Jay Valleser No foul language and tactics, please
No foul language and tactics, please
Thursday, 23 February 2012 00:00
OUR Constitution and laws have in place mechanisms for citizens to "seek redress" for their grievances against the government or against each other. This is the reason why we have the impeachment proceedings, and the recall process. Both processes are the civilized way by which we are supposed to deal with certain issues. Neither the impeachment nor the recall is created as an avenue to impugn upon the persons subject of our grievances. Relative to the recall process against Mayor Dongkoy Emano, this column has received several e-mails and text messages from both sides. Here are some from the anti-Emano readers: "Save CDO is a heavenly inspiration against the No. 1 agent of death: Dongkoy! He should not only be suspended from office but should be shot by firing squad either in Cala-cala or Isla de Oro. Long live CDO!" Another one: "Dongkoy was asleep while his people were dying. The last person who did this was Emperor Nero who was recorded as playing his violin while Rome was burning. I am right all along in not trusting this (unprintable) with my vote. [Some columnists in] your paper are correct in calling him 'lord'- -the lord of death."
One had me as just one of the receivers. "The time for Dongkoy is up. (Unprintable) Pahawa na! Uli sa Tagoloan ug hinaut pa..." (The sender then wished something bad would happen to Emano.) Obviously, the following are from people who are pro-Emano: "Nobody could have been best prepared for Sendong. Even the best plans on how to act during emergencies can go wrong. Sendong was a freak of nature that nobody was responsible for. Sendong could have hit the city as hard as it did even if President Obama was the mayor of the city. Mayor Emano did not abandon the evacuees. It was very clear that his political opponents took advantage of the calamity as if Mayor Dongkoy has control of the weather."
"Ang mga kontra ni Dongkoy nanghatag ug noodles aron mopirma sa ilang recall. Si Dongkoy nanghatag ug balay ug yuta aron mabuhi ang mga biktima dili lamang sa usa ka adlaw kun dili apil ang ilang mga kaliwat." Here's another one which is just a part of a long essay: "Kanang nag bugal-bugal ni Mayor Emano sa ilang mga diskurso aron lang mopirma ang mga tawo, nag tan-aw lamang sa ilang personal nga mga interes. Wala sila kasabut nga ang kinabag-ang duot sa katawhan sa siyudad nag kinahanglan ug solusyon nga ang kagamhanan lamang sa siyudad ang makahimo." This one too: "Save CDO is full of (unprintable). They wish to grandstand and promote not the city but their own selfish interests. Many of their members used to be with Emano but since they did not succeed to make Emano serve their interests, they are now against him. Save CDO is the biggest scam this century. They have gone mad with hatred against Mayor Emano. They should have been the ones killed by Sendong!"
This divide, I think, is the biggest ill-effect of Sendong. It has divided the city folk and identified them as either pro- or anti- Emano. What the floods brought by Sendong failed to do, our own stupidity has completed. The way the issues are being handled has immobilized us to effectively rebuild the city after the destruction. Repeat: it's the way the issues are being handled and manipulated that is crippling us to the point of immobility. We become insensitive to the emotions of the victims with the use of foul language and tactics for the purpose of winning the people to either side. I am looking forward to a group or sector in our society that would call for sobriety, a sector that can be a forum where thesis and antithesis can be discussed on how to go forward in rebuilding the city and most importantly, the lives of our people--and, doing this beyond the level of gutter language and politics! E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
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