Pardon My French

Pardon My French

The past two weeks had been busy for us newsroom people.

Two Fridays ago, an explosion rocked Glorietta 2 Mall right after lunch. I just got out from a lunch date with my good friend Lester when another good friend Pao texted me about the explosion. I immediately confirmed the news from my GMA friends. Initial reports say that the explosion blast came from the mall’s basement. Eight people immediately died while hundreds were wounded.

Right after the blast, speculations immediately spread like the California wildfire. Some say that this was a terror attack while others say that this was an LPG explosion. Detained senator Antonio Trillanes even pointed his finger to the administration saying he has witnesses and documents to prove his claim. He said this about three hours after the blast.

Few days after, investigators rule out that this was a terror attack. They say that the two tanks of diesel were behind the explosion.

To date, eleven people have been killed by the blast. And the speculations on what caused the explosion are countless. Everyone has something to say --even some unknown personalities. Hey, everyone wants an airtime.

This is one of the problems with us, Filipinos. When something like this happens, we are so busy pointing our fingers to those in fault. Senator Trillanes said that he is willing to bring out his witnesses in an independent investigating body. What’s the point? If his expose is this big, just blurt everything you know in the media. Don’t keep us in suspense. I wonder how Trillanes feels now that even foreign investigators are saying that the explosion was an ‘accident waiting to happen’. Instead of uttering inane accusations, is it not right that he should use his position to help the victims? Seriously, I wonder what the people who voted for him were thinking. I mean he is a senator but he is just sitting pretty. Literally.

Another big news was former president Erap Estrada’s pardon. Last Thursday, PGMA announced, through his Press Secretary, that she is granting Erap an executive clemency.
This news over-shadowed Joey de Venecia’s revelation at the senate that PGMA has a hand at the ZTE deal. Yes, after a month of saying that Gloria has no knowledge in the deal, he comes out belying his own statements. So much for his credibility.

Anyway, going back to the executive clemency, it means that Erap can walk as free as he wants to by the time he signs the pardon that the president has given him. Now, Erap is thanking the ‘country’s president’ for the pardon. With this, he just acknowledged the legitimacy of PGMA’s presidency which has been in question for a long time now. Yesterday, Senator Jinggoy Estrada cannot even answer if he is acknowledging the legitimacy of her presidency. Instead, he focused his attention on FVR (who said that the pardon was the biggest mistake) and threw allegations stating that the biggest scam happened in FVR’s administration.

This is our country’s politics. Surreal but real. Tables could turn 360 degree overnight. Enjoy the show.

*Outdated post. I wrote this last Saturday and saved it as a draft.