A tête-à-tête between FILIPINO eSCRIBBLES and WITH ONE’S PAST last August 31st about Nick Joaquín’s significance to Filipino History. We usually spend hours talking about history and related topics. But the difference this time around is that we had it recorded.
At least twice a month, or whenever we could, Arnaldo and I will podcast many of our informal “cuentuhan tuncól sa casaysayan” for our niche audience. For our first outing, we thought of discussing about our favorite historian, 1976 National Artist for Literature, Nicomedes “Nick” Joaquín y Márquez, and his significance to Filipino History.
But why do a podcast?
Arnaldo has been an avid listener to podcasts and is familiar with people who are known for it (like Joe Rogan, for instance). He was the one who broached the idea to me. However, it is more precise to say that it was his wife Mhaan who spurred him to pursue it. You see, Arnaldo has been lecturing weird stuff to his wife; I’ve been doing the same thing to my family, too. That weird stuff I’m referring to, of course, is Filipino History (I refuse to call it Philippine; more on that in a future blogpost… podcast). Weird, because I’m sure that many of our friends and family members find us peculiar whenever we talk about the past — national heroes, the return of the Spanish language in our country, vintage photographs, ancestral houses, old names of streets, etc. To many people, such topics are confined only in history books (or perhaps restricted only for aging scholars whose backs have become crooked due to years of study). Anyway, this podcasting project about Filipino History was technically —and perhaps inadvertently— an idea of Arnaldo’s wife. According to Arnaldo, Mhaan chided him once that instead of giving out unsolicited “lectures” to her, most of which remain unrecorded or unblogged, why not put them all in a podcast? She may not have been serious when she said that, but it was a light-bulb moment for With One’s Cookbook.
And why not? We both think it’s a wonderful idea because it’s going to capture a lot of stuff that we couldn’t write much about. And our ideas just might reach another online audience that prefers to listen than to read. Admittedly, though, I still have my reservations because I’m not that much of a talker. When it comes to discussing history and related subjects with like-minded people, I prefer to listen, ask questions, then write. Arnaldo, Señor Gómez, and JMG know about this (I am talkative about the subject only to my wife and kids, hehe!). I’m a slow thinker, too. My mind tends to process thoughts quite longer before I am able to speak them out, and in a cluttered manner at that. Furthermore, my spoken voice is hoarse, raspy, unpalatable to the ear (a usual problem for good looking men 😀 ). And according to Eugenio Ynión, Jr., the ever respectable multibillionaire CEO of Yngen General Holdings, I sound like a faggot (yes, he’s the same saintly gentlemen who threatened to kill me last summer).
But the most important thing about this podcasting activity of ours (which could probably be the very first podcast in the country to focus on Filipino History) is that we are able to record many important facts that we fail to jot down in our respective blogs, and then broadcast it later on. You see, we cannot submit 100% of our time to what we are doing online. The two of us are not well-heeled scribblers of the past; we need to survive, too. As such, mundane tasks take away much of our energy to think and to write, and that is a major factor (or should I say a big blow) as to why we irregularly update our blogs. Especially in my case. I’ve been living like a vampire for almost a decade and have five kids to raise with my wife. So it’s not an easy lifestyle for a struggling pundit like me.
Whenever Arnaldo drops by at our place, or whenever we meet up with Señor Gómez (and very rarely with JMG), hours seem like minutes as we discuss the day away with many aspects of all things Filipino, and how this affects our national identity. We never tire talking to one another. It’s just disappointing that, after a wonderful and intellectually productive day spent with these dear scholarly friends, I couldn’t seem to have the energy to write the important things that we have talked about. And so the ideas start piling up, becoming a burden to the mind as it becomes difficult on which topic should be written first. I’m pretty sure Arnaldo feels the same way. So yes, podcasting our off-the-cuff discussions should do the trick.
As mentioned earlier, our podcast will consist of our usual informal discussions. Parang nagcucuentuhan lang talagá camí. So please don’t expect it to sound like a radio talk show. It isn’t. For this first episode of ours, however, I did notice that we sounded a bit stiff because we were conscious that we’re recording our chat. We’ll try to do better the next time around.
So, without further ado, here’s to Nick. 🙂
Incidentally, it’s going to be Nick’s 97th birthday this coming Monday, September 15th.
Stay tuned for upcoming episodes. For episode 2, we will feature another Filipinista, well-known travel blogger Glenn Martínez of Traveler On Foot. In fact, we have already interviewed him last Sunday. We will also be “guesting” more interesting people to make our podcasts more lively, more interesting, and to expand more knowledge about what we are really advocating about — not Filipino History per se but the recovery of our true Filipino National Identity.
And yeah, pardon me for my faggot-like voice on the podcast (Kapitan Jun Ynión‘s words, not mine). I’ll take some salabát next time. I might even sing a song or two.
Several mornings ago, I stumbled upon the long-running TV/radio program Failón Ñgayón and heard its indefatigable host, Ted Failón, ranting about the problematic crime situation in Quezon City. He was criticizing the Philippine National Police’s initiative in encouraging the citizenry to participate in crime reporting. Failón thought it was ridiculous. Instead of spurring civilians to do some crime reporting, the PNP instead should do a massive crime prevention.
“Crime prevention, not crime reporting!”, cried Failón.
His statement made sense. You see, many decades ago, petty crimes, particularly in Manila, almost never stood a chance to thrive even in the murkiest of alleys. This is because of an effective police strategy in crime prevention. Former Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim who was a renowned crime fighter himself has a term for it. It’s called “pounding the beat”. In his biography May Langit Din Ang Mahirap: The Life Story of Alfredo Siojo Lim written by the late National Artist Nick Joaquín, Mayor Lim related how this scheme worked out, and how effective it really was:
“‘In my time, if you were given a beat, you pounded that beat on foot. You had to walk every inch of it. You were given block to cover. Let us imagine a block as a grid of criss-crossing streets. You began your beat, say, at the southern part outermost street. You walked it from one end to the other where you made a U-turn into the next street, which again you walked from end to end, U-turning into the third street and so on. Now, how long it would take a patrolman to walk from the southern outermost street had already been exactly timed. Say it had been checked that your assigned block would take a full hour to walk from one end to the other. So, if you arrived at the northern outermost street in very much less than an hour, you could be accused of skipping several streets on your beat. Or if you arrive at the northern outermost street in very much more than an hour, you could be suspected of having abandoned your post for half an hour or so. And the suspicions could be verified because a supervising patrol sergeant, unseen by you, was monitoring your every step and was supposed to know every moment where exactly you were.’
“That was the old way of pounding the beat and it ensured that at any moment, day or night, you would beet a policeman on any street in Manila. But Edo Lim knows —and regrets— that there is no longer any such pounding of the beat. The patrolman now does his thing seated —at the outpost, or in a patrol car— and the walkie-talkie does his walking for him.
“‘I pounded the beat in San Nicolás for over a year.'”
Annoyingly, this strategy is no longer in use. Rarely do you see a cop monitoring your neighborhood streets on foot. You’ll find them either inside their patrol cars or in the confines of their precincts, giving many the impression that they are simply waiting for a crime to be reported to them instead of them preventing it to happen. Because the usual scenario is this: they respond only after a crime has been done, only upon receipt of a complaint or report from frightened (or, God forbid, injured) civilians.
“Most police noncommissioned officers, especially the new ones, think that their college diploma places them on the same level as their superiors,” Tulfo complained. “What did he go to college for if he does jobs he considers menial? That’s the mentality of the ordinary policeman, especially the new ones.”
But when you read Mayor Lim’s biography (published in 1998, it was the first Nick Joaquín book I ever bought), it will prove Tulfo wrong. Mayor Lim himself had a college education. He graduated at the Far Eastern University with a degree of Business Administration. And not just him but his contemporaries as well. And all of them rookies pounded the beat.
But there should be no more explanations. Action must be taken, period. Failón is right: crime prevention is the key. So long as we ordinary civilians do not receive the protection and security that we deserve, we will always be at the mercy of not just petty criminals but those bigger sharks in power.
No wonder me and my family received audacious death threats on Facebook from politicians Eugenio Ynión, Jr. and his brother Rommel. Because they, and people like them, are already confident that the PNP has lost its nerve a long time ago, that they can easily escape (or perhaps pay) the law anytime. The Brothers Ynión can simply pay a goon or two to gun us down in the streets, or kidnap us, or whatever. And with no patrolmen pounding the beat, how could we hapless taxpaying citizens even feel safe in our very own turf, our country, where we are supposed to feel at home more than anywhere else in the world?
Of course our only hope right now is PNP Chief Alan Purísima. Before his term ends, here’s hoping that he leaves a lasting impression, a legacy, not just for himself and for the Filipino people but for the very institution —already tarnished with an ill-disposed reputation— to which he dedicated most of his life.
The police should pound that beat once more. Besides, it’s good exercise, too.
The troll account won the word war simply because I fed its trolling. We are reminded of that well-known online adage: don’t feed the troll. But in a rage, I completely forgot all about it. The troll account I was up against is an expert roaster, a veteran even (in real life, this troll —whose identity is not a secret among San Pedrense netizens— is actually already a veteran, agewise). And since my family was hurrying me up to get dressed and my mind was blackened with spite, my replies got too clumsy, giving the troll account the upper hand. Boy, did it give me some serious a$s-whooping.
I have joined a couple of online forums even before social media became in vogue. The forums that I join usually engage in topics which tackle Philippine History and other related subjects (my forte, I’d like to think). Throughout the years of my online existence, I’ve been a commenter, an observer, a moderator, and even a troll myself, haha. Whenever I am engaged in a heated real-time or live debate, and I am already on the verge of losing my cool, the opponent more often than not gets the better of me. Yes, I confess that I am a slow thinker.
But when I think slowly, I think surely.
Anyway, I already noticed this turtle-paced mental process of mine way back in college when my alma mater, mistakenly thinking that they have at last discovered a new JB Lazarte, entered me in an impromptu essay writing contest. When the topic was revealed, and the moment the timer started ticking, all the contestants were already jotting hurriedly. Me? I was paralyzed with anxiety, sweating profusely on my seat, helplessly watching the rest scribble it out like there’s no tomorrow. Nothing came out from my ink because that tension-filled moment was squeezing my brain. I only started writing when I decided to just give it up — and that was about half past the allotted time.
Now, going back to that online a$s-whooping I received. Nothing comes close to trolling than this Catáquiz hater who has found an ally in the person of one Manuel Mejorada, an Ynión attack dog based in Iloílo City disguised as a respectable a journalist. The troll account got the better of me, especially when I made a major boo-boo: when I referred to the Court of Appeals as “the court of last resort”, haha. And when Mejorada found out about my carelessness later on, he was so overjoyed that he even took time to make a screenshot of it then posted it on his Facebook account…
Thanks for the appeal for forgiveness, Boy Remedio. I appreciate it. I owe you one for your show of sympathy.
Before becoming a PR guy for Jun Ynión (and the mentally unstable Rommel Ynión), Mejorada was a former provincial administrator of Iloílo; if I’m not mistaken, he served under the term of former Governor Niel Tupás, Sr. So just imagine my amused surprise that this “VIP”, a self-proclaimed defender of the truth, took time to give me special space on that bastion of justice that is his Facebook account. For Mejorada and that Twitter troller, my “court of last resort” slip up was a huge event complete with fireworks and lechón and marching bands. They were having such a grand time as if it mattered all the world. It’s like, hey, who the heck am I to deserve such attention from a political and journalistic figure in Panay Island? In one comment of his, Mejorada himself even said that I’m just a mere “butete” compared to the others he usually defames… err, attacks rather.
Of course I got annoyed. However, the underlying sentiment I had was that of flattery. To make it more simple, and to Manuel Mejorada’s credit, who in blue blazes am I when made to stand side by side with a giant? (“wow, pinatulan ang isáng tulad có, haha.“) 😀 Yes sir. Make no mistake. Manuel Mejorada is a giant (figuratively AND literally speaking). That is why inspite of all the insults I received from his august Facebook account, I couldn’t help but feel being a little bit special… I must have surely made a mark to deserve this kind of attention! 🙂
Be that as it may, this blogpost, of course, will be deemed by those two Ynión attack dogs as nothing more but a deodorant to hide the stench of my “ignorance” (Mejorada’s words). Rest assured, dear reader, that I am and have always been cognizant of the fact about which institution is the court of last resort. Proof? Why, even those idiotic attack dogs know about it.
So there, dear friends. Let this be a lesson to you, most especially to slow-thinkers such as myself: never ever touch that mouse or keyboard when you are angry and/or in a hurry during an online argument. You might not like what you’ve been typing. When you feel like you are already losing your temper, better leave your opponent for a while. Breathe, take a break, then return to the battlefield once you’ve gone back to a relaxed demeanor. Besides, online arguments are not formal ones, especially with what had transpired between me and that troll two Sundays ago.
Speaking of a relaxed demeanor, I’m now wondering if Mejorada was in that particular state of mind and body when he posted this idiocy on Facebook:
Please forgive his ignorance too. Por favor. Have mercy on this travesty brought about by senility…
As mentioned earlier, Manuel Mejorada, aside from being a seasoned (yellow) journalist in Iloílo Province, is no stranger to politics, as he was once a provincial administrator (I learned that he also used to be the Twitter handler of Senator Franklin Drilón but there was a falling out). Having said that, didn’t it even occur to him that the incumbent leadership in a local government unit incurs advances from a previous administration? At capág may mg̃a dadaúsing eventos, programas, etc., ang mg̃a organizador ang cumucuha ng cash advance, hindî ang alcalde o ang alcaldesa. Naturally, only those who request cash advances are tasked to have them liquidated, and an order is issued to have those advances liquidated within a certain period of time.
Furthermore, it is not uncommon that unliquidated cash advances are handed down from a previous administration to the present one. Besides, even if Mejorada doesn’t do any pestering, these matters are under the watch of a city or municipal hall’s resident auditor from the Commission on Audit (COA).
I reiterate: this yellow journalist-turned-PR guy for the Ynión Brothers was a former “public servant” himself. That is why it is now puzzling as to why Mejorada should “pester” the COA about something which COA is very cognizant about.
So, should we also forgive Manuel Mejorada’s IGNORANCE on LGU state of affairs, something he is supposed to know about?
Of course it is not a coincidence that Barrio San Antonio Chairman Eugenio Ynión, Jr. chose six human coreflutes —two adults and four kids— as his civilian targets. At first glance, I might have had ignored it. But on another video, this time with a shotgun, he really insisted on shooting at two adults and four kids. Other than that, what kind of a brute would even think of practising his shooting skills on kiddie-sized civilian targets? Indeed, this poor soul is one of a kind.
In the light of Eugenio Ynión’s death threats against me (coupled with his mentally unstable brother Rommel’s threats against my family), there is no shadow of a doubt that this pathetic target practice of his is meant to intimidate and threaten me and my family once more. Besides, since he is online most of the time, I’m sure that he is already aware that I filed a blotter against him and his brother for threatening our lives. Our city police chief himself, Superintendent Fernando Ortega, even took time to assist me on that matter. Heck, many people in San Pedro, even those who have no social media accounts, are already aware of this death threat issue (San Pedro’s just a small city, in fact the smallest in the whole province of La Laguna). But because of this video, Ynión has shown his impudence and imprudence towards the blotter case. Nagháhamon talagá. Palibhasa maraming pera.
Captioning the video, Ynión wrote:
Rusty but what the heck! In the real world of violence, you don’t get to prepare for your enemies. They won’t say, “be ready, here I come”. It’s always a surprise attack be it an ambush or a stab behind the back. So these shooting exercises are just about de stressing and bonding with friends…
When Ynión says something about surprise attacks, backstabbing, and ambush, trust him on this, for he seems to be an expert himself. Remember when he promised that he will get to see me the least I expect it?
But with his several armed goons surrounding him all the time, who would even dare ambush him in the first place? And as far as I can remember, I don’t recall any politician brandishing his or her shooting skills on social media. What for, really? Yes, Ynión and his trigger-happy minions (and one of them is a complete INGRATO, by the way) have the right to do some target practice, if that’s what their “trip” is. But is it proper for him to post it on Facebook especially since his threats to me (and his brother’s to my family) have been made public already? Speaking of which, Ynión got so rattled when I exposed his evil side on Facebook that he even added as friend those who shared that “death threat” post of mine.
So, to all those living in the City of San Pedro: is this the kind of man you want to lead you? At this early, he’s already starting to intimidate people. What more if he becomes mayor? He threatened to kill me just because I kept on answering back at his backstabbing antics on Facebook against the more popular and effective Mayor Lourdes Catáquiz.
But no, me and my family are not threatened at all. Because his bullets, like his pathetic display of “courage” in his videos, are mere rubber. And if he ever succeeds in killing me and my family, he’s the unlucky one, not us.
Trust me on this, Eugenio. Evil men like you are not forever.
Shoot, coward, you are only going to kill a man.
—Che Guevara—
One scene from The Godfather which leaves an indelible mark in the viewers’ minds is the brutal assassination of Sonny Corleone at the toll booth.
I saw this horrible scene only once many years ago, but I still couldn’t forget it. I’m sure that many fans of that now classic film will agree with me that it is the most memorable slaughter clip from the movie.
And it was the only scene which came to mind when Mr. Eugenio Ynión, Jr. —CEO of shadyYnión General Holdings and frequent absentee barrio captain of San Antonio in San Pedro Tunasán City, La Laguna Province— issued me a death threat last April 30. He sent it via private message to a decoy Facebook account during a filthy word war which he instigated (I admit to starting arguments most of the time in online forums, but I don’t start fights). Here’s his first threat, and it’s rather creepy:
It may mean nothing harmful at first reading. But check out the second one below. It’s rather cryptic, but becoming all the more ominous when connected to the first threat above:
Kapitan Ynión mentioning “The Godfather” is an obvious reference to that classic film’s infamous and memorable toll booth assassination scene (see video above). Do the math, friends. 🙂
Never mind that this millionaire has fag issues (attention: LGBT community). What matters the most is why he threatened to harm me. My sin? I took sides in our young city‘s political landscape. I defended his twisted and malicious tirades against our mayor, Lourdes Catáquiz. But I did it respectfully, and he knows this. And so I instantly became his number one critic on his Facebook account (whose settings used to be public for everybody to see his wall posts that are filled with lies, lies, and more lies).
Before we go to how he defamed San Pedro, let me explain first how I made Kapitan Ynión fidgety and livid the whole summer. I first criticized him over a libelous video he posted on his Facebook account wherein he accused city hall of expropriating his land. At first, our exchanges were polite. But bit by bit, he was getting annoyed when he couldn’t get me to side with him. The polite exchanges turned sour. And when he could no longer beat me to the punch, he resorted to childish remarks and ad hominems, surprising me and many others of his behavior. We never thought he’d go down that low, especially since he boasts of being the youngest shipping magnate in the country. And he’s a politician, for crying out loud.
In the end, he deleted his libelous accusations, but not without blocking me (fortunately, some friends of mine who were observing our exchanges were able to make screenshots of his hilarious video and unprofessional remarks towards me). After the confrontation, I began receiving messages from various residents of San Antonio, some of whom I haven’t even met before, congratulating me for standing up to Kapitan Ynión. It seems to me that many people there do not like him. So how did he win last year’s elections? Your guess is as good as mine (and it’s interesting to note that he won by only 885 votes against his rival, Jamie Ambayec, a native San Pedrense).
Anyway, I thought that his blocking me on Facebook would have ended the squabble. But something about his posts bothered me. That is why I thought it best to “troll” him all the more by “hiring” the services of a decoy Facebook account by the name of Fil Acayan. This decoy account added Kapitan Ynión as a friend, signed all his posts as “Pepe Alas”, and the word war was on again. Since then, Kapitan Ynión never had a single day without me inside his head.
Included in that deleted Ynión video, by the way, was an unbecoming comment of his that was meant to taunt the Catáquiz administration but which also became a big insult to the city as a whole. Says Ynión: “the only thing that San Pedro could be proud of is its dumpsite”. Thus the need for me to hire Fil Acayan, the decoy Facebook account. Because I had to avenge our city’s name that was calumnied.
I had to be that PR guy for San Pedro Tunasán and not for the Catáquiz administration.
Kapitan Jun Ynión insulted the whole city of San Pedro
The only thing that San Pedro could be proud of is its dumpsite? Truly, these are the words of a hateful outsider (Ynión’s from Bacólod), an uncouth Filipino skilfully pretending to be a gentleman who has zero knowledge of San Pedro’s beauty and worth and heritage, words of a desperate man who is hell-bent of doing anything he can to achieve his ambition of becoming mayor at all costs, including the pretense of loving a place he is really unfamiliar with, detached even.
The only thing our city could be proud of is its dumpsite? Really? Me and my family have been living in Tagalog San Pedro far longer than this Visayan fellow, but we haven’t even seen nor have been hearing much about this dumpsite, which means its overall impact to our city is next to nil. Now, this fellow currently lives in La Marea, just a stone’s throw away from posh KC Filipinas Golf Resort Club, Inc. Has he even heard of the place? KC Filipinas is not something to be proud of? How about San Pedro’s time-honored tradition that is the sampaguita trade? The prevalence of the national flower gave San Pedro the honorable distinction of being the country’s sampaguita capital. Heck, we even earned a Guinness World Record back in 2009 for having created a 2.1-kilometer sampaguita lei! Hasn’t he heard of this incredible feat? Or maybe his mind was somewhere else? So, our city’s affinity to the national flower is not something to be proud of? We have historical and miraculous churches such as San Pedro Apóstol (home of the iconic Cross of Tunasán), the Shrine of Santo Sepulcro (home of the miraculous image of Lolo Uweng), and Santo Rosario (the first church in the entire Docese of San Pablo to have been consecrated); we’re not to be proud of? And do I even have to mention how this garbage remark of his has insulted the memory of former Vice President Salvador H. Laurel? Because it seems to me that Kapitan Ynión’s beloved dumpsite weighs more than the heritage that is the Salvador H. Laurel Museum and Library found in Holiday Hills.
And how about the awfully friendly people of San Pedro? Shouldn’t we be proud of them, too? So to follow Kapitan Jun Ynión’s crazed rhetoric, the city’s dumpsite is far more worthy than the people of San Pedro?
Why Ynión hates Catáquiz
The real reason why Kapitan Ynión is bitter over this dumpsite issue is because when he befriended former mayor Calixto Catáquiz (a much-loved living legend in our place, if I may add) a few years ago, he asked for favors if he could manage San Pedro’s dumpsite located in Barrio San Antonio, a favor that is not that easy to grant as there are laws and procedures to follow in order to do that. Much later, Kapitan Ynión requested if he could manage San Pedro’s water distribution facilities.
When both weren’t given to him, bitterness engulfed his mind. And so he started plotting the downfall of the Catáquiz administration. As a matter of fact, he has been plotting this as early as 2008! Check this out:
One problem with Millionaire Ynión is that he’s the type who doesn’t think before he clicks. He’s too talkative (and we San Pedrenses are thankful for it). Other than that, what kind of a CEO and “public servant”stays on Facebook from the wee hours of the morning to the ungodly hours of nightfall? Does this guy even work? Wow.
What was that quote again from David Duchovny? Oh, yeah. I remember now: “In this age of media and Internet access, we are much more talkative than ever before”. 😀
Whack job bros?
My golly. The only people I know who receive death threats are politicians, political activists, controversial celebrities, and the like. So just imagine my amusement when a mere Facebook troll such as myself received one from a self-proclaimed public servant who, in apparent fashion, uses his Facebook account primarily to discredit his political rival in as many twisted ways possible. I have to give him credit, though, because Kapitan Ynión’s lies are so believable that even some natives of San Pedro are starting to believe him.
If I may digress for a while. For the past two years, there have been persisting rumors that Kapitan Ynión was behind the assassination of Barrio San Antonio’s former chairman, the much-loved and very popular Art Hatulan (may he rest in peace). I’m not the type who pays much attention to rumors. But after this incident with this mafioso político, I no longer doubt that rumor myself.
And hey, let’s not forget Kap Ynión’s dear brother Rommel who joined the online fracas to rescue him from my online beating. Before the death threats even happened, he once challenged me to a fisticuff in defense of his brother. Now, this Rommel character wishes to outdo his bro by swearing to kill each and every member of my family.
As if one death threat is not enough. What an idiot and a coward.
Such lovely brothers these two are, always looking out for each other. But to Rommel’s credit, I understand his anger. Because the decoy account attacking his “saintly bro” was really mean. But to Kapitan Eugenio “Jun” Ynión’s fans: ever wondered what made that now legendary Fil Acayan account angrily lose his mind and blurt out invectives against your idol? Here’s why — and this is something which Kap Jun didn’t want you to see:
So there’s your public servant. His true colors exposed. Cagalang galang, ¿’di po ba?
And to those who do not know who this funny man Rommel Ynión is, please visit Adobo Ilonggo for more information. But for starters, Rommel ran for mayor in Iloílo City last year but lost in shameful fashion against fan favorite Jed Patrick Mabílog. Even before the elections began, Rommel was arrested due to tax evasion.And according to the grapevine, he’s currently somewhere in Metro Manila (hiding from eventual imprisonment?) and has become a delinquent unit owner of an expensive small office – home office condominium near Asian Hospital and Medical Center (where he is reportedly treated for manic depression). The poor guy reportedly owes the condominium around ₱400,000!
If this is true (and I don’t doubt that it is not), then shame on millionaire Kapitan Ynión. We see how his brother Rommel loves him dearly by unabashedly announcing to the public that the latter will kill each and every member of my family, yet the former couldn’t seem to pay for his bro’s measly debts. What kind of brotherly circus is this? 😀
Doing the right thing
Nick Joaquín once wrote that “some people can rise very high only because they have fallen very low”. Such is the sad, sad case with the Ynión brothers, whose source of wealth is highly questionable.
Because of the danger posed by the Ynión brothers against me and my family, pleas from relatives and friends for me to stop criticizing them have been pouring out for the past month, that is why I have not been active in socia media recently. But I cannot remain silent for long. Because “silence in the face of evil is evil itself; God will not hold us guiltless”, says German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer. And so I’m back.
Sadly, though, we’re not in San Pedro anymore; concerned officials have already pulled us out from our home for the sake of our safety. Nevertheless, even if we are no longer there, San Pedro will forever be a part of us. It is where our four kids grew up. It is where we have built friendships. It is where we have taken root for the past decade. It is there where I have fully recognized the significance of Filipino township identity which contributes to the general Filipino national identity. My love for the whole province of La Laguna sprang from San Pedro. So wherever we go, we will always tell everyone, with our heads held up high, that we are San Pedrenses, that we come from the blessed City of San Pedro Tunasán.
For practical reasons, confronting Jun Ynión and his brother on his FB account, making him lose his mind every single day, may be deemed stupid because I did not even think of my family’s security with my brash actions. But on hindsight, who will stand up against these devils?
So, a hearty congratulations are in the offing for Kap Eugenio and his equally psychotic brother Rommel for their cowardly death threats to me and my family. They may have succeeded in (inadvertently) driving us out of San Pedro…
…but they have practically destroyed themselves in the process. 🙂
So just in case me and my family don’t get to join you all the way to the 22nd century, you know who to blame.
*F*I*L*I*P*I*N*O*e*S*C*R*I*B*B*L*E*S*
Special thanks to Superintendent Fernando Ortega, San Pedro City Police officer-in-charge, for personally assisting me in filing a blotter report against the evil-minded Ynión brothers of Bacólod.
FILIPINO eSCRIBBLES 