Whom the gods
wish to destroy,
they first make mad

If you listened to their radio interviews, especially those of my friend Sonny Razon, the beleaguered PNP chief who was made to bear the brunt of an abduction (never mind Joker Arroyo’s contortions into legalistic definitions) that he neither planned nor knew about it until the abducted became too hot to handle, and juxtaposed the same with the prevarications of Atutubo and Mascariñas, then you would come again to the conclusion that whom the gods wish to destroy, they first make mad.

They even trotted out a long-disgraced lawyer, Antonio Bautista, who I remember lawyering for Heherson Alvarez, then a senator charged by his colleague Orly Mercado for coddling illegal logging in Quirino province, to provide legal "assistance" to an unwilling Jun Lozada. Manny Gaite Jr., the Malacañang functionary who authored EO 464, probably thought that Bautista’s having lawyered for Romy Neri in his petition before the Supreme Court, would be enough "comfort" to the abducted witness, so he could in turn give "comfort" to Malacañang. Like a macho caught with his pants down, Atty. Bautista hastily forgot the basics of notarial subscription for his unwilling client. Bautista takes pride in having been a law professor for the last four decades, and openly disdained the senators who are no legal peers. He tried to maliciously insinuate that Lozada owned a 10 million peso car, and even offered him land for his farming proclivities, just to assail the character of the Senate witness. Yet he goofed, and oh, so publicly. Whom the gods wish to destroy, they first make mad.

The intrepid senators led by the Blue Ribbon chair, Alan Peter Cayetano, went to the NAIA terminal to do their amateur sleuthing. And these "amateurs" discovered that the Toyota Altis that drove Lozada out of the airport, which Senator Lacson earlier described as "without an LTO registration" (as in talagang gagamitin sa masama) was parked by a Presidential Security Group officer at 3:30 p.m. of Tuesday, February 5, an hour before Lozada was to arrive. And till now, Atutubo and his gang at NAIA cannot produce the mysterious "Roger Valeroso" whom Sonny Razon earlier denied was part of his PNP. Nagkakandalubid-lubid sa pagsisinungaling, as my Malolos forebears used to describe. Whom the gods wish to destroy, they first make mad.

In quick fashion, because the citizenry has become appalled at the web of lies and the clear intent to obstruct justice, suborn to perjury and perpetuate lying into the national character, several lately apolitical groups like the Makati Business Club and the Management Association of the Philippines, and almost all of academe, raised a howl. So what does one arrogant cabinet member do? He calls up a trustee of the Makati Business Club, and warns them against taking an adversarial stand on the controversies surrounding the NBN-ZTE stink. Moreover, he threatened them about sending the dogs of the BIR to hound the business community. He probably thought the businessmen would blink. Whom the gods wish to destroy, they first make mad.

A formerly respected senator of the land fulminates at witness Lozada for openly declaring that he had gone to the senator’s house to consult his lawyer spouse, after the former chided him for consulting with an opposition senator. He was chastened. He now refuses to answer questions about that fateful meeting, and declares that "nobody should discuss it." Diktador na si Joker!

That night, he goes to the cocktails of The Firm at Manila Peninsula, to hobnob with the legal eagles who once had the Boss Woman and the Boss Man as their treasured clients. Until The Firm itself could no longer in conscience defend their clients for actuations most unconscionable.

As soon as the Joker bids adieu to the lawyers of The Firm, who but Lorenzo Formoso, the technical "genius" behind the ZTE-NBN project, is seen quietly consulting the great Joker outside the Rigodon Ballroom! Whom the gods wish to destroy, they first make mad.

Enter the Presidential Security Group commander. On Valentine’s Day, he suddenly unveils an assassination plot against the Boss Woman, by the Abu Sayyaf (akala ko ba talo na ang mga iyan?), with Al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiyah support, or is it the usual NPA suspects? What is he up to? Shout for help from Uncle Sam? Touch the "kindness" in the hearts of the public, and gain some sympathy for his hated Boss Woman? I heard some Makati socialites exclaim, "Sana!" Whom the gods wish to destroy, they first make mad.

***

Now get these latest morsels from the bowels of the stinking palace beside the stinking river:

Jesli Lapus and Ralph Recto are being groomed to replace Gary Teves at Finance, because many administration senators, and the congressmen of Kampi, and of course the Boss Woman herself, want Gary out.

Tessie Aquino Oreta has been promised the education portfolio come May, when the one-year ban for defeated candidates expires. But now, Ralph Recto covets education too, in case Jesli gets Finance.

Nobody wants to fill in the shoes of Ed Ermita as executive secretary anymore. Masyadong mainit. That makes Ed happy, of course. Indispensable because no one wants the hot seat.

But Toting Bunye hopes to get away from it all, by way of appointment to the Monetary Board, which has the protection of fixed term, plus great perks. And Cerge Remonde should be the next press secretary. Which means Miguelito el Defensor, the fifty-thousand peso guy, would either be the PMS chief, or the chief of staff, or back to one of the line departments. If he chooses a line department, then it’s going to be that other jatropha proponent, Rene Velasco, back to PMS.

Don’t grasp for breath at this. Prospero Pichay wants to be the Energy secretary. Perhaps he will make pechay a source of bio-fuel. So what happens to Angie Reyes? Over-used na siya.

Whom the gods wish to destroy, they first make mad.