The recantation

MOST octogenarians I know, and I know a few, while away their day on a rocking chair under a gigantic mango tree. It’s a bit cliché, but it’s a ubiquitous sight out in the countryside. Just go to Lamacan, Argao.

In other countries, like France, for example, I always imagine them playing boules in a tiny corner of the plaza, their signature paunches figuring prominently as they haunch over to roll, lob or throw a metallic ball the size of an orange as close as possible to a target ball.

In remote areas high in the Bolivian Andes, they probably munch on coca leaves to help them cope with altitude sickness while they talk about that to-die-for guinea pig dinner the night before.

And if they happen to be in Lebanon, I expect them to discuss the recent beheadings by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria over a cup of tea and watermelon-flavored sheesha in a sidewalk café in Beirut.

But I never expected to find one here in my own backyard to call on the President to step down.

I’m not a big fan of “he-who-didnot-show- up- at- the-Villamor- AirBase-when-the-bodies-of-the-slainSAF-members-arrived,” but I never had the gall to call for his ouster. But not our Yoda of the Cebu archdiocese. Oh no. He was fearless. In front of media cameras, he read a statement that “strongly advocated that the President should step down.” I figured this guy has cojones. And he’s 84.

Then there was the backlash. His secretary was quick to clarify that the statement was not his superior’s “personal message but the stand of the National Transformation Council (NTC).”

Umm. Say that again? Come on, where’s the hidden camera? Are we being pranked? Ashton, is that you? Is this some Jedi mind trick?

I know I’m being ridiculous, but I don’t think I’m the only one having a “ha” moment right now.

On their Facebook account, members of the NTC continue to insist on retired Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal supporting their call for the President’s resignation.

Let’s see. The group said almost all of the guests who attended Vidal’s post-birthday party at his house belong to the NTC. Some of them stood out like former senator Francisco Tatad and former defense secretary Norberto Gonzales, who were allegedly upset that their past affiliations were published.

So I guess this is how the evening panned out (I assumed the party was held at night but if it wasn’t, then mea culpa): before the guests were served “a sumptuous meal” that was worthy of a cardinal’s table, they had a mass. Then there was the press conference where the cardinal, with other church leaders behind him, read the infamous statement. And finally, a highlevel NTC meeting that reportedly lasted five to six hours was conducted right in the cardinal’s office.

There you have it. I guess the NTC has every right to say Vidal is one with the group.

“For someone who ‘ does not’ believe in NTC, the cardinal was surely very accommodating to NTC. Posible ba na basahin ni Cardinal in front of media cameras ang isang bagay na hindi niya pinaniniwalaan (Is it possible for the cardinal to read a statement he doesn’t believe in in front of media cameras), a statement that was so controversial because it was asking the President of the Philippines to step down?” the group said in a statement. Amen to that.

Still, I think the cardinal shouldn’t have recanted. After all, he is Cardinal Vidal. People love him. He’s frail, he’s old. And octogenarians often say the darndest things (and no, this sentence is not meant to insult or to denigrate the eightysomething). But coming up with such a blatant lame excuse only exposes Vidal to further ridicule, which ultimately raises questions about his senility.