Gusto kong purihin ang isang “Kuya Jr.” na isang jeepney driver. Kaninang umaga ay sumakay ako sa kanyang pinapasadang jeepney na may plakang TCR-699  byaheng DBB-1 Dasmariñas papuntang Baclaran. Hindi talaga ako sumasakay ng jeep dahil sa maulan na panahon natin ngaun ngunit ito ang aking nadatnan sa aming sakayan.

Ako ay sumasakay sa harap. Una palang ay nasaksihan ko na ang kanyang natural na pagkapilipino: Maunawain, Masikap at Magalang. Nang kami ay nakarating sa Coastal Road Plaza, ay nakaranas ang aming sinasakyang jeepney ng problema; kumalas ang isang parte sa may kanang bahagi ng jeep, rason kung bakit hindi rumiresponde ng maayos ang manibela.

Kahit ganito ang problema ay minarapat nyang ihatid ang kanyang mga pasahero sa Baclaran, gamit ang kanyang sinturon, itinali nya ang bumagsak na parte at inilakad ang jeep na dahan-dahan hangang makaabot sa aming destinasyon.

Sabihin na natin na ang Jeepney ay ang ating Inang Bayan, Ang mga pasahero ang Mamamayan, ang Pamasahe ang ating Buwis at si Kuya Jr. ang Pulitika; hindi ba natin mararanasan ang sadyang kabayanihang para sa bayan? nararamdaman ba natin ang mga katagang “Bayan Muna, Bago Sarili” sa mga nakaupo sa kani-kanilang pwesto?

Bakit ang ordinaryong mamamayan ay nanakaya nilang maglingkod sa kanilang kababayan samantalang ang ating mga opisyales ay hindi? Hindi ba insulto iyon sa ating pamahalaan na walang ginawa kung di magpalaki ng tyan?

Mula sa Inquirer.net:

Generals hold breath as DND chief flies C-130 plane

By Christine Avendaño
Inquirer, INQUIRER.net
Last updated 04:47am (Mla time) 08/14/2007

MANILA, Philippines — Barely two weeks into his new job, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. showed generals on Sunday how “hands on” he is.

For a few minutes, Teodoro took control of the C-130 plane that ferried him and military officers on a whirlwind one-day visit to conflict-torn Sulu and Basilan provinces.

But reporters who joined the trip only got wind of Teodoro’s flying skills when the transport plane had already landed at Villamor Air Base in Pasay City.

“Was our flight OK?” Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr. later asked reporters. “The secretary flew the plane,” he said.

“He’s an expert pilot of Lear jets,” Esperon then said of Teodoro, 43, a lawyer, former Tarlac congressman and the favorite nephew of business tycoon Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco.

Esperon said Teodoro first took control of the plane when it departed from the Edward Andrews Airbase in Zamboanga City after 6 p.m. bound for Manila.

The group had gone to Jolo where Teodoro and Esperon received a briefing on operations against the Abu Sayyaf Group. From there, they boarded Huey helicopters to Basilan.

AFP information chief Lt. Col. Bartolome Bacarro said Teodoro took control of the plane when it left Zamboanga and again later as it approached the Villamor Air Base runway but yielded to the pilot for the touchdown, Bacarro said.

That was why the military generals, seated together near the cockpit, applauded loudly when the plane landed. And that was also why Teodoro, who was seated with them, suddenly disappeared before the landing.

One general said lightly that the other generals had held their breath for a few minutes during the landing.

Teodoro did not mention the flight at a news conference Monday in Camp Aguinaldo, the military’s general headquarters in Quezon City.

He did say though that he was overwhelmed with emotion during the trip back to Manila because the plane was “taking home” an officer who perished in the Aug. 9 encounter with Abu Sayyaf bandits in Sulu.

“On a personal note, the only time I felt severe emotion was yesterday when General Esperon and I had to console the widows of this conflict [and] secondly when we had to take home the casket of 2nd Lieutenant Camelon. There I felt a lot of emotion,” Teodoro told reporters Monday.

2nd Lt. Charlie Anthony Camelon of the 33rd Infantry Battalion based in Sulu was killed with 27 others during the incident. His remains in a white casket were on board the C-130 that Teodoro piloted for a few minutes. With a report from Joel Guinto, INQUIRER.net

Oo, may mga opisyales tayong kayang magpalipad ng isang C-130 pero sapat na ba yun para makita ang kanyang dedikasyon bilang isang pinuno? Saludo ako sayo kung yan ay mula sa iyong puso para maglingkod at hindi lamang na isang pakitang-gilas tulad ng ibang nakapwesto ngayon sa ating pamahalaan.

-J.D.C