Overkill

Hole of Justice
by Peter G. Jimenea


Overkill


I find no fault in the intrusion of some local media to the private life of Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog except, that others have gone too far by stepping over-the-line of pardonable behavior. For keen observers, this is an overkill.


The stake involved in this below-the-belt campaign against the mayor virtually shown the tawdry spectacle that followed - intimidate and destroy. Look, even the overpriced City Hall has become a recurring theme that riled the squatters who are once unmindful of the issue.


It creates a public impression that the adversaries of Mayor Mabilog are out to distract attention so the many things he could do will be set-aside and left undone. This too, is also widely believe done by critics in exchange for a fat commission off the top!


Take a look at the issues against the mayor. He became a respondent in a case filed by two media personalities at the Office of the Ombudsman for alleged encroachment in the Iloilo River. But it turned out that the lot involved is actually a property of the mayor's parents.


The complainants who had been scorching the earth on all sides to find an issue against Mayor Mabilog has finally become respondents in a P5M damage suit filed by the latter. Now the guys are badly beaten by their looks, the oppressed who prefer to accept money than apology!


Let's not forget that press freedom belongs to those who own one and understand it. Yet, there are media people emboldened to intrude into the private life of the mayor and wife including their marriage record that no journalist before had decided to do.


But before we go over the issue, let's ask ourselves on what is important in this desire to unearth records of a private life.  Is it beneficial to the p;eople? Or is it harmful to public welfare? If there is none, then something bad is brewing against the subject-person.


Mayor Mabilog has wrote in his Certificate of Candidacy (COC) that he is married. But recently, a lady named Maria Victoria Griengo (widely known to be his wife) inquired from the National Statistics Office (NSO) if a certain Jed Patrick Mabilog is married, for a simple reason that this is needed for her loan application.


The NSO responded by writing Maria Victoria that from 1945 to 2010, no person of such name had a record of marriage in this office. This stirs the peace in the camp of the adversarial media who immediately feasted on the isue.


The letter from the NSO became a document to intimidate the mayor. But why call for another shot to effect a desire already done by former DOJ Secretary Raul Gonzalez? Well. let's give the public an idea if the game's prize is worth playing with for those people.


If the motive of overplaying rhetorics is the disqualification of the mayor, sorry, the time to file a disqualification case has already prescribed. Beside which, the last election victory of the mayor has already exonerated him from administrative charges so far.


The most compelling issue against the mayor is his being married in the COC under-oath which may constitute "perjury." But this marriage issue, as I see it, will eventually gain ground if filed in court. There is always a presumption of marriage between a man and a woman cohabiting under one roof.


This new subplot that resurfaced to discredit the mayor is another overkill. But the plan of Mayor Mabilog to remain silent until things are sorted out, earned for him the sympathy of the majority who are already tired of senseless haggling and blame-tossing!


I am also a staunch critic of Mayor Mabilog and Cong. Jerry Trenas. But prudence dictates, let's not go beyond their officials functions to bismirch the family's reputation. Let us always consider the prize at stake in every battle - if it is worthy of the war we are fighting for!