The price of being truthful

"There is no need for healthy people to wear face masks following the World Health Organization (WHO)’s warning that the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak has produced a disruption in the global supply of masks, gowns, gloves and other protective gear, which has been made worse by people who are not medical workers buying the protective gear for their own use,” Philippine Red Cross chairman and CEO Sen. Richard J. Gordon reiterated. 

Gordon stressed that frontline workers such as doctors, nurses and other hospital personnel who come in contact with patients, as well as the personnel of government agencies like the Bureau of Immigration, Bureau of Customs, and the airports and seaports should be given priority in getting face masks and other protective gear. 

He said if one has  respiratory illness, though not nCoV, one must wear a mask so as not to contaminate others. The person taking care of a sick person, and the sick person, must wear a mask. One going to a hospital should wear a mask, but  better yet, avoid going to a hospital. The important thing is to observe proper personal hygiene and etiquette, like frequently washing one’s hands and  covering  one’s  mouth when coughing.

“Let’s not be reckless, let’s not panic by hoarding masks, as you can cause the overpricing of masks by greedy sellers,” Gordon said.

Gordon is in fact filing a bill penalizing hoarders of masks and other essential materials essential to the containment of the novel coronavirus.

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As this columnist, like  many non-American  observers  of the United States political landscape had projected, President  Donald Trump was  acquitted by the Republican  Senate last week. This was after the president had been impeached by the House of Representatives, consisting of Democrats. 

For me, three names stood out in the Senate’s trial. Two are victims of their adherence to truth: the US envoy to the European Union, Gordon Sondland, and Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman.  

Last November, Sondland testified in Congress that a White House visit by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was conditional on his launching investigations that could be politically helpful to President Trump. He said there was a quid pro quo (a favor granted in return for something) with regard to the requested White House call and White House meeting.

At the time Sondland was working with Trump’s personal lawyer, former New York City mayor  Rudy Giuliani, on Ukrainian policy  “at the explicit direction of the president.”

In his testimony, Lt. Col. Vindman also testified that he was “concerned’ after hearing Trump’s “improper” phone call with Ukraine’s president.

The testimony  led to Trump’s impeachment in December by the House for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. 

Vindman was asked if there was fear of retaliation, and his reply was: “Congressman, because this is America. . . and here, right matters.”

For that he was sent back to the Department of the Army. Not only that, his added penalty  was that his twin brother, Yevgeny Vindman, a senior lawyer for the National Security Council, was also sent back to the Department. That’s Trump’s version of retaliation.

Vindman’s counsel David Pressman told the BBC,  “There is no question in the mind of any American why this man’s job is over, why this country now has one less soldier serving at the White House. Lt. Col. Vindman was asked to leave for telling the truth. His honor, his commitment to right, frightened the powerful. . . The truth has cost Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman his job, his career, and his privacy.”

Eliot Engel, Democratic chairman of the House committee on foreign affairs, said in a statement, “(T)his is …what we should now expect from an impeached president whose party has decided he is above the law and accountable to no one.”

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The third casualty for telling the truth is Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah, who voted to convict President Donald Trump on one of the two impeachment charges. He is the only Republican to support removing Trump, president of his political party, from office.

Romney voted Trump guilty of the first charge that he had misused his office in a bid to pressure Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joseph Biden Jr. for political reasons. He had voted against the second article of impeachment – obstruction of Congress, arguing that House Democrats had failed to exhaust their legal options for securing testimony and other evidence.

President Trump’s most ardent supporters are calling for Senator Romney,  himself a former Republican presidential candidate, to be booted from the party after voting to impeach the president for election interference.

The senator became the first lawmaker ever to vote in favor of impeaching a president from his own party on Wednesday when he sided with Democrats on one of their two charges. Romney voted to impeach Trump for election interference but not for obstruction of Congress. 

Romney spoke slowly, and at times appeared to choke up, saying that his decision was made out of an “inescapable conviction that my oath before God demanded it.” He said Trump was “guilty of an appalling abuse of public trust.”

Romney, who is a devout Mormon, explained before the vote that his decision was based on all senators’ impeachment oath to render “impartial justice” before God.

“The grave question the Constitution tasks senators to answer is whether the president committed an act so extreme, so egregious, that it rises to the level of a high crime and misdemeanor,” Romney said. “Yes, he did.”

Trump’s  opponents praised  Romney for putting country and conscience above party politics, while the president’s MAGA (Make America Great Again)  slogan-loving crowd described him as a “Judas” and a  “traitor”.

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The recently concluded Centro Escolar University grand alumni reunion, dubbed #BALIKCEU 2020, drew  more than  900 alumni from here and abroad.  According to CEU Alumni Foundation Inc. (AFI) president Dr. Paz Lucido, the huge gathering was due to the early planning of the event and a brisk campaign  held in  all alumni chapters involving all colleges and schools in four CEU locations – Manila, Makati, Malolos and Paranaque. 

Highlight of this year’s alumni reunion was the First Excelencia Award, created in honor of CEU founder Dona Librada Avelino, was given to four most loyal and outstanding  alumni. CEU president Dr. Cristina Padolina, AFI president Dr. Paz Lucido and Dr. Rosita Navarro gave the awards to Judge Selma Alaras of the Makati RTC, Icon of Philippine jurisprudence; Atty. Jesus Diaz, a stalwart figure of Australian governance; Miriam Azupardo-Tamayo, a global entrepreneur, and Dr. Mariano Yupiton, an advocate of  human enlightenment.

The Excelencia Award, as explained by Dr. Navarro, chair of the awards committee and 6th president of CEU, is “the ultimate award given to an outstanding Escolarian surpassing even previous awards.”

Other awards were given to 43 Stellar, Distinguished and Milestone Jubilarians. A surprise award was given to AFI  president, Dr. Paz Lucido,  who had led the alumni  board officers and chapter presidents.

The creative and engaging program of the night was directed by Bangs Zaldivar, also an alumna of CEU.

Many alumni regarded this year’s get-together as the most memorable as it was upbeat and well balanced right from  the start, from the drawing of raffle prizes, to awards giving, dinner, and flashmob dancing.

Definitely a scene sealer was the calling onstage of the Diamond Jubilarians – the most senior graduates  from the 1940s to the 1950s.

The CEU Alumni Foundation was able to raise funds for the purchase  and distribution  of  30  cavans of rice to  the Taal volcano eruption victims in Lemery, Batangas.

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