IT STARTED as a rant on Facebook, but ended up voicing public outrage against pork barrel corruption.
The open letter “Dear Janet,” written by essayist and Faculty of Engineering professor Joselito de los Reyes, became a hit on social media last Aug. 19. Written at the height of the controversy over the systematic siphoning of P10 billion in Priority Development Assistance Funds (PDAF) or “pork barrel,” De los Reyes’s satirical letter to alleged scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles had more than 25,000 likes and 35,000 shares in Facebook as of Sept. 9.
De los Reyes said his anger arose from the inconvenience he felt while checking the papers of his students during the peak of Typhoon Maring, when he ate only fried rice and liver spread. “Ikaw ngayon ang napagbuntunan ko kasi habang isinusulat ko ito, naaanggihan ako ng ulan. Hindi ko maipagawa ang bubong ng kapiraso kong barong-barong,” he said in his open letter.
“Napaka-inconvenient ng ginagawa ko while doing my job at walang makain sa bahay. Nagagalit ako dahil malayo sana ang mararating nito (tax) kung na-manage lang sana nang maayos ‘yung pera. Nanghihinayang ako sa perang binibigay ko sa gobyerno,” Delos Reyes told the Varsitarian.
Not just a ‘professor’s story’
De los Reyes said he wrote the 975-word letter in 10 minutes. It was not academic because he wanted it to come from the voice of an ordinary citizen, he said. “It’s not really a form of literature, but a form of rhetoric. It’s more of how I could get the message across,” Delos Reyes said.
He wrote: “Idinaan ko sa Facebook kasi bente otso ang bahay mo, trenta kung ibibilang pati lower house at senado. Kaya hindi ko alam kung saan ia-address, mahal ang selyo.”
There were negative comments from some users, who called it just another “professor’s story” and claimed Delos Reyes was being used by the government.
“Sarili ko talagang experience ‘yan kaya hindi ‘yan professor’s story. ‘Yun ang una kong naisip e. Spontaneous nga e, how would you plan that?” he said.
Jail lawmakers
Delos Reyes called on Napoles to name all senators and congressmen involved in the scam in his second post, titled “Salamat sa 16k++ Shares ng Dear Janet.” Still, his focus was on Napoles because of the stark contrast between her lavish lifestyle and those of ordinary taxpayers.
“[‘Yung mga] senador, given na matitigas na ang mga mukha nila. Kaya lang naman siya nadawit dito dahil sa lifestyle niya at ‘yung anak niya ay namumuhay nang malayong-malayo sa karaniwan. Wala namang pulitikong namumuhay ng aba. Pero itong [anak niyang] si Jeanne, walang posisyon and yet living the life,” Delos Reyes said.
Delos Reyes urged his readers not to forget the crimes committed by Napoles and her congressional cohorts, and indirectly asked the president to put them in jail, not in “resorts” like hospitals.
“Darating ang araw ninyo kapag sinabi…nung nakatira sa Malakanyang…na parusahan kayong makulong sa tunay na kulungan at hindi sa resort na kung tawagin ay St. Luke’s o Veterans,” said Delos Reyes. J.C.R. Obice
