many other tourism sites in our country. Worse, the media and the chefs from Madrid Fusion did not get to share their experiences or techniques on Filipino gastronomy. At the very least, they should have learned about Filipino cuisine that was developed during the Spanish period. At this point, may I suggest to the DOT to restudy the Madrid Fusion and perhaps rename it to Manila Fusion so we can truly have a great culinary exchange between two nations and Spanish and Filipino chefs to make this project truly relevant for all Filipinos.

* * *

Email: [email protected]