Skip to main content

Duped—again

Dumating na kami dito sa Pilipinas para maningil ng pautang sa gobyerno natin, dahil hanggang sa huli ay niloko pa rin kami. Ibinalita niya sa buong mundo na sa kanila nanggagaling ang pagkabuhay ng anak ko, kaya nakaligtas sa bitay. Hindi po totoo ’yan, wala pong katotohanan ’yon. Kaya humanda kayo ngayon. Nandito kami para lumaban sa inyo, haharapin namin kayo,” so said Celia Veloso, mother of convicted drug courier Mary Jane Veloso.

The euphoria on the literally last second reprieve given to the younger Veloso has yet to die down when the elder Veloso went on an “inspired” tirade against the very person whom the Indonesian government singled out as among the main reasons for the stay in execution.

The Filipino race has always put “utang na loob” as one of our most honored and lasting traits. Good or bad, Filipinos always remember whatever debt of gratitude they have to other people and that they will forever try to return the favor no matter what the cost.

Mrs. Veloso, meanwhile, seemed to have the opposite understanding of this. Whether she was coaxed, cajoled, forced or duped to say what she said, the fact remains that those utterances came from her mouth and as such must be taken as her own idea.

This, of course, is not unlike being given a baggage to bring to another country. And whether you knew or not what was inside that baggage, it becomes your responsibility once you agree to take it. This was what happened to the younger Veloso, which she insisted she was duped into doing.

For her rants, Mrs. Veloso was brutally panned by netizens—both in Twitter and Facebook. Most say they regret giving their support and prayers for a family of “ingrates”.

Some even hinted that the supposed speech given by the elder Veloso was supposed to be after the younger Veloso was executed by firing squad. And when convicted drug courier was given a reprieved, the elder Veloso’s handlers seemed to have forgotten to correct her statement and thus she was forced to improvise. Which it seemed became her undoing.

For whatever is its worth, the elder Veloso in her tirade forgot one teeny-weeny thing—her daughter is still under lock and key and still has a date with the firing squad. And when the Indonesian authorities decide it is time to implement her sentence, who would she then turn to for help and assistance?

For all their noise and supposed patriotism, the leftist groups in our midst are all just smoke and mirrors. They represent an ideology that has long been proven ineffective and impossible; and all they care about are their interest which is to impose their own brand of communism—or whatever it has since evolved in—on this country.

The elder Veloso definitely has a right to get mad; rant and rave even. If the Filipino nation would continue to listen to her is another thing. So is the little notion on whether they would continue to support her daughter after all that she has said and done.


In this country, ingrates are worse than thieves; and the ungrateful are almost never given another chance. In this light, the Veloso family has been duped—again. 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Empanada festival: A celebration of good taste and good life

By Dominic B. dela Cruz & Leilanie G. Adriano Staff reporters BATAC CITY—If there is one thing Batac is truly proud of, it would be its famous empanada-making business that has nurtured its people over the years. Embracing a century-old culture and culinary tradition, Batac’s empanada claims to be the best and tastiest in the country with its distinctive Ilokano taste courtesy of its local ingredients: fresh grated papaya, mongo, chopped longganisa, and egg. The crispy orange wrapper and is made of rice flour that is deep-fried. The celebration of this city’s famous traditional fast food attracting locals and tourists elsewhere comes with the City Charter Day of Batac every 23 rd  of June. Every year, the City Government of Batac led by Mayor Jeffrey Jubal Nalupta commemorate the city’s charter day celebration to further promote its famous One-Town, One Product, the Batac empanada. Empanada City The Batac empanada festival has already become an annua

PIDS expert says income tax cuts justified; warns gov’t of revenue loss

Proposals to amend the personal income tax schedule appear to be well-justified. However, these proposals should include measures that will allow government to recover the revenue loss from lower income taxes. Dr. Rosario Manasan, senior research fellow of state think-tank Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS), said at a seminar sponsored by the Philippine Senate, that government should look for new revenue measures to compensate for the projected revenue loss that will arise as a result of the implementation of any of the various proposals to restructure the personal income tax. Currently, there are several income tax reform proposals pending in both houses of Congress. All of them, according to Dr. Manasan, have the same objective of addressing the phenomenon of bracket creep, which results from “non-indexation to inflation of personal income tax brackets”. Simply put, bracket creep occurs when employees’ income increases over time as a result of inflation. Th

PGIN honors Ilocano heroes of past, present through Heroes Walk

SPO1 Allan Lampitoc Franco of Banna, Ilocos Norte and PO2 Jovalyn D. Lozano of Adams, Ilocos Norte receive a resolution of commendation, a certificate of college scholarship grant to their family members and a P20,000 cash incentive each from the Provincial Government of Ilocos Norte represented by Governor Imee R. Marcos and Vice Governor Angelo M. Barba in recognition of their bravery and heroic acts in the Mamasapano clash in Maguindanao on January 25. Mr. Franco and Mr. Lozano were recognized on March 10 in time for the unveiling of the second batch of Ilocano heroes at the Heroes Walk located along the Sirib Mile in Laoag City.  (Lei Adriano) By Jennifer T. Pambid PGIN-CMO In honor of the heroes who brought freedom, fame and glory to the province as well as to the country in the past century, the Provincial Government of Ilocos Norte (PGIN) through the Education Department and Sirib Youth Office launched the second batch of Ilocano Heroes Walk on March 10, 2015.