Herbie Gomez and his Gold Star Daily Newspaper today has published a second article on the Thomas Hunt and Grace Songcuya story. The Mayor of Cagayan De Oro has gotten involved with the situation now (three cheers to Hizzoner), and plans to ameliorate the situation to the best of his ability. In this article, I'm actually quoted several times quite extensively, primarily from an e-mail eclaircissement that I sent yesterday in regards to the first Gold Star story in which Grace Songcuya claimed that she had "never received a centavo" from the Ladies Charity.
Why was I the big source for this story? According to Herbie, I was the only one who was willing to be quoted. Since I was saying things that everyone else was saying, Herbie said, in response to my telling him that he could quote me, "I'm a reporter hungry for quotes and sources willing to be quoted. The things you said are basically the same as the things said to me by the others. The difference is, they don't want to be quoted. So I'll quote you. Thank you." (So, I'll acknowledge anybody out there who feels I "stepped into the spotlight" and thinks perhaps I shouldn't have... but I'm confident I did the right thing.)
What is really sad is that the girls of the Expatriates' Ladies Charity are apparently unwilling to step forward and defend themselves in the press. Bless their hearts: They really are exactly what you would expect a ladies charity to be: All action and minds and hearts of steel when it comes to helping the sick and needy, but when attacked and maligned, they haven't the slightest idea what to do. Fortunately, the requirement for being in the Expatriates' Ladies Charity is to be married (or engaged) to an expatriate, and we fornurs are a hearty bunch and willing to stick up for our wives. We make good teams... dynamic duos.
I really encourage people to talk to the press when they are part of the news. There is just one simple rule: Don't say things you cannot substantiate at a later date. If you don't get in there and tell your part, the reporter assigned to your story will just get the information you have somewhere else (perhaps in a form not as much to your liking or benefit), or he or she will omit it completely. No benefit there... and perhaps even harmful.
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10 comments:
Jil I am all up for fighting for justice and honor. But you be careful over in a strange land. Someone might come after you when you are not looking. Even Phils dont like to loose face. Just saying dont let things get too crazy its not worth it!
from Jakal
I can understand your rage about this whole case. I feel the same myself.
However, as someone else here mentioned, do be careful! We don't want to read 'another style of article' about you, touch wood.
You've lived in Asia long enough to know that, more than anywhere else in the world, there's always friend of a friend of a friend of the brother of the local police chief, who doesn't agree with your quite prominent role in this whole case...
You've done what you could to help the ELC, to help poor mr. Hunt, now do think about yourself & your family and do keep low profile.
(us, your readers might have slightly selfish reasons for warning you like this, we want to continue reading your blog for many more years from our dusty & boring offices)
Something else I just thougt about, as #1 said, Asians don't like to loose face, as you very well know by now.
An obviously stinking rich foreigner (to Philippine standards anyway, let's be honest) publicly making Filippinos loose face, won't go down very well at all.
Please be careful.
Jil, I know you did the right thing. Thanks! I'm not sure how to take that previous comment... A threat or warning?
Calme-te folks.
I obviously considered all aspects of this situation, and every word of my comments carefully, and if I had thought that there was any downside to commenting, I would not have done so.
The Songcuya family have had certain expatriates (and expatriates' wives) up in their faces for the better part of 2 months now... people the Songcuya family are going to regret ever having known until the day they die. People I'm sure they hate the very thought of.
In addition, the Mayor of Cagayan De Oro (a very heavy hitter) is really pissed off at the Songcuya family. The hospital people are pissed off. The funeral home people are pissed off. The press is pissed off. The entire island of Mindanao is pissed off.
And all those people were pissed off and trying to get the Songcuyas' collective head on a platter weeks before some relatively-unknown and anonymous guy from The Jungle like myself was used to put a few commonly-known-and-accepted facts and a few common-sense opinions inside of quotation marks. If the Songcuyas have a list of people who have annoyed them, I'm a very new, very minor, and very obscure name (if I register at all) in the grand context of things that worry/annoy the Songcuyas.
Of course, nobody speaks (either here or in New York) without the risk of offending somebody. But considering that right about now, there are about 40 or 50 people actively and ferociously offending the Songcuya family... in their faces... in person... out loud... I sincerely doubt my quoted comments about (1) how expatriates are feeling insulted, (2) how expatriates are watching the case carefully, (3) how expatriates never trusted the Songcuya family, and (4) how hard the ELC worked for Mr. Hunt would even make a ripple in the hurricane seas the Songcuyas are navigating now.
Anyway, there are some aspects to this story that the newspaper will not print (yet) but that are much worse than what has been printed in the newspapers so far. (Read the first news story: There is some foreshadowing going on about that in the conversation with the "family friend" at the funeral home.) You can find most of the to-be-revealed information at any of the links to the information on this story in the various posts I have up.
(And p.s.: Why weren't you all fretting when I was posting my fire and brimstone fulminations and hurling real insults at the Songcuyas on my blog? I thought those would get a bigger reaction like y'all left above than some innocuous quotes in a newspaper.)
But thank you all for your appreciation and concerns. Let's try not to put up any more sincere-but-unnecessary concerns, or doom-and-gloom type stuff... my mother does worry far too easily when she reads stuff like that.
titojohn, no threat, no warning, just concern
Jil, you're right, no need to needlessly worry your mum with my well-meant though probably very worrying-sounding concerns. Please do delete my posts.
Heh, no Kris... no need to delete your posts. They aren't as bad as what people used to write on my old blog every time I criticized the Pattaya Police Department.
Daisy you are getting what you were looking for: Attention with a fort dose of controversy in it. A few years ago when living in the PI helped save the life of a young boy in an advanced stage of TB. Raised money for doctors and his long treatment medications without ever mention the father who was working as a security guard and he could afford the cost if not gambling and drinking. I proceeded anyway without disclosing this to any one and without accusations or pointing fingers to who was responsible for the neglect of this boy. Daisy, you did the opposite. You immediately publicized those guilty you are taking the case over from, Janelana and all of her family in CDO creating a circus atmosphere including some infamous boards like the livingincebuforums.com where you are a moderator, known for plots, defamation and conspiracies. Your partners, like Elmer, Paul Petrea, Markham Farrel Spook owners to name a few, continue the trashing of Tom Hunt wife and in laws to your total indifference- if not approval. Was this part of Tom Hunts will? We’ll never know…
By the way, speaking of Spooks bar, was this the right place of gathering to discuss philanthropic action issues? Any particular message you wanted to send us?
Evan ILIADIS
i am a songcuya and I am from Mindanao why is someone so pissed off at us and would actually collect the our heads on a platter?
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