Senator Antonio Trillanes IV has this tendency to pick quarrels with his colleagues in government. Remember, for instance, that he accused then Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile of supporting the move to create a new province in Camarines Sur supposedly on orders of detained former president Gloria Arroyo.
Now the former Navy officer-turned-senator is training his guns on Vice President Jojo Binay, accusing him of corruption while he was still Makati City mayor. The problem, however, is that Trillanes appears too gigil na gigil to pin down Binay and make the Vice President look really bad in the eyes of the people.
Take his latest pronouncements after he conducted an ocular inspection of a 350-hectare real estate in Rosario, Batangas, which he claimed belongs to Binay. It’s actually not that big, it’s only 140 hectares. He should at least get his facts right. Also, the piggery at the Rosario property was not air-conditioned at all, contrary to his claim. Only a small office there had air-conditioning.
Trillanes said: “Nakita natin yung karangyaan nitong lugar na ito at gusto ko ngang maipakita na ito, dalawang pagkatao nito ni Vice President Binay na nagpapakita siya na mahirap siya, kulay-mahirap, na asal-mahirap, pero yun pala mayroon siyang sikretong mundo na, ito nga, na karangyaan. So diyan niyo makikita yung pagbabalatkayo ng taong ito.” (We saw how lavish the place is, and I want to show here the two faces of Vice President Binay, one of which he would like to appear poor, with the color of the poor and the ways of the poor, but in truth he has this secret, which is these lavish possessions. So there you can see the pretensions of this man.)
But that offensive tirade against poor Binay’s dark complexion didn’t escape the notice of netizens, who promptly took Trillanes to task.
“Being poor is nothing to be ashamed of. Sen. Trillanes’ comment re kulay mahirap suddenly seemed so offensive. Talk about being two-faced,” said one post in Twitter. Another netizen asked: “Pag maitim ba mahirap na agad? Respeto naman Senator Trillanes.” [Does being dark mean being poor? Show some respect for dark-skinned people, please, Senator Trillanes.]
“Just because you have brown-skin kulay mahirap na? Hiyang-hiya naman sayo ang mga Pinoy [… you have the color of the poor? Filipinos are so ashamed of you], Sen. Trillanes!” another Twitter post said.
One blogger asked: “Asal mahirap, kulay mahirap, hiyang-hiya naman ako sa sinabi ni Trillanes. Siya kaya? Asal mayaman? At kulay mayaman?” [Behaving like a poor man, having the color of the poor, I’m so ashamed of what Trillanes said. How about him. Is he behaving like a rich man? And does he have the color of the rich?]
Trillanes, the antipoor senator, should watch his words unless he wants the poor to stage rallies against him.
—ERWIN PAGUIRIGAN,
paguirigan.erwin75@gmail.com