How they speak

CAPILLAS

Yet another day and another week is coming to a close and what grabbed this week’s headlines is the brazen ambush of Ronda town Vice Mayor Jonnah John Ungab in front of the Hall of Justice at Qimonda building at the North Reclamation Area in Cebu City last Monday.

His murder in broad daylight and in front of his wife Pearl who was with him in his car when he was shot by a masked assailant sent shockwaves to the local legal community and drew outright condemnation as well as one admission of jubilation from President Rodrigo Duterte’s favored point man in the war on drugs in the Visayas and Mindanao front.

Chief Insp. Jovie Espenido, Ozamiz City police chief whose previous stint in Albuera town, Leyte allowed him to cross paths with self-confessed drug lord Rolando “Kerwin” Espinosa Jr., didn’t mince words when he said “he was happy” that Ungab died at the hands of masked assailants, who may or may not be “vigilantes” responsible for the extrajudicial killings of drug suspects.

Ungab, who lawyered for Espinosa after Kerwin’s other lawyer also got killed, also came into contact with Espenido and even posed for a photo with him which did indicate that the police official had no personal rancor against Ungab. To him, the vice mayor’s death was just that, a consequence in the raging war against illegal drug traffickers.

It would be a long, hard journey for justice ahead for the Ungab family despite their resources and whatever clout they may have since the mastermind/s behind the killing have far more and are willing to do more to avoid prosecution.

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The tit-for-tat between Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña and whom he derisively called “Team Suyop” aka Barug Team Rama/PDP-Laban on his Facebook account should draw more attention to the ongoing campaign of Cebu City Hall to enforce traffic laws in the city without running afoul of national traffic laws.

The bone of contention stemmed from their argument over what Team Rama/PDP-Laban referred to as the “excessive punishment” meted on the motorist who shot a clamp attached to his vehicle that parked at a no-parking zone.

They said the P45,000 penalty was too much which amused Osmeña who then disclosed on his Facebook account how the previous Rama administration spent more than P4 million to buy clamps and how he spent less that amount to buy the same volume of clamps.

While Councilor Jocelyn Pesquera insisted that the issue was on excessive punishment and not on the prices of the clamps, the mayor’s point simply cannot be dismissed.

At the same time, I don’t know if there is mass outrage on the part of either the motorists or the commuters on what Team Rama/PDP Laban insisted were excessive penalties on violators of traffic laws.

The fact that the violator shot a clamp attached to his vehicle showed not only contempt but a blatant attempt to escape being penalized for his actions. How to deal with such violators who have no respect for existing traffic laws? Treat them with kid gloves?

When the political opposition decried the mayor’s order to impound vehicles whose drivers were caught counterflowing, they did point out correctly that it may have overstepped existing national traffic laws.

I saw one of these councilors, whose name I won’t disclose lest he disowns and considers taking legal action for it, suggesting in an ABS-CBN TV interview that instead of impounding, penalties should include a P10,000 fine and even imprisonment.

I had to ask which is more excessive; imprisonment or impounding of a violator’s vehicle? The local opposition clearly misread public sentiment which weighed heavily against traffic violators and were caught flatfooted at the mayor’s decision to impose tougher sanctions on traffic violators.
As such they will have a harder time to sell their argument unless they can muster enough support from disgruntled motorists and public utility vehicle (PUV) drivers who felt oppressed and abused by these traffic penalties as imposed by overeager, abusive traffic enforcers.

That would take time and documentation of these complaints and would the political opposition let alone those who were penalized bother to go through with it all?

Unless they can present a better argument and better ideas to crack down on counter-flowing and other traffic violators — let alone define clearly to the public what their idea of counterflowing is — the opposition is on the losing end of this whole issue.

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There were two instances of what can only be described as misogynistic statements given by a widely popular comedian TV and a morning program host of competing networks that drew the ire of netizens this week.

One of them, comedian TV host Joey de Leon, drew online flak when he asked the audience if one of them was a former customer of a girl that was featured in one of their segments who admitted to being a former prostitute and is now a born again Christian.

But while de Leon is no stranger to controversy, “Umagang Kay Ganda” program host Anthony Taberna’s remarks against a girl whom he seemingly blamed for allowing herself to get drunk and then gang-raped by men she met online drew a lot harsher reactions.

While the call for his resignation or ouster from the show rang loud, Taberna was profuse in his apologies the following day. Clearly these two men had yet to hear or learn of the “Me Too” movement against sexual harassment and discrimination that began in Hollywood and is picking up steam around the world.