Ilonggo solons miss cha-cha fireworks

By Alex P. Vidal

“The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis.”—Dante Alighieri

REPRESENTATIVES who fought thongs and hammer versus the senators in the proposed Charter change (cha-cha) through the soon-to-be-doomed People’s Initiative for Modernization and Reform Action (Pirma) were relatively unknown prior to the skirmish, yet they were able to hold the combative and more popular senators at bay.

And made a good account of themselves, or so it seemed.

Senior Deputy Speaker Aurelio Gonzales II, Deputy Speaker Jayjay Suarez (Quezon) House Majority Leader Manuel Jose Dalipe, Rep. Stella Quimbo (Marikina), Rep. Joey Salceda (Albay), Rep. Rufus Rodriguez (Cagayan de Oro City), to name a few.

Even if cha-cha will be vanquished, the proponents in the Lower House who stood toe-to-toe versus the likes of fire-spewing Senate President Miguel Zubiri, Deputy Minority Leader Rosa Hontiveros, Senators Maria Imelda Josefa Remedios “Imee” Romualdez Marcos, Francis Escudero, JV Ejercito, Joel Villanueva, among others, have proven that they can hold their ground against their overexposed and over-glamorized counterparts in the Upper Chamber.

How about the Iloilo solons? Where were they during the bloodbath?

We learned that most of them, owing to their solid adherence to President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. who is pushing for cha-cha anchored on changes in the economic provisions, are also echoing the President’s stand.

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Their silence has been deafening—and sickening.

While some of the neophyte pro-chacha solons from the other regions made headlines these past weeks owing to their ironclad defense of cha-cha, our congressmen and women in Western Visayas couldn’t even make a sneeze about the burning issue. Playing safe?

Because of their silence and nonchalance, they missed the chance to prove their mettle before a national audience.

Are they ashamed of being Marcos Jr.’s newly minted acolytes? Or they are just spineless and afraid of the wrath of their constituents who are mostly allergic to any constitutional change or amendment?

Indi puede nga maghipos lang sila nga daw mga apa ukon daw gin tayaan armalite. They should let the Ilonggos know about their stand.

Sunu kay Dante, ang pinaka mainit ukon pinaka madulum nga lugar sa impyierno gina reserba sa mga wala panindugan during the time of moral—and political—crisis.

Granting nga nahuya sila, at least they should make a statement. Or issue a press release. Pabor bala kamo sa chacha ukon indi? Indi na dapat mag huya huya or mahadlok pa. Mag prangka na.

Sa prangkahanay nga estorya wala deception; wala into-anay; wala plastikanay ukon pag pakuno-kuno. After all the Ilonggos deserve the kind of public officials, or representatives, that they elect.

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REWARD VS TOC. The United States Department of State announced February 15 reward offers of up to $10 million for information leading to the identification or location of anyone who holds a key leadership position in the Transnational Organized Crime (TOC) group behind the ALPHV/Blackcat Ransomware variant and up to $5 million for information leading to the arrest or conviction of anyone participating in or conspiring or attempting to participate in a ransomware attack using the ALPHV/Blackcat variant.

Over 1,000 victim entities globally have been compromised by ALPHV/Blackcat actors.

In December 2023, the Federal Bureau of Investigation disrupted ALPHV/Blackcat’s operations, through distributing a decryption tool developed by the FBI that assisted dozens of victims with restoring affected computer systems and saving victims from ransom demands totaling approximately $99 million.

The reward offer complements the Department of Justice and the FBI’s recent announcement of cooperation with law enforcement agency groups from the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, Spain, and Denmark, to launch a disruption campaign against the notorious ransomware gang ALPHV/Blackcat.

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