Mr. Columnist, Just Plant Trees

Let me rant against a certain columnist in a certain newspaper (nope, I won’t be naming the columnist nor the newspaper).

Sen. Ping Lacson is upset that GMA is claiming credit for the strong peso. Actually, it’s not GMA who’s saying it but Toting Bunye who is paid to tell lies like that fellow Comical Ali, Saddam Hussein’s spokesman who, during the closing days of the Iraq invasion by the US allied forces, was insisting that the American troops were getting a beating and about to retreat.

Hay. Mr. Columnist: Mr. Liar-Liar Bunye is acting in behalf and as an extension of GMA. Who are you kidding.

He also ranted against UNICEF and other related organizations:

There are many organizations receiving such tax-free funds from kind donors who do not seem to require any audited or verifiable report on the expenditures. How about a financial report from the Unicef so we don’t suspect that the funds are merely going to salaries and perks of the people behind this organization? For example, P20,000/day was spent for child protection. Who were the children protected and who were paid to protect them and how much? The sum of P7,575,961.32 was spent for education. Can we get a list of the children and the schools which received the funds and how much each? P18,193,313.80 was spent as relief to communities affected by tsunami and typhoon. Again, can we see the list of communities? Were they given cash or goods? P7,966,367 was channeled to unspecified projects where assistance was most needed. Hey how about some real accounting report?

So he wants exactness and specificity. But take note of the next:

There’s no use railing against the GMA administration. As long as there is no credible opposition party with alternative programs to offer, the masses will just ignore all those reported scandals, corruption and misgovernance. The much vaunted NPs and LPs are perceived as no better, nothing more than a bunch of politicians just waiting for the chance to get into power. As one memorable “trapo [traditional politician]” was quoted as saying, “You people in the administration have all been stealing us blind all these years, how about giving us a chance naman?”

Tell me if he is consistent or not. He wants UNICEF to state the names of its beneficiaries, as if he was a major donor. Fine, that is good. But to quote a certain trapo and not even have the balls to state the name is pushing his unfairness too far. Di ba, kung gusto mo specific reports from others, why can’t you be so specific yourself? You are actually implying that UNICEF and other orgs are just making reports to cover their asses. And here you are, covering your ass by not telling the name of the trapo that you quoted. Are you afraid of libel?

We need to know so that (1) we won’t elect him if he runs for an office, or (2) we would not listen to him ever.

Hay, opinions. Good columnists are CONSISTENT (think de Quiros). Guys like Mr. Columnist are just killing trees.