Friendship, Greed, and Betrayal
Posted on Thursday, 6 November 2014
Friendship,
Greed and Betrayal
By Apolinario Villalobos
All relationships start with friendship,
bonded by trust and confidence.
For the married couple, the bond is
formally legitimized by signed documents. For living- in partners,
compatibility in many aspects of companionship is enough to legitimize the
relationship, though, questionable in the eyes of God and the government.
In politics, everything depends on the
unwritten “word” of honor among parties concerned, and which hinges on their
distinct personalities, shaded with greed, yet. If such greed overwhelms any of
the parties, disaster occurs – the dreaded betrayal.
A typical occurrence is what happened to
the time-tested relationship between Vice-President Jejomay Binay and his
former Vice-Mayor, Mercado. When Binay broke his promise to support Mercado
during his mayoral bid for Makati, the latter felt betrayed which compelled him
to release a tirade of accusations of corruption against the former. As alleged
by Mercado, Binay had a second thought on the support, as he (Mercado) might
not hand the reins of Makati back to his family (Binay), purporting greed that
might develop in his person.
On the other hand, the friends of the
President are a lucky lot for the latter’s tough support to them. Despite the
flood of mistrust poured over the President’s men and women, he is steadfast in
standing by them, propping them up, even putting them on his shoulders. This
kind of character of the President is one of a kind, although, it jeopardized the
well-being of the country and its people.
The President did not betray the loyalty of
his friends, a very commendable act as a friend. Unfortunately, it is the trust
of the Filipinos that has been betrayed, a grievous act for him as the
President. His greed for a “friendship forever” with his handful cohorts has
drenched his honor with hatred by the people to whom he committed a staunch
stewardship for a journey towards progress on a straight path, devoid of
corruption and exploitation.
The country wallows in different kinds of
betrayals – from the halls of the lawmakers down to the lowest level of
governance. The muck is so deep that, perhaps, only a miracle can pull the
country out of it.
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