“Late is better than never, some may say. But when it comes to telling the truth at a time a nation was waiting and counting on you to say it and you did not despite the many chances given to you, late sometimes also means forever.”

JDV speaking about the secret meeting in ZTE headquarters in China with the first couple and, Benjamin Abalos, and the officials of the company is today’s headline of the Philippine Daily Inquirer. If I only had no plans writing this brief comment, I would never have read the article because, honestly, I am no longer interested in what JDV says. I believe JDV has let the opportunity for him to be patriotic pass. He had his chances before, but he blew all of them. People were waiting for him to speak out of what he knew about the Garci controversy, but instead of speaking out, he defended GMA, and did everything in his power to protect the truth from coming out.

Recall the incident in July last year where the lower house of congress did not almost make it to elect the speaker of the house on the day the president delivered her SONA because the camp of JDV and the camp of his rival where debating as to the manner of election: whether through secret ballot or through the simple method of raising the hand, just like class presidents are chosen. The lower house spent almost the whole day deciding which method to use. In the end, of course, JDV had his wish and also won the elections.

Had JDV lost, Garcia’s election could have been the beginning of GMA’s end.

I wrote an entry about that, and I was really very disappointed.

When his son JDV III blew the whistle about the ZTE controversy, JDV was told to shut his son up. Instead of doing what he was told, he declared that he supported his son. So, JDV was removed as speaker of the house.

From a staunch supporter of GMA to now one of her administration’s cause of irritation, I can see how this happened. Aside from being a politician, JDV is a family man, and a father. No father will ever tell his son to tell a lie. It was this value that he instilled in his son that gave the latter the courage to speak the truth about the ZTE deal.

JDV realizes that his chances of becoming the next or future president of the Republic is close to impossible. So, between his son’s crusade for truth and his loyalty to his party,  JDV wisely chose to side with his son. With it, he has altogether tread the path different, independent, and contrary to the path his party has taken. Late is better than never, some may say. But when it comes to telling the truth at a time a nation was waiting and counting on you to say it and you did not despite the many chances given to you, late sometimes also means forever.

Since he has kept his silence for so long, JDV should have continued keeping his silence. He may even bring what he ought to have spoken very long, long time ago to his grave because people no longer care. Honestly, I find him noisy.