May I beg Your Pardon?

“Excuse me, may I beg your pardon?”

That’s something I learned in grade one. Ms. Valdez, my homeroom adviser and English teacher who I felt did not particularly like me, taught us that polite way of asking someone to repeat what s/he just said.

According to her, it’s more courteous than blurting out, “What?”

* * *

Today President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo granted executive clemency to Former President Joseph Ejercito Estrada thereby restoring the convicted ex-president’s civil and political rights.

Wow, how compassionate of our president!

An absolute pardon.

Excuse me but I really have to say this, “What?!?”

* * *

Here’s the deal. We are raised in such a way that we are most likely inclined to do the right things. And so we get punished for every blunder we commit. Somehow we realize where we went wrong and how that harmed or could have harmed us or others. And if we keep an open mind, we learn our lesson and do better next time.

Erap, he screwed up. He screwed not himself, not his family, but the whole Filipino people. He did that at the ripe old age of 63. (Well at least that’s when he got caught.)

He was detained for 6 ½ years, not on some cold and cramped prison cell, but on a rather comfy camp. And I bet his food still tasted great. I don’t think that at that long a time, he was ever deprived of an aid—someone who’d clean his stuff, including his pants and underpants.

The whole time, Erap never pleaded guilty to plunder nor perjury. He never diplayed any sign of remorse for doing the country ill. And he keeps on wearing that dang wristband with the presidential logo.

Something tells me nobody learned anything.

If I had things my way, I’d say two people are in badly need of spanking: the one who got away without learning anything, and the one who’s trying to sneak out as if we wouldn’t notice what she’s doing.