I RECEIVED what appeared like a letter. It had no signature. It had no date. It contained hurtful words, and lies, as well.
As a practice, I ignore unsigned letters because they are nothing but fake. I abhor fakery. Who doesn’t? They can only be the work of cowards, who are the lowest of the low life.
But, having said that, I think this cowardly act deserves notice. I also believe in the saying, there is always an exception to the rule.
And so, let’s give way to the “letter writer,” who addressed his missive to “all Don Enrique Heights homeowners and residents.” Here:
“Attached is a photocopy of Mr. Al S. Mendoza’s column, ‘Full Tank,’ in the BusinessMirror, November 30, 2017, issue, wherein he groused against ‘diggings all over’ that are ‘the main cause’ of ‘road-street jams’ in ‘many villages in the Big City, including my own place in Quezon City.’”
(I was grousing, yes, like thousands more of our Quezon City residents, including broadcaster Ted Failon, who are victims almost daily of the cited traffic-causing diggings in the city. I say it is obvious that the writer-coward is ignorant of the journalist’s sworn creed to expose government indifference at the slightest opportunity—for the common good.)
“Mr. Mendoza’s column was headlined ‘Mayor Bistek intercession needed’ and it ended with the statement, ‘Paging Mayor Bistek.’”
(What’s wrong with asking for the Mayor’s intercession? He is the head of the city. Is there an authority higher than Bistek that we can seek relief from for our troubles? What’s wrong with “Paging Mayor Bistek” on behalf of our aggrieved folk?)
Anyway, for clarity and a better understanding of the issue at hand, I reprint my November 30 column being cited by the anonymous writer-coward.
“We thought we’d brace up for traffic woes only on the Metro’s major thoroughfares as Christmas approaches. Wrong. In many villages in the Big City, including in my own place in Quezon City, road-street jams have started. The main cause? Diggings all over.
“Even at busy Morato Avenue in Quezon City, road excavations have been wreaking havoc on motorists there almost daily. Pavements there are being dug up, again, to make way for new decorative tiles, messing up traffic anew.
“In my village, Quezon City Mayor Herbert “Bistek” Bautista has rapaciously ordered the wanton digging of our pavements on both sides of our roads by bulldozers backstopped by brigades of workers. Culverts block our streets in wild abandon, forcing us to navigate for routes in struggling to snake our way out of the village. Unfortunately, our small village [Don Enrique Heights] has only two gates—making it hell for us now to exit/enter our subdivision.
“This early, we seem to see a chaotic Christmas atmosphere in our beloved village as an uncompleted construction by December 25 lurks in the horizon. Paging Mayor Bistek. [True enough, unkempt and uncompleted construction work made our 2017 Christmas bleak.]”
Now, fellas, tell me, what’s wrong with my column?
Is asking Mayor Bistek for help wrong?
The writer-coward continued:
“Lest we be perceived as ingrates by Mayor Bautista…we, the homeowners association, would like to relay to Mayor Bautista that we are grateful for the road- and drainage-improvement works [sic] being undertaken in our subdivision, and we abhor Mr. Mendoza’s language that the Mayor RAPACISOULY ORDERED THE WANTON DIGGING [emphasis mine—an anonymous can make emphasis, too, huh?] of pavements. This language is an utter disrespect to the highest elected City Government official. It could only come from an unrefined person, ironically, from one who has failed to pay his monthly association dues…since 2006…and still fails despite repeated demands.”
OMG! Ingrates? You are worse than that! Whoever you are, you are not only part of a bunch of cowards in our village but a member of the anonymous unprincipled apologists, who will do anything just to please those in power. There is another term to describe your kind: a certified ass-licker. Sorry, but I can’t think of a kinder, more pleasant-sounding word.
Since when are the ruled called ingrates? As the mayor, Bistek is our No. 1 servant in the city, and it is but right that we should ask him to work for and on our behalf at all times. What he spends for road/drainage construction and the like are the people’s money, our money. So, what do we owe him for?
We are disrespectful when we call the attention of our leaders to work their butt off?
Sorry, but only a coward, a lowlife, can think that way.
You even said in the “letter” that I last paid my dues in 2006? Hey, the last time I paid my dues was in 2012 (more than P25,000). Where did my money go? You could not even properly account for our dues yearly, that’s why I stopped paying right after the 2012 election, which was generally regarded as horrendously rigged through the use of manufactured proxies.
Ah, I think it’s useless lecturing you on political management and governance. You cannot even sign your name to a simple letter sent to your fellow residents, merely typing “DEHHA” and under it “BOARD OF DIRECTORS” at the end of the letter. Are you for real or merely someone using the name of DEHHA?
Do I sniff fake news?
Cowards have no place in a place I still call decent—despite your kind.
PEE STOP I was told there are still tickets available for The Platters concert tonight (Februry 16) at Cubao’s Kia Theater. Steve O’Neal said you can call 911-5555 for reservations.
Image credits: govinsider.asia