‘Johnny’ old Santa Claus of the Senate

The country has a great deal to worry about when P1.6 million is given as a Christmas cash gift to each of 18 senators and another P250,000 each to four other senators while millions of Filipinos are starving and thousands of displaced typhoon victims are in dire need of food, shelter and clothing assistance from the government.

One is tempted to surmise that Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile had a very expensive way of expressing his discomfort with four of his colleagues in the Senate. It cost the needy Filipinos a whopping P29 million, which could have beneficially been diverted to fund relief operations.

If our children had their kind and jolly old Santa Claus last Christmas, our good senators had their own kind—“Johnny” old Santa Claus. But then, there is a striking difference between a man’s act of kindness and a man acting kind, the latter being…

—CHITO G. PASTORES

chitopastores@yahoo.com