Character assassin

By Alex P. Vidal

“Never underestimate the power of jealousy and the power of envy to destroy. Never underestimate that.”—Oliver Stone

FORMER Philippine special envoy for diplomacy to China Ramon Tulfo described as “nakakasuka na” (it’s getting nauseous) the alleged “intervention” of newsman Roy Mabasa in the police investigation on the murder of his brother, Percival a.k.a. Percy Lapid.

How did caring for the case of a brother become nakakasuka?

Tulfo’s use of this bizarre word to describe the actuations of the grieving brother of a slain colleague, was more contemptible and unpalatable. Judas Iscariot was more honorable.

Tulfo’s conduct was unbecoming and he should be ashamed as a veteran media personality.

Tulfo, a known hard-hitting columnist before former President Rodrigo Duterte appointed him as envoy to China in 2018 and 2019, has been using—or, shall we say, wasting—his columns in assassinating the person of Roy, a soft spoken and unassuming person, for “interfering” in the police investigation.

I suspect Tulfo was motivated by envy and jealousy because of the massive publicity and international concern and sympathy for the Mabasa family generated by the senseless murder of a worthy and well-loved broadcaster in the person of 63-year-old Percy Lapid.

It’s common sense that the media community should close ranks in the spirit of brotherhood and solidarity after one of its well-respected and credible members was murdered in cold blood in line of duty on October 3, 2022.

But the irrational-thinking former envoy to China, who dabbles as columnist for a national broadsheet, thinks differently.

For this envious character assassin, it’s more glorious to attack a brother in profession who mourned the death of a family member, than to lambast the killers and the masterminds in the celebrated murder case.

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By the time this article appears in public, we may have known who among the Democrats and Republicans running for governor, House representative and senator were elected in the United States midterm elections on November 8, 2022.

The big takeaway according to the final predictions posted overnight by

Steve Shepard, dean of the Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York, was: “Republicans have a grip on the House majority. But the Senate is firmly up for grabs.”

In our previous articles, we also hinted a possible tsunami to be scored by Donald Trump’s political party owing to the inflation, crime, immigration, and other critical issues that started to eat up the base of President Joe Biden in the past weeks.

We can read the breakdowns of the Senate and gubernatorial races, but we want to dig into the House forecasts.

Here’s Shepard’s forecasts: “Including the latest shifts, 216 seats are now in the ‘Solid,’ ‘Likely’ or ‘Lean Republican’ category—meaning Republicans are only two seats away from the majority, according to the forecast. By comparison, just 194 districts are in the ‘Solid,’ ‘Likely’ and ‘Lean Democratic’ categories. There are 26 seats rated as ‘Toss Up’—races where neither party has a significant advantage.

“The current breakdown of the House (allocating vacant seats to the party that last won them) is 222 Democrats and 213 Republicans. Even if Republicans fail to win any of the 26 ‘Toss Up’ races—just 2 of the 26 would give them the majority—they are currently projected to gain 3 seats. An even, 50-50 split of the ‘Toss Up’ districts would translate to a 16-seat Republican gain.

“A GOP sweep of those ‘Toss Up’ races would represent a gain of nearly 30 seats, and it’s not unusual for one party to win the lion’s share of competitive contests. In 2020, Republicans won 26 of the 27 seats rated as ‘Toss Up’ by POLITICO. In 2018, Democrats won 15 of POLITICO’s 22 ‘Toss Up’ contests in their 40-seat wave election.

I will be posting some post-election results and opinions in some states where the rivalries of contending parties were neck and neck in the battle for the control of the Lower House and the Senate which is crucial in the remaining two years of the Biden administration.

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HE is now a multi-millionaire. We congratulate Filipino-American chess GM Wesley So for his triumphant domination of the recent inaugural Chess.com Global Championship, where he put away GM Nihal Sarin in the final with an almost lopsided win.

So, who wasn’t so successful in some of his recent tournaments, buried Sarin two games to spare.

He took home the $200,000 grand prize―the largest ever prize of his career―along with the dazzling championship trophy.

Chess.com reported that the 29-year-old chess genius “showed us what it means to be a grandmaster of his caliber, coming back to reach one of the top achievements of his career.”

“Amazingly,” added the chess.com, “So seemed to get stronger with each of his matches—despite the top-notch competition—clinching the championship with one of his best games of the event.”

“The fast-paced nature of ping-pong seems optimal for a player to clear their head before embarking on an activity as thought-intensive as chess. Indeed, there was new life in Nihal’s play today, especially in the first duel of the day. In game five, he revisited the dynamic and unorthodox Modern Defense to gain winning chances with the black pieces.

“Game six was a spectacular expression of So’s precise and resourceful defensive abilities, often using the king itself to fend off Nihal’s attack. This championship-clinching battle is our Game of the Day, annotated by GM Rafael Leitao.”

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo.—Ed)