“(A) politician . . . after reading a satirical piece that Adrian wrote about him, sent off a letter thanking the writer for his fulsome praise.”
by Ducky Paredes
Frankly, I never thought of ever writing anything about Adrian Cristobal Sr. (We now have to add the “Sr.” since his son Che, who is Adrian, Jr. has achieved his own notoriety as the first head of the Intellectual Property Office.)
I admired Adrian as a writer, disliked his having served the dictator and loved him as a friend.
Adrian used to say that satire is lost on the Filipino reader and loved it when someone retells the story about a politician who, after reading a satirical piece that Adrian wrote about him, sent off a letter thanking the writer for his fulsome praise. Adrian had to re-read his piece to see where his intended insult could have been mistaken for praise.
We – the essentially non-literary crowd – took in Adrian not so much as the literary marvel that he was as a young man or the accomplished man of letters that he became but more as a fellow drinker who allowed himself to be kidded that he wrote that piece so well that (as with his best writings) it was completely incomprehensible. He laughed at that because the intended insult came from those he considered as friends.
Adrian Cristobal was a warm, wonderful presence. When we first met, I was in the government that regarded those like him (who had served the previous one) as the virtual enemy. We got along immediately, however. He had on his prickly suit that warned others not to get too close. But, as soon as we started to speak whatever divided us politically had disappeared.
Adrian accepted people for what they were and, if they proved to be interesting enough, they kept his attention.
He got along with a lot of people because of that. He had the facility to understand and communicate with everyone at their own level but he also had the talent to impress the gods themselves.
He died before Christmas and his ashes will be placed in the columbarium at the Sanctuario de San Antonio today. Our condolences to Adrian’s family – his wife, the former Ma. Teresita Soriano, and children Anna C. Torres, Celin, Stella C. Arenas, Che (Adrian Jr.), Pia Kahn and Monica Graham and his grandchildren.
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The fact that Gen. Ricardo Dapat was fired as Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) chief is at least indicative that he may have acted on his own in releasing former Congressman Romeo Jalosjos from the National Penitentiary. Someone explained to me that since Jalosjos was what they call a “living-out” prisoner, he can actually leave the compound as long as he returns to the facility when he is supposed to.
Thus, his having left the New Bilibid Prisons (not so new anymore since it is more than 60 years old) was actually a minor offense that should not affect his incarceration, which is now supposed to end in 2009.
Prison as we have it in this country is not really too bad as long as one has the connection to assure that the authorities will treat you with kid gloves. Prisoners who have no clout or money seldom get to stay in their own “residence” within the Muntinglupa compound.
Dapat has been replaced by recently retired PNP Director General Oscar Calderon.
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Malacañang ought to go easy on pushing Sen. Panfilo Lacson to shed light on the pronouncements of Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff Hermogenes Esperon Jr., who has linked Ping to what the Palace sees as a failed coup attempt of a year ago.
Esperon talks of a document that he calls the “Diamond Statement” that could have the senator’s name on it, possibly as a reference but certainly never as a signatory. (Ping is too smart to do anything like that.)
At any rate, Esperon, to me, is not too credible as a witness or as anything. The man, after all, has already been caught lying many times over. In this particular case, Esperon’s accusation came after Lacson warned that there could be demoralization in the ranks of the Armed Forces should Esperon be extended by the only person who still believes in him – President Gloria Arroyo. A lot of us actually agree with Lacson on this. There have been no extensions since the dictator left us. Going back to the way that Marcos extended his loyal generals will certainly demoralize those in the military.
Does that make us part of the “Diamond Statement”, too?
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It is a sign of progress that firecrackers and other explosives are banned in the celebration of the New Year in Davao City, Marikina City and several other cities that I may not have heard of.
In the City of Honolulu, where I lived for several years, to be able to purchase fireworks, which term includes even just the tiniest firecracker, one goes to the police precinct nearest his residence to apply for a permit to purchase these things. The police then remind the resident that these are forbidden to be used near hospitals and churches for obvious reasons.
Then, in the event that there are any accidents arising from the use of fireworks and firecrackers, it is easy to find out who gave these explosives to children and other unlicensed users. This way, Honolulu cuts down on improper use of these deadly things.
Perhaps, the local governments can do the same thing. Then, knowing who purchased pyrotechnics legally, they know where to check in the event that fires break out or there are any firecracker injuries. Sadly, there is no way that the local authorities can control the firing of guns into the air.
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“When political ‘warfare’ is conducted by soldiers rather than civilians, democracy has been superseded by the military.” – Philip Alston, United Nations Rapporteur.
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hvp (12.27.07)
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