“Anything you strike, anything you shake or rattle, or just anything that can be picked up, and you can create a sound.” –Evelyn Glennie
Former Guimaras Vice Governor Vicente ‘Itik’ de Asis recently made mincemeat of the province’s so-called “three stooges” – Governor Samuel Gumarin, Vice Governor John Edward Gando, and former lone district Rep. JC Rahman Nava – in their “psywar game.” The trio panicked when a certain “Rodrigo Gabales,” a purported Guimaras resident, reportedly filed a plunder and technical malversation complaint against them regarding the “release” of P264 million in public funds prior to the May 2016 elections.
If proven true, the three could face jail time, removal from their respective posts, and disqualification from holding public office for violating the ban on disbursing funds during the campaign period.
They suspect De Asis is being behind “Rodrigo Gabales,” whose real identity, as of this writing, has yet to be established with absolute certainty.
What if the suspected plunder and malversation raps are a dud?
The three bewailed the “erroneous report” published in a local newspaper regarding the matter during an August 22 press conference in Jordan, also calling it “political harassment.” However, if they used common sense, they would not need to act as if they were next in line at the death chamber behind Leo Echegaray. If they, in fact, left every cent of questioned amount untouched, summoning the spirits of the River Styx in order to appear pristine was unnecessary.
In addition, if they were not yet in possession of the alleged complaint, there was no basis to deny something that might only exist in the imagination of “Rodrigo Gabales.” They could have just shrugged off the issue and not give it one iota of validity.
Fear of the unknown is tantamount to dousing gasoline on a warehouse being swallowed by conflagration.
While the irrational fear espoused by the “three stooges” is making them look vanquished, humiliated, and deserted, De Asis is made out to be the convenient whipping boy and suspected culprit again; and he does not even belong to a political party with the massive wherewithal to submerge the Nava- Gumarin submarine.
Why are they so rattled?
If it is their perennial political punching bag De Asis who is behind the ersatz gobbledygook, he must be laughing from ear to ear watching his political nemeses reduced to political pygmies by their overreactions. Political war is a mind game. It’s a battle of gimmickry and how to anger your opponents and make them look like scoundrels and circus performers. If De Asis was the “real McCoy,” he just scored a triple whammy!
***
The New York State Department of Labor delivered justice on my complaint against a Jewish community leader in Brooklyn, following a quick verdict handed down an hour lodging it at their Lower Manhattan offices last Wednesday.
Arbiter Mokarram Ahmed first perused the complaint and buckled down to investigate. After hearing both sides, he scribbled down his evaluation.
“Quick justice,” I exclaimed silently after Ahmed handed me a copy of the verdict and intoned, “Good luck.”/WDJ