ON TARGET
Back to law school for prosecutor
By Ramon TulfoPhilippine Daily Inquirer
President Benigno Aquino III personally supervised the rescue and later retrieval operations for Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo, going to the extent to bringing his body from Masbate province to Naga City.
The President was not even present at ceremonies marking the death anniversary of his father, Sen. Ninoy Aquino, in Manila so he can be close at hand during the search.
He left the duties of running the country to Executive Secretary Jojo Ochoa while he attended to the search operations for the interior secretary in the waters of Masbate.
Why did he do that when he was not even close to Robredo?
The reason: The President was probably guilt-stricken for his shabby treatment of the chief of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).
He must have listened to intrigues against Robredo, the most hard-working and honest member of his Cabinet.
The President didn’t even make representations with the Commission on Appointments, composed mostly of members of the rubber-stamp House of Representatives, for Robredo to be confirmed.
The CA, also now guilt-stricken for holding Robredo’s confirmation for two years, now wants to honor him posthumously.
A Malacañang insider told me the President realized Robredo’s importance during the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona.
The President had long wanted to replace Robredo because he disliked him.
During the 2010 election campaign, as the campaign manager then, Robredo was hard on presidential candidate Aquino, a late sleeper.
Robredo made Aquino wake up very early so they would be on the road early, which the latter apparently resented.
President-elect Aquino was forced to appoint Robredo as DILG chief to accommodate party-mates at the Liberal Party who strongly recommended him.
Still, the President clipped Robredo’s wings as DILG chief by depriving him of control over the Philippine National Police, one of the agencies under the department, and turning it over to his undersecretary, Rico E. Puno.
It was a slap on Robredo, a Ramon Magsaysay awardee for public service, but he didn’t mind because he was a very humble man. His concern was serving the country the best way he could.
Now that Robredo is gone, the President is at a loss on who to replace him with, once again giving credence to the maxim that you only realize the importance of somebody when you’ve lost him or her.
* * *
After Danny Chavez, 17, was stabbed by neighborhood toughies in Dagat-Dagatan, Caloocan City, his sister Agustina went to the city’s Precinct 7 to report the incident.
She told the police that Danny’s suspected assailants, Danny Gasiugan and Olibisito Laureano, were still in the neighborhood hours after the crime, and would the police please arrest them?
Police Officer 3 Philip Woo and PO3 William Lopez said she should arrest the suspect and bring him to the precinct!
P$%#@&*! What kind of policemen are these?
* * *
What made Bulacan Asst. Prosecutor Carl Badillo file a case for unjust vexation against PO3 Aurelio Landingin who allegedly poked his gun at a six-year-old boy’s head?
Ask any lawyer and he will tell you the charges should have been grave threats and child abuse, which carry heavier penalties.
Badillo should be sent back to law school. And how did he pass the bar exams?
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