Ang Tunay na Lutang

What is a Sol Gen? Sol Gen is a noun, a shortened form of solicitor general. “The Office of the Solicitor General is the “law firm” of the Republic of the Philippines. The Solicitor General is the principal law officer and legal defender of the Republic of the Philippines. He shall have the authority and responsibility for the exercise of the Office’s mandate and for the discharge of its duties and functions, and shall have supervision and control over the Office and its constituent units. He also determines the legal position that the government will take in the courts and argues in virtually every case in which the government is a party. It is tasked to represent the people of the Philippines, the Philippine government, its agencies, instrumentalities, officials, and agents in any litigation, proceeding, or investigation before the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals.” (en.wikipedia.org) The present solicitor general is Solicitor General Jose C. Calida, who for some reason was so adamant and passionate in withholding the franchise of ABS-CBN to operate in free television.

That’s for some people who may think that a sol gen is a soldier general. No, it’s not. It’s a contraction, a shortened form of words, in the same line as DepEd for Department of Education, med rep for medical representative, press con for press conference. It is in the same vein as BuCor, NAPOLCOM, and Gomburza which is a shortened form of last names of three Filipino martyr priests, Mariano Gomez, Jose Burgos and Jacinto Zamora who were executed by the Spanish in 1872 on charges of subversion (much like personalities who are red tagged today).

Since we’re at the topic anyway, the longest bridge in the Philippines is San Juanico Bridge which connects Samar and Leyte. SLEX can not be a bridge because a bridge is a structure that carries a road across a river or a ravine (which for better comprehension, is a “bangin”). How can a person in his/her teens can not distinguish a bridge and a highway? Furthermore, Baguio City is considered as the summer capital of the Philippines, and Melchora Aquino and Ninoy Aquino are not directly related. If I may add into the mix, DH stands for domestic helper which is a term for Filipino housekeepers working overseas.

They blame it on the weakness on the educational system’s implementation of instruction on Philippine history, but I think it goes beyond the knowledge and familiarity of history. Baguio City’s monicker as the summer capital and the basic fact that SLEX is not a bridge are common everyday and cultural information that need not be learned from books in classrooms. I suppose one would see Baguio: summer Capital on shirts and billboards. You don’t have to go to class to know that a highway is not a bridge. A local public official, I suppose should know what a DH is, since the sector is part of the constituency, and should be recipients of legislation that would be drafted in Congress. A national public official should be familiar with a sol gen since its office is one of the important agencies the administration of the executive branch. Are these people all alumni of the same school, or members of one organization or residents of one community? Has common knowledge become a subjective concept?

It is utterly unfair when some personalities are labeled as lacking of cognitive capability, when some of those who are implied to be the opposite are screaming of their cognitive ineptitude before cameras.

Sino ba talaga ang tunay na lutang?

Sino ba talaga ang tunay na may utang?

On the subject of fairness, another witness has testified on the absence of involvement of a certain lady senator on drug charges for which she has been incarcerated for a half decade now. There seems to be a steady addition to the roster of recants on this drug dilemma. For crying out loud, free Sen. Leila De Lima. The truth is slowly being peeled open. A Nobel Peace Prize winner also languishes in custody. She has been awarded the prize for being a fearless defender of independent journalism and freedom of expression, yet the government claims freedom of press is healthy in the country. How does that check out?

On the flipside of fairness, another lady who used to be first, had been found guilty of graft and ordered to be arrested by a Philippine court in 2018, has successfully evaded incarceration by virtue of medical conditions which recently has miraculously met its cure. This convict has never experienced incarceration, despite the far gravity of her cases than those of De Lima and Ressa.

“Blessed are they who observe justice, who do righteousness at all times!” -Psalm 106:3