By Alex P. Vidal
“I’m not usually in a talkative mode.”— Chris Cornell
IF I were Negros Oriental 3rd District Rep. Arnolfo “Arnie” Teves, Jr’s adviser, friend, staff, or relative, I would tell the congressman to keep his mouth shut if no one was openly accusing him of involvement in the massacre inside the compound of Governor Roel Degamo in Pamplona, Negros Oriental that killed eight civilians, including Degamo on March 4.
Teves should be reminded of the old adage that says, “More talk, more mistake; less talk, less mistake.”
On March 6, Teves made a long soliloquy in Facebook “hitting back at those who allegedly want to pin him down” for the governor’s murder.
The controversial congressman claimed he “had nothing to gain” from the grisly crime that happened in broad daylight while Degamo was giving assistance to his constituents.
Who accused Teves? If someone had made any categorical accusation the media would have feasted on this story.
There is a saying that “refrain from defending yourself unless you are being accused.”
The congressman added that he and his brother, Pryde Henry, a former mayor, who was recently unseated by Degamo in the electoral protest, could not benefit from killing Degamo.
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He complained: “Kung may balak man ako o kakayahan na gawin ito, tandaan niyo kung maybalak man ako o kakayahan na gawin ito, di sana ginawa ko na ito bago pa mag eleksyon. Among motibo ko ngayon gagawin? Hindi rin magiging benepisyaryo ako at ang kapatid ko.”
If he could not fight his blabbermouth or the itch to talk about Degamo’s senseless murder and shoot himself on the foot, Teves should have at least consulted a good speechwriter.
With the help of a good speechwriter, Teves could have just said, “We are a peace-loving family and are totally against any form of violence to settle any political dispute. It’s not in our character and values. We condemn the use of violence against Gov. Degamo and we call on the authorities to hunt down the killers.”
How can Teves’ words be credible and believable when he didn’t even denounce violence?
In another development, President Bongbong Marcos Jr. said he was convinced Degamo’s killing was politically motivated.
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THE 24-CARAT GOLD. Pure gold is known, in the jewelry trade, as 24-carat gold. This is too soft a metal for ordinary wear and tear, so a harder metal, generally copper, is alloyed with gold. If the alloy has 18 parts of gold and 6 parts of another metal, we call it 18-carat gold; if it has 14 parts of gold and 10 of another metal, we call it 14-carat gold, and so on.
LET’S HIRE A CARPENTER. Instead of spending lots of money on a new desk for our office, let us invest in some salvaged wood and paying a carpenter to make us one to measure–it will have the added advantage of fitting the space exactly.
THE USE OF HAVING TWO EYES. If we look at our room with one eye only, we will find that it looks much flatter than it does with two eyes. With two eyes we can see that the chair is n front of the desk, that the wastebasket is round and that the closet looks deep. Our eyes are set from about two to two and a half inches from each other–measuring from center to center.
WHY WE HAVE EYEBROWS. Our eyebrows serve a good and useful purpose. If we had no eyebrows, the drops of sweat that form on our foreheads when we get warm would run into our eyes.
KNOWLEDGE IS POWER. Does sound go on forever? No sound lasts forever as a sound. The waves that carry the sound become weaker and weaker, and finally our human ears can hear them no longer. Nor is there any scientific instrument, no matter how delicate, that can record sounds after a certain length of time as passed.
KNOWLEDGE IS POWER. We hear better on water than on sand. Sound is composed of waves that pass through the air. These waves are broken up and interrupted when they strike against solid obstacles. On land, sound-waves usually can not travel very far without striking against houses, or trees, or mountains or some other objects that stand in their path.
(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo.—Ed)
