Baring it all

The events of the week are challenges for baring the secrets that everybody suspected but are either hesitant or afraid to reveal for not having enough to prove that indeed there is something amiss.

But now these “rumors” are in the open and we are left to make our own conclusion, judgment, if you will, to suit our own convictions, values or purposes.

As I write the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is in the intensive care unit and today he should be up and going to appear before the Impeachment Court, but with the conditions of his health and mind as described by his physicians and declared by his defense counsel, I believe he will not be able to make it and the court, by Monday shall be wrapping up its proceedings with oral arguments.

The decision of the court can go either way, but whether we like the decision or not, we will be unable to influence it one way or the other. The only value to the nation will be that this bloodletting will be over and we can move on. History takes over.

The case against the Chief Justice will come to a close but what will not be closed will be his challenge to the 187 congressmen who signed the impeachment charge (one in the prosecution panel did not sign) and Sen. Franklin Drilon to also sign a waiver for the public disclosure of their Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth.

Unless the impeachment court says that the dollar accounts need not be divulged as they are demanding from the Chief Justice, then we want also to know the foreign currency deposits of the congressmen and Drilon.

As the Bible says, by the same measure that you measure, should also you be measured. We shall then wait for their honors (oh, how this word was so flawlessly flaunted and yet devoid of value during the trial!) to come out clean with their wealth, not just the total as is usually done, but the details that they had asked the Chief Justice to reveal.

President Aquino disclosed his SALN but only totals and no details enough for us to know how he became wealthier by P10 million in a year’s time.

The trial was not just of the Chief Justice but also of all public officials, especially those who threw the first stone about public trust and honesty in government.

On the other hand, the event in the Senate became a denouement for Bácolod when Sen. Koko Pimentel released to all media outlets and reporters the news of his separation from Jewel May Lobaton. There had been talks about it before but people kept distance from the rumor in deference to the senator and the former Bácolod beauty queen.

But now it has been bared for all to know and to be aware considering that Lobaton had promised funds from Pimentel’s pork barrel.

The news broke out early in the morning of Wednesday in a Manila radio and identified Congressman Anthony Golez of “Negros Occidental” as Lobaton’s companion. The next day the community dailies and radio in the country carried the official announcement of the senator.

Then Philippine Daily Inquirer (5/23) bared a more detailed report that “Pimentel lost his spouse to a fellow lawmaker, Bacolod Rep. Anthony Rolando T. Golez, Jr…”

The PDI report added that Golez and Lobaton “had been frequently seen together at restaurants and malls outside Metro Manila…”

Even here I have seen the two together in a concert, in a dinner and various programs where Golez was present. There are other reports of their being together, but I consider them hearsays.

If the break-up of Koko and Jewel were their own, what of us being concerned? There are many separations and they make little news except in the rumor mills. The world of entertainment is filled with news of separations and “double-parking” with somebody’s wife or husband and they carry on with their lives and professions as if it is the most normal thing in the world.

The separation itself is of no import but Golez is representative of Bácolod and had been insisting on this plus his demand for strict adherence to law and righteousness.

So we raise the question. Is the marriage of Koko and Jewel legally annulled? Is not Golez also married to Princess Soraya? Was his marriage also annulled? Have laws been violated?

Golez’s office denied he had anything to do with the separation, but it is his office speaking and not he personally, manifesting that all these reports are untrue.

Even so, is it morally right for them to be going out together night and day under the circumstances? Did these reported dalliances cause the Koko-Jewel; Anthony-Soraya split? There’s more to this than meets the eye.*

back to top