ANGER SURELY forced Congressman Niel “Junjun” Tupas, Jr. to call his cousin Vice Governor Rolex Suplico a mad dog. What really mattered in this story were the discovered ghost conferences of Congressman Tupas when he was still a Provincial Board Member.

But if I were to confer a title to the vice governor, I would call him “ghost-hunter” rather than “mad dog.” Even in his cursory reading, Suplico managed to catch the ghost story of his cousin in the Daily Guardian newspaper.

According to him, the ghost meetings resurfaced in the news on April 17 and 30, and May 7, 2007. When validated, he found out the stories to be true and this was where the real ghosts came into the picture.

The first ghost meeting was reportedly held at the Sara Covered Gym, Sara, Iloilo on October 23, 2004. It was allegedly attended by 250 invisible souls but the Provincial government paid Rumbuhan Beer Garden Restaurant of Sara, P48,960.00 for catering services.

On February 16, 2005, an alleged second ghost meeting of 244 spirits called by then board member Tupas took place in Sara, Iloilo. The Iloilo Provincial government still paid P51,840.00 to Rumbuhan Beer Garden Restaurant for food of these souls.

Again, on April 14, 2005, the Iloilo provincial government paid another P51,840.00 to Rumbuhan Beer Garden Restaurant for catering services in a conference of 244 unseen creatures attending a ghosts’ conference at Sara Gym.

This is how we understand the artistic version of Suplico on the ghost meetings. The sad part of the story is the gluttony of the spirits in eating all the food served to them by the caterer as there was no report of any left-over.

Food served by Rumbuhan Beer Garden Restaurant to the ghost-delegates allegedly  included rice, quail egg soup,  kinilaw tangigue, sinigang bulgan, sweet and sour fish, squid barbecue, buko salad and two lechon for lunch. Chicken sandwiches and soft drinks were also served for snacks!

During the third meeting of evil spirits, other than the above menu, additional shark pins and afritada were served for lunch. But how did the unseen creatures consume all the food without a single piece of bone as left over?

This creates an erroneous impression without affirming the perception that the principal signatories in the payment vouchers and the attendance slips are adept in creating ghost stories to satisfy greed. Unholy spirits with a bad money-making habit!

On the other hand, VG Suplico in all his years in public office, proved his adherence to the rule of law. This is gleaned in his keen observance of public official’s responsibility and accountability attendant thereto.

Probably, he is branded a mad dog in the Capitol by his cousin Cong. Tupas as he won’t let corrupt practices go unnoticed. No wonder, whenever he has a scheduled privilege speech, all chairs at the lobby of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan are occupied by the working press.

The public are not keen on watching, reading or listening to good news about the Capitol or of the government as a whole but they are more interested in knowing on how officials spend their money. They believed this is where VG Suplico fit the most!

Congressman Tupas calling him a mad dog cannot harm the vice governor. It cannot intimidate him either. This can neither stop the charges of Capitol corruption from coming in nor getting out of the court because of recklessness.

There may be a counter-argument against the order that follows as a matter of course. But we will dish-out the usual line of Provincial Administrator Manuel “Boy” Mejorada and Governor Niel Tupas, Sr.: one is innocent unless proven guilty – a glaring proof of their camaraderie!

If VG Suplico is a Capitol mad dog because of his vigilance in watching the taxpayers’ money, it is our pride to have a Sangguniang Panlalawigan predominantly occupied by mad dogs rather than the few domesticated and senseless ones that we feed – which neither bark nor bite!

One Response to “Mad dogs in the Capitol”

• 1
  emely
  April 9th, 2008 23:30

  congratulation to the mad dog for having a good spirit to hunt a ghost and corrupt personnel of iloilo provincial goverment office. Go go go VG Suplico….GOD BLESS YOU

Leave a Reply