Gimmickry during tragedy

Soldier's Pen

By BGen. Alexander Cabales (Ret.)

Three days into the crash, DOTC Secretary Mar Roxas, the 'spokesman' of the Robredo Operations emphasized that their operations were still in the nature of 'Search and Rescue.'  Yet their activities in the succeeding days involved a preponderance of diving operations in the waters of Masbate. The nature of these actions was therefore that of 'Search and Recovery' contrary to what Secretary Roxas emphasized.

Sec. Mar Roxas during the Search and Recovery operations
Photo Credit: Philippine Inquirer

What is therefore in a name?  'Search and Rescue' was used by Secretary Roxas to give a ray of hope to the family and friends, not only of Secretary Robredo but of the other members of his party as well, that the Secretary and his party may still be alive even after three days in the deep strapped inside the fuselage of the ill fated plane.  'Search and Recovery' when used gives a more gloomy picture.  It meant the retrieval of whatever remained of Secretary Robredo and party. 

In April of this year, I heard Secretary Robredo speak in person when he was our Guest Speaker in the Annual Convention of the Free and Accepted Masons of the Philippines in Naga City.  He was an eloquent speaker though not as fiery as most seasoned politicians are.  Yet he was down to earth in his ideas and showed sincerity in his programs.  He evoked some kind of charisma and a lot of admiration from his audience who come from various disciplines whose only commonality was their membership in freemasonry.  This showed how extensive his influence was that spanned across several sectors of our society. 

Secretary Robredo was such an important man and it is no wonder why the government and the private sector made so much effort to 'search' for his remains and assuaged the feelings of his family and friends.  Since the whole country (and maybe a sizable part of the world) focused on the Robredo accident, some politicians wanted to ride on the free publicity that it offered. 

I was observing with amusement how and why a DOTC Secretary could be in the best position to be the spokesman of the Robredo Operations as if there is no other person better qualified to do it.  It was not in his direct line of work as the DOTC Secretary (even if the Philippine Coast is one of his agencies), nor was he a known expert on such types of undertakings. 

Why not Secretary Gazmin who is an expert on disaster operations and whose department has a built-in capability and the systems of which he is very familiar with being the head of the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC)? 

Why not the military commander in the area whose resources and systems comprise a big part of the operations?  I can only surmise on an answer, these latter personalities are not politicians and they do not desperately need the free publicity.      

Perhaps, one would ask why we are making so much of a fuzz as to who is the designated spokesman (or volunteer spokesman) of the Robredo Accident.  My reason was 'delicadeza' and sincerity among some of our politicians - in making statements and doing things they do not have any business in saying or doing so.  For one, an expert would not commit the mistake of saying it was a rescue when in fact they were making a recovery operations simply because placating the feelings of people is more politically important than of telling the truth.  Dealing in half truths or pure lies has always been their daily menu. 

For example, when they say 'yes' which most of the time is actually 'maybe'; when they say 'maybe', but it is meant as 'no'; and when they say no, which is very rare, they are  talking to people opposite their political fence.

Watching Secretary Roxas talking to the camera holding cue cards showed that he was not indeed on top of the situation.  I am sure that he was too dependent on those cue cards prepared by people not of his department.  He was just lucky that nobody asked the ticklish questions of how and why the operations were conducted in the manner they were done, otherwise he would have difficulty in answering those questions.  He will most possibly respond with general and vague statements.

Taking advantage of a tragedy and riding on the popularity of a man such as Robredo belies the sincerity of some of our top politicians.  They pretend to help when their only desire is to have an opportunity to fuel their political ambitions.  They will resort to all types of gimmickry sans delicadeza and sincerity, just to further their political agenda.  

I could not help but recall the first President of the newly born Third Philippine Republic.  In 1946, then Senate President Manuel Roxas organized the Liberal Party mostly out of his need to launch his presidential ambitions.  He bolted out of the Nacionalista Party simply because then President Sergio Osmeña, Sr, the most honest, the most patriotic and the most nationalistic president we ever had (according to Rodrigo Costales et al, authors of Politics and Governance) stood in his way in becoming president.