Tsismis (Gossip)

There are legitimate issues to the appointment of Judge Macarambon in the Commission on Elections (COMELEC). Why was he appointed when his name was not included in the short list of candidates? If your going to appoint somebody outside of your short list, then maybe you should not have submitted the short list of candidates in the first place and just appointed Judge Macarambon directly. The short list serves a purpose, it notifies people of the possible nominees so they can check their background and qualifications throughly, even before they appear before the Commission on Appointments.

Then there are the tsismis issues. Almost immediately after the appointment of Judge Macarambon, Senator Lacson issued a statement that he will block his appointment in the Commission on Appointments. His reason? Because he was informed by reliable sources that the Judge was the protege of former COMELEC Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano.

He may or may not have proof of their relationship, Judge Macarambon has denied the allegation, I just wished he would have gathered more evidence before mouthing off. Now he was forced to issue a statement that he will apologize if he is proven wrong. The problem of course is that he did not specify what evidence will convince him that he is wrong, so he can weasel out of apologizing just by saying he is not convinced by the evidence.

But this is not an isolated incidence in the Philippines. Senator Trillanes used the same tactics when he accused National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales and AFP Chief of Staff Hermogenes Esperon of bombing the Glorietta Mall. He has been proven wrong, but we see no move on his part to retract his accusations.

Senator Cayetano, when he was a Congressman famously accused First Gentleman Mike arroyo of having millions of dollars in deposit in secret bank accounts abroad. When challenged to prove his allegation, all he produced was his own fart.

But headlining (the act of trying to make the headline with unfounded accusations) will not go away, after all, it did land Cayetano a Senate seat, and Senator Lacson is aiming for the Presidency.