“WALANG SINUMAN ang dapat santuhin dito (There should be no sacred cows)…In a democratic process, it is through an election that the citizens are given a voice in governance.
To make a mockery of this process is to make a mockery of democracy. The public deserves no less than the whole truth.”
So bordered on the sanctimonious the Honorable Senator Francis Pangilinan in calling on the Department of Justice and the Commission on Elections to “dig deep and leave no stone unturned” in the inquiry into fresh allegations of fraud in the 2004 presidential polls.
Quick – and stinging – was the riposte of the Honorable Vicente Sotto III, Senate majority floor leader: “Ngayon sila dada nang dada, eh nung 2004, puro sila ‘noted’ (Now they’re babbling, when in 2004 all they said was ‘noted’).”
Yeah, on national television then was Pangilinan, as member of the national board of canvassers, ejaculating “Noted” to every motion of the opposition to scrutinize election returns allegedly fraught with fraud.
Thereby earning him the infamous moniker “Mr. Noted” which successfully blotted out his “Mr. Sharon Cuneta” politically beneficial persona.
“They’re too late the hero. I hate to say this, but I told you so.” So was Sotto quoted in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, furthering that “Pangilinan’s action came seven years late—long after Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo had completed her presidency and her closest opponent, actor Fernando Poe Jr., had died.”
Rued Sotto over Pangilinan’s statements: “If only that was also his attitude when I was asking for the opening of just one, just one, just one measly election return…But they were blocking us every step of the way.”
Calling a spade a spade, Sotto said of his declarations.
So look who’s talking, Pangilinan in effect retorted: “The public should be reminded that he has no moral ascendancy to comment on the issue of fraud for the simple reason that he flip-flopped on the issue and embraced the cheater in the end.
Yes, by all means let’s call a spade a spade. He who lives in a glass house should not throw stones.”
And onto a soliloquy: “When the evidence of cheating and irregularities in 2004 became more convincing with the Hello Garci exposé, instead of condemning GMA and calling for her resignation, (Sotto) did the exact opposite, suddenly developing amnesia by joining her administration’s ticket in 2007 and embracing the administration he had earlier accused of massive cheating.
“Dapat sagutin niya ang tanong: ‘Ano ang nangyari sa kanyang paninindigan laban sa pandaraya ni GMA dahil bumaligtad siya at sumirko papunta kay GMA noong 2007 matapos niyang akusahan ito ng pandaraya noong 2004
(He should answer this question: What happened to his stand against Arroyo’s cheating when he flip-flopped and joined GMA, even after he accused her of cheating in 2004]?)”
“I, on the other hand, out of principle, refused to accept both the administration and opposition offers to be part of their tickets, and instead ran as an independent in 2007 and won.”
“Kung sa kanyang palagay ay ‘di katanggap-tanggap ang mga kilos natin noon, eh mas lalo namang ‘di kapani-paniwala ang pagbabaligtad niya noong 2007. Wala siyang karapatang pumuna.
Ayon nga sa kasabihan, tingnan muna niya ang uling at putik sa mukha niya (If he thinks my actions back then were unacceptable, then his somersaulting (to the GMA camp) back in 2007 is even more unbelievable.
As the saying goes, he should look at the grime and mud on his face first (before looking at those in another’s).”
Indeed, a sanctimonious Pangilinan there.
Nonchalantly dismissed by Sotto as: “Baryang issue lang yan. (Cheap issue). Don’t change the topic.” That, to him, is the 2004 cheating and not the 2007 elections.
Incidentally, the comedic actor and TV host Sotto is godfather to Pangilinan’s wife “megastar” Cuneta who is the niece of Sotto’s wife, former actress-singer Helen Gamboa. The plot, like blood over water, thickens there.
As in a badly scripted two-cent telenovela.
Really barya-barya. A very cheap disruptive sideshow to the epic 2004 election fraud inquiry.
