Duped—again

“Dumating na kami dito sa Pilipinas para maningil ng pautang sa gobyerno natin, dahil hanggang sa huli ay niloko pa rin kami. Ibinalita niya sa buong mundo na sa kanila nanggagaling ang pagkabuhay ng anak ko, kaya nakaligtas sa bitay. Hindi po totoo ’yan, wala pong katotohanan ’yon. Kaya humanda kayo ngayon. Nandito kami para lumaban sa inyo, haharapin namin kayo,” so said Celia Veloso, mother of convicted drug courier Mary Jane Veloso.

The euphoria on the literally last second reprieve given to the younger Veloso has yet to die down when the elder Veloso went on an “inspired” tirade against the very person whom the Indonesian government singled out as among the main reasons for the stay in execution.

The Filipino race has always put “utang na loob” as one of our most honored and lasting traits. Good or bad, Filipinos always remember whatever debt of gratitude they have to other people and that they will forever try to return the favor no matter what the cost.

Mrs. Veloso, meanwhile, seemed to have the opposite understanding of this. Whether she was coaxed, cajoled, forced or duped to say what she said, the fact remains that those utterances came from her mouth and as such must be taken as her own idea.

This, of course, is not unlike being given a baggage to bring to another country. And whether you knew or not what was inside that baggage, it becomes your responsibility once you agree to take it. This was what happened to the younger Veloso, which she insisted she was duped into doing.

For her rants, Mrs. Veloso was brutally panned by netizens—both in Twitter and Facebook. Most say they regret giving their support and prayers for a family of “ingrates”.

Some even hinted that the supposed speech given by the elder Veloso was supposed to be after the younger Veloso was executed by firing squad. And when convicted drug courier was given a reprieved, the elder Veloso’s handlers seemed to have forgotten to correct her statement and thus she was forced to improvise. Which it seemed became her undoing.

For whatever is its worth, the elder Veloso in her tirade forgot one teeny-weeny thing—her daughter is still under lock and key and still has a date with the firing squad. And when the Indonesian authorities decide it is time to implement her sentence, who would she then turn to for help and assistance?

For all their noise and supposed patriotism, the leftist groups in our midst are all just smoke and mirrors. They represent an ideology that has long been proven ineffective and impossible; and all they care about are their interest which is to impose their own brand of communism—or whatever it has since evolved in—on this country.

The elder Veloso definitely has a right to get mad; rant and rave even. If the Filipino nation would continue to listen to her is another thing. So is the little notion on whether they would continue to support her daughter after all that she has said and done.

In this country, ingrates are worse than thieves; and the ungrateful are almost never given another chance. In this light, the Veloso family has been duped—again.