They should meet
our white ladies

There is now a familiar rumbling in the United States of America over the fatal shooting in Florida of black teenager by a white Hispanic man who is described as a neighborhood watch volunteer. In our country, that would be a “tanod”, but we are not familiar with the kind of authority he is vested with. Anyway, the teener died, and the volunteer watchman, who claimed he acted in self defense, was not immediately arrested.

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And that was the bone of contention, or the meat of the matter, in a manner of speaking. Why, the protesters in the community demanded, was the white man (although of Hispanic origin) not apprehended, detained, and charged by the local police? Was it because his victim been a black man? That kind of reasoning has apparently managed to fire up both black and white members of the community, and now things seem to be getting ugly.

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I am afraid I can no longer remember the names, or the dates when a similar incident took place in the United States, but that also fuelled a lot of racist emotions, where even policemen were targets of the anger of black crowds. A protracted trial took place and my sister and I were unlucky enough to be in Los Angeles, California on the day the decision of the court was to be proclaimed.

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We did not fully understand why our relatives told us to stay home the whole day and not even go outdoors, saying the atmosphere was not good, and could be dangerous in case the verdict being awaited was not what the mob expected. And so we fearfully stayed indoors, wondering what would happen, because there was an eeriness in the air that frightened us. But I guess the verdict was accepted by all, and anyway, the police showed they were prepared for anything, and the case was soon forgotten. Let us hope this one will end as peacefully. At least President Obama, as usual, stayed in the middle, issuing safe little motherhood statements that could be interpreted in any way.

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Well, maybe Obama is being extra careful because of what happened during a fund-raising event for his party where his wife was present. Actor Robert de Niro, a supporter, trying to be funny, posed a hypothetical question to the wives of Republic party candidates Santorum, Romney and Gingrich about the possibility of having a “white first lady” again. His remarks were considered shockingly racist, and even the Obamas did not seem to know how to react appropriately. If that had happened in the Philippines, it would really be a joke, because we have our own interpretation of “white ladies”. For us they are the creatures who shop vehicles on haunted roads at night and scare the wits off their drivers.

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Meanwhile, speaking of interpretations, a news item yesterday said that a new crab species had been found in Palawan. It promptly caught my eye because I thought the article was about crabs, the human version. Actually, it was really the crustacean type and its discovery may even be expected to further boost the tourism attractions of the island province. How lucky can the Palaweños get!

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The latest development in the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona should assuage the impatience of Governor Freddie Marañon. For several months now, he and the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Negros Occidental have been tapping their soles on the capitol floors, waiting for the Commisison on Audit to act on their request for a review of their sale of government property to Ayala Land Inc. Their annoyance is understandable, they want to start things moving on the new project as soon as possible.

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Bu the fly in the ointment seems to be the COA, that appears to be taking its sweet time in doing the review. But now, Marañon et al should no longer be surprised. COA acted on the sale of the Basa Guidote Enterprises Inc., property to the City of Manila, virtually only last week. And the transaction took place about 21 years ago! And, to the dismay of the defense, it was the testimony of their witness, former Manila Mator Lito Atienza, that opened the eyes of the COA to an irregularity in the transaction. Will Governor Marañon and the SP have the patience to wait that long, too?*

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