Let’s give her a chance

Malacañang is asking the people to give the new Chief Justice of the Supreme Court a chance. I guess the appeal is also directed at the other members of the High Court who, so far, seem to be giving Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno the cold shoulder. Well, we can’t blame them for sulking, she has frustrated all their own hopes for ever getting the position themselves.

***

As for those who are not in line, or even aspiring to ever become chief justices ourselves, let’s listen to the President, and give her the chance to prove that she was a good choice. Some are horrified by the thought that we may continue to have her there for 18 years, considering that the appointment can hold until she turns 70, and she is now only 52. Indeed, that is too long, even for a good one.

***

It will be a different matter if she turns out to be incompetent, or a grafter. But then, we already have experience in getting rid of a bad one, haven’t we? The vacancy she filled came only after her predecessor, the unlamented Renato Corona, was decisively ousted through impeachment. So there is still the process of impeachment that we can resort to. In fact, didn’t we all enjoy watching the impeachment trial that our country recently went through? If Sereno does not live up to our expectations, we can go through that all over again. As for me, I only wish she would change her hairstyle, that’s all I ask now.

***

Meanwhile, let us think of more lighthearted matters, like the Legion of Honor award that the French Government is bestowing on former Beatle Paul McCartney. This is the highest honor that France can give to a person, and it was reportedly started by Napoleon Bonaparte himself. The catch is that, the government will give the honor, but the honoree is supposed to buy the medal, made of gold, from a qualified supplier. Depending on the level of the honor granted, the medal could cost an awardee $210 to $800. I wonder if one can have one’s profile etched on it, since, anyway, one is paying for it.

***

Yesterday, we were watching some programs on TV and my sister commented that the commercials on Philippine tourism seem to feature its officials and spokespersons rather than the tourism sites or activities of the country. We continued watching, and true enough, all we could see, or hear, were tourism personnel talking about their programs, their plans, ad infinitum, all the while projecting themselves, rather than the country.

***

When the advertisements of other countries, especially Thailand, came on, it became clear why more tourists go to that country. Featured were their tourist spots, their enticing resorts, food, and even flora and fauna. One could hardly see a tourism official or regional and provincial staffers showing their faces. Only voices could be heard telling about the sites being promoted. And it was the same with those of other countries. So it is only in the Philippines where tourism officials are the ones having more fun showing their faces on commercials, which are hardly inviting to potential travelers.

***

The Civil Aeronautics Administration of the Philippines should add more teeth to its rules governing light planes in the country. Another one crashed on Tuesday in Ilocos Sur. By some strange coincidence, this one was piloted by an Indonesian but, fortunately, he survived and was rescued by Filipinos who had to hike for two hours to reach the crash site. The Indonesian identified as Michael Djaj, suffered a fractured leg. He was reportedly connected with a flying school in San Fernando, La Union.

***

When the light plane carrying the late Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo went down in the sea off Masbate, the co-pilot was also an Asian, a flying student from Nepal. Maybe our country is known for its flying academies and aspiring pilots from Asia come here to learn. But if such accidents involving them continue to take place, we may lose our reputation and attraction, not because of the training and instruction, but because of the type and condition of the planes being used. We already have a reputation for using aircraft in our military that are known as “flying coffins”.

NOTICE: Today is the deadline for the filing of applications for the Civil Service Commission Paper and Pencil Test to be given October 21, 2012. Those who wish to catch up may call Tel. No. 7088184. Unfortunately, the CSC press release was received at the STAR only yesterday afternoon.*

back to top