Raul, my bayaw who married my sister Anne, was the butt of private jokes in the family. Referring to him occasionally, we all laugh when we say “si Raul ‘o” as if we were consigning him to the National Institute for Mental Health the next day.
The phrase “si Raul ‘o” came to my mind again soon after a certain Raul Gonzalez started inhabiting the Office of the Justice Secretary as per appointment by power klepto Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Instead of helping dispense justice for the common people, he has made it his personal crusade to rival The Firm in defending to the hilt her not-so-almighty but puny boss in Malacañang.
The NBI, an agency under his high and mighty office, is busy dispensing court cases on perceived enemies of Arroyo: inciting to sedition viz. Samuel Ong, and a spurious case vs. the printing shop that dared take on an order for anti-Arroyo posters.
Pre-empting her Señora and Congress, he befuddled the nation by making the sweeping generalization about the authenticity of the Gloria-Garci tapes. “Si Raul ‘o” was mum and unapologetic when Arroyo herself faced the nation and admitted to being the female voice in the tapes.
“Si Raul ‘o” also assumed a deathly silence when deans of major law schools told the House of Representatives that nothing’s wrong with playing the Gloriagate tapes and using them in public and judicial proceedings. Perhaps Gonzales’ old age and his long stint in the same House has eaten away his earlier more dynamic and infinitely more decent pronouncements denouncing the Marcos dictatorship.
Recently, “Si Raul ‘o” and no one else could have made the recent tasteless, high-handed and undeserved remarks on Tita Cory viz. Kris Aquino.
Officials like him think they help Arroyo turn the tide of public opinion. We say otherwise. He’s actually helping dig Arroyo’s political grave. The insults he hurls at the people, the laughable threats (against users of Hello Garci ringtones and busina, those who played the tapes including the media), the non-sequitur verbal attacks on Tita Cory and plainly every putrid word that emanates from his mouth is fomenting public hatred towards the administration.
Simply put, “Si Raul ‘o” has assumed the role as today’s certified village idiot. We should thank him for helping unite the nation against him and and the village thief-cum-chieftain he serves.