ROGUE STATUE OR MONUMENT

I can’t think of anything more outrageous than the plan to build a statue or a monument for Congressman Eleandro Madrona within the premises of the Romblon State College, now a university, in Odiongan. Proponents have said, according to news reports, that Madrona deserved a statue built in his honor because he sponsored the bill which later became a law converting the RSC into a university.

Is this a joke? So what if Madrona was the sponsor of that bill? Would that make him a hero equal to Jose Rizal, Andres Bonifacio, Ramon Magsaysay and other great Filipinos whose lives and legacies we want to be immortalized and emulated by our youth?

I wholeheartedly agree with earlier commentaries in this publication that there are many other men and women, deceased and living, who labored harder than Budoy Madrona did in his air-conditioned office in Congress to make RSC what it is now today. RSC’s becoming RSU is a process of its long, colorful and arduous history. And RSU itself is a product of the enormous, selfless efforts and sacrifices of all those men and women who passed through the portals of this remarkable institution.

Let us remember too that the making of a law is a collective process and where every vote of a legislator counts.

Would a statue be built also on RSU’s grounds for each of the congressmen and senators who voted for the bill?

Would a statue be built also for President Arroyo because she signed the bill into law?

The plan is simply ridiculous and tasteless.

Let us not teach our youth the wrong way by telling them that it is okay to steal big and screw the rules as long as you do some little good things once in a blue moon. Let us not impart to them the wrong examples in life---that there is glory in thievery for as long as the scoundrels protect one another.

Instead of building statues or monuments for dirty politicians whose personal lives only sick minds could admire, university officials should focus their attention and resources on how to improve their academic programs and facilities. Pay heed to the students’ clamor for better education and honest governance within and outside the campus.

Whoever thought of that crazy idea about building a statue for a living person deserved to be lynched at the town plaza or thrown into the sea to teach them a lesson about decency and delicadeza, good taste, a good sense of history, and respect for a people whose lives have been deviously manipulated and devalued by the very same person that these cretins want to immortalize through a statue or a monument.

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Upon orders of Governor Natalio Beltran III, the provincial treasurer’s office paid two weeks ago the amount of P300,000.00 for five hundred (500) copies of a little-known travel magazine, Traversing the Orient. That’s P600 per copy, folks.

Beltran, also known as BatMan (whatever that means) among Internet users, all but painted a different picture of our province in his magazine interview. Reading Beltran’s account about our province, any Romblomanon would be instantly transported into a totally strange land where the provincial government does not suffer perennial financial difficulties; illegal fishing and illegal gambling are non-existent; all government personnel are faithfully devoted to their duties; political leaders look and act like saints; and people are happy and contented as if they live in Utopia. In short, Beltran engaged himself in weaving a fairy tale about his administration and the province. In this expensive magazine, Beltran acted as Grigory Potemkin and Hans Christian Andersen rolled into one. Pure dung.

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This corner warmly greets the people of Romblon a Happy Fiesta! Greetings, too, to all alumni of the Romblon National High School who are celebrating their class reunions this year in conjunction with the 2010 Romblon town fiesta. Hala bira!!

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(You can also read this article and past articles of La Tondeña de Bachawan at ltdbromblon.blogspot.com)