Missing Go –
what’s the mystery?

The Metropolitan dailies had virtually the same banner headlines yesterday – that the New Bilibid Prison inmate Rolito Go went missing.

There were two reasons for that. One that he has escaped from his hut outside the main prison yard. Second, that he was the victim of kidnapping, and that the abductors allegedly asked for P1 million ransom for his release.

Either way, prison authorities have much to answer for. Of course, those in the know about Bureau of Prisons activities tend, more or less, to believe in the other theory – that he did escape. For a fee.

The kidnapping story has a lot of flaws. First, how could a band of armed men have abducted Go who is supposedly guarded, not necessarily all day, but with prison guards around a compound where he was staying?

Which ever versions of the story, the prison officials have lot to answer for.

The Bureau of Corrections already has a lot of things to answer for and a lot of scandals that had led to resignations of key officials in the past.

This latest caper is something that should prompt of President Benigno Aquino III to change the guards of the Bureau of Prisons. Today, it may be Go; tomorrow, it could be somebody worse.

***

Well, Daang Matuwid seems to have gone out of the window with the MWSS driver paid a hefty sum of P97,000 in monthly salaries.

In short, Pinoy should order the COA to look into the anomaly even if the personnel of Pagasa are grumbling about failing to get their benefits to the point that they virtually have no money to pay for their fare to their offices.

And there are other alleged anomalous benefits given to directors of the MWSS which is supposed to be a service industry. If their money is being used for the personal expenses of the top officials of the water agency to the point that they can give to their drivers P97,000 a month, there must be something really wrong with their moral standards.

***

I just read the story of St. Ezekiel Moreno in the column of Modi Sa-onoy. Well, for our readers, I and my late wife Dr. Lourdes L. Espina, were just among pilgrims who had managed to visit his bedroom in Matinola where he died.

With us were Dr. Norma Legislador, Nena Paglinawan and her Augustinian brother, Fr. Rene Paglinawan.

It was a touching visit. We saw how the late saint had a view of the chapel from his bedroom window. And here we discovered that he had been using a tormenting belt with some spines which must have been excruciating for one who was suffering cancer.

We are allowed to touch his robes, bloodstained. And we really felt thrilled having been given the privilege of touching them.

And we also got a lesson in his biography that he had one time stayed in Albay City to seek the cure from the late Fr. Fernando Cuenca, the father of the Philippine Sugar industry in that city.

This was after he had contacted a disease while serving the Christian flock in Palawan.

And, yes we also discovered that he was ordained a priest only after he had serve as missionary in the Philippines for sometime.

In short, he was a real saint from the Philippines.

***

What gives? The failure by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan to okay the request of Governor Alfredo Marañon Jr. for P240-million loan for three projects of the provincial government must really be a signal that Freddie must have lost a lot more than what he had originally admitted.

In short, that shows that Vice Governor Genaro Alvarez, who is the SP presiding officer, must really have the majority of the provincial board on his side.

That is ominous for Gov. Marañon, one does not have the SP ignore his requests for enabling ordinances twice in a row and still insist that everything is okay.

If that is a precursor of the forthcoming September meeting of the UNA, then it seems that the die is cast.

But that does not mean that the coalition is fragmenting, both Alvarez and Marañon had pledged to try and maintain the integrity of the coalition.

Since both had vowed to retain the UNA coalition, then it presupposes that they will have to bow down to the decision of the majority.

In which case, Alvarez, should he lose, may just have to admit to run for the same post. In the case of Marañon, he must be able to fall back on his previous position as congressman of the Second district. Although that had already been pledged to Sagay Mayor Cuevas.

But both have to maintain the cohesion of the UNA to prevent another group take over the power in the province.

C’est la vie in Philippine politics.*

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