ON TARGET
Nothing wrong with wheelchair joke
By Ramon TulfoPhilippine Daily Inquirer
When you hear President Noy hitting former President Gloria and her administration, aren’t you reminded of a broken record that endlessly keeps playing the same lyrics and melody over and over?
It’s like when a disc jockey on board at a radio station goes to the rest room and then something goes wrong with the compact disc he left playing.
For the nth time, P-Noy made a punching bag out of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, although without naming her, in a speech before the Filipino community in Auckland, New Zealand.
Why can’t the President just move on and let the courts decide the fate of Gloria and husband, Mike Arroyo?
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It’s true that Gloria’s administration was very corrupt, with some saying it was even more corrupt than that of Ferdinand Marcos.
But must P-Noy keep saying this when every citizen knows about it?
He not only sounds like a broken record, he also sounds like a nagging wife who can’t forget her husband’s infidelity in the past.
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Persons with disabilities (PWDs) should not feel offended by the President’s joke about some corrupt Filipinos driving fancy cars, but try to evade prosecution in court by using wheelchairs.
That joke took a swipe at GMA who tried to leave the country on a wheelchair but was prevented from doing so by immigration authorities.
So what’s wrong with that joke since it was not about PWDs?
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I’m reminded of the ngongo (a person with a speech defect because of a cleft lip and palate) husband who came home early and wanted to surprise his wife.
He sneaked up on the woman who was engrossed in reading a newspaper.
The husband covered his wife’s eyes with both his hands, and said: Ngess who?
I find nothing wrong with the joke even if one of my nine siblings has a cleft palate.
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When you crack a joke, be ready for its boomerang effect.
Ferdinand Topacio, a lawyer for Mike Arroyo in various graft cases, reacted to the President’s wheelchair joke.
“Nagpapatawa pero hindi naman siya kalbo (He’s trying to be funny when he’s not baldheaded).
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The accused in the alleged murder of Ensign Philip Andrew Pestaño on board the BRP Bacolod City in 1995 has won round one when the Sandiganbayan dismissed the case for lack of jurisdiction.
If the judge of a regular court, which is expected to handle the murder case, looks hard at the evidence presented, he will acquit the accused.
The strong evidence indicates that the victim committed suicide.
Pestaño was allegedly despondent because he was being forced by his parents to marry a woman he didn’t love.
Weeks before his suicide, he was confined at the Southern Command hospital in Zamboanga City for depression, according to records.
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Tags: Benigno Aquino III , Pestaño case , Philip Andrew Pestaño , Sandiganbayan , wheelchair joke
