There is something to be said about the case of supermarket sales clerk Paul Matthew Tanglao, who landed in jail for stealing a can of corned beef since he was hungry and had no money to pay for it.
Tanglao’s case was cited by netizens who juxtaposed it amid the backdrop over the still seething public disdain and contempt over the gown pictorial of Isabelle Duterte, granddaughter of President Rodrigo Duterte held at the Palace complete with the presidential seal in the background.
Tanglao was released after paying the P2,000 bail, more than the P31.50 can of corned beef that he stole from the supermarket. While his theft is wrong, netizens criticized the supermarket management for jailing him rather than considering his plight.
But let’s first consider what he did rather than compare it to what the President’s granddaughter did since these are two disparate situations that nevertheless highlight the ever-widening gap between the rich and poor in this country.
It was wrong for Tanglao to steal the can of corned beef, but not having him pay for what he did would only encourage other employees and shoplifters into stealing the merchandise being sold at the supermarket.
Granted that the owner is a multi-billionaire many times over, stealing is stealing and it is wrong under the laws of God and humanity. Then again, a lot of politicians and government officials have gotten away with stealing billions and yet still remain in power.
It was the severity of the punishment Tanglao received that earned public ire and drew both condemnation and comparison with the presidential granddaughter’s ostentatious fashion display at the Palace, despite her grandfather’s defense of her photo shoot.
If Tanglao hadn’t paid for his P2,000 bail, he would have spent Christmas and even New Year in jail and that spectacle would invite further social condemnation that even the supermarket retail giant would have felt for weeks to come.
In comparison, even if the younger Duterte’s fashion designer insisted that it was her mother and not her father, Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte that paid for the gowns, the use of the presidential seal reserved for President Duterte was what raised more than the usual amount of hackles from both critics and apolitical netizens alike.
Never mind that it happened during the holidays when it is said that peace and goodwill extend to everyone both rich and poor on Earth.
So long as that disparity between the haves and have-nots continues to exist and the have-nots are penalized far beyond the gravity of their crimes and the haves continue to indulge and exhibit their power, such peace and goodwill remain not only elusive but hollow.
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