Where do we jump?

Officials of the Manila International Airport Authority made quite a media fuss over its awarding of 35 of its workers for honesty. How nice to know that there are that many honest ones there, but I think the awardees are mostly low-paid ones, like porters and security guards who have been touted lately for returning lost items and cash or valuables of passengers. I do know of people who have had bad experiences with some workers there, especially those arriving from abroad.

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I have a personal experience myself with dishonesty at the airport. This was when we were returning from Los Angeles, and our flight was delayed so we could not make it to the connecting one to Bacolod in my case, and to Iloilo for my relatives who were my flight companions. We were gratified when the airline provided us overnight accommodation at the Century Park Hotel, but it turned out to be a very costly stopover. We were able to take our flights next morning, and I thought, at first, that at least, we were not inconvenienced so much.

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It was only about two days later when, while sorting out the contents of my balikbayan box, I realized that seven shirts that I had purchased in an outlet in Las Vegas, intended for my siblings, were not in them. On the possibility that I had left them behind at the house of my cousin, that was my last stop, I called him up to check, and he said he was very sure I had packed them in because he was there, helping me. It seemed a very strange coincidence that a few days after, I saw a news report about airport personnel, the ones assigned to the baggage area, who had been caught on camera opening boxes and suitcases left overnight by passengers!

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It was also noted that their trick was to open the boxes on their undersides, so that it could be noticed when one is just checking the top portion. Anyway, I knew how futile any efforts to get back the lost items would be, and also how costly it also would to be traveling to Manila to complain, so I decided to charge it to experience. Since then, however I always made sure that I took flights that would enable me to proceed to a connecting one home, and never leave my luggages in the airport overnight again. Meanwhile, a word of warning to prospective passengers: Be ready for “Christmas Greetings” from examining staff upon your arrival next month.

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Was it murder? I understand that is the charge the prosecutors are poised to file against the American Navy man who is the main suspect in the ghastly death of the person described as a “transgender” for opting to negate his actual physical construction by dressing up as a female and using the name Jennifer, instead of his official one of Jeffrey. Jeffrey/Jennifer was found dead in the bathroom of a hotel in Olongapo, his head submerged in the toilet bowl.

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Reports on the case say Jeffrey/Jennifer, dressed and made up as a woman, met this young Navy man, just landed in the city, and parted from her friends to go with him to the hotel room. That was the last time the friends saw him/her alive. The legal processes have begun, and the American, Joseph Scott Pemberton, has been taken into government custody. Investigations, and site visitations have been made and soon it will be known what charge will be filed against Pemberton. Will it be murder, which is defined as a “premeditated act to kill”, and “with malice aforethought”? Soon we will know.

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So the debate between Vice President Jejomar Binay and Senator Antonio Trillanes is likely to take place, with the date – November 27 – and the time – 10 a.m. – already set. Still Binay’s advisers continue to insist that he should not agree to it, even if Binay himself seems to be gradually yielding. A lot of people are saying Trillanes will be no match for Binay, who is a lawyer, while Trillanes is only a soldier who was lucky enough to get elected senator. But what has Trillanes got to lose? Even if Binay makes mincemeat of his arguments, he will be able to strike with evidences he is supposed to have on hand that could rattle the second highest official of the land. That is why this is going to be a blockbuster show that Filipinos will await with hated breaths.

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Meanwhile, the spokespersons and advisers of the Vice President seem to getting careless with their pronouncements in defending him. I was quite amused to read a news item that quoted one of them, Gov. Jonvic Remulla as saying that “Journalists should not jump to hasty conclusions”. Where does he expect us to jump – to dragging conclusions?*

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