'Lovers' quarrel’

“A quarrel between friends, when made up, adds a new tie to friendship.” Saint Francis de Sales

By Alex P. Vidal

WE won’t be surprised if the Pasay City prosecutor’s office will dismiss the libel case Senate President Franklin Drilon filed against his former Iloilo media consultant, Manuel “Boy M” Mejorada.

In the first place, the two are not strangers to each other.

It looks like a lovers' quarrel.

Mejorada was Drilon’s former Twitter account handler and Drilon was the one who endorsed the former’s appointment either as TESDA regional director or area manager of the New Iloilo Airport.

Mejorada failed to bag any of the positions.

Their closeness developed when Mejorada was the provincial administrator of former Iloilo Governor Neil D. Tupas Sr. and Drilon was ally of former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

It was believed that Tupas, Drilon’s No. 1 political supporter then, bridged their friendship.

When Drilon severed his ties with Mrs. Macapagal-Arroyo via the “Hyatt 10” mutiny, he remained as Mejorada’s friend.

LOYAL

As a loyal subaltern, Mejorada campaigned for then Liberal Party presidential candidate, Simeon Benigno “Noynoy Aquino III in Iloilo.

Almost all of those identified with Team Liberal Party cornered juicy positions when President Aquino took over, except Mejorada.

Mejorada anxiously waited for any position to arrive but to no avail.

There was no explanation from Drilon why the promised position was not delivered.

In his complaint-affidavit, Drilon revealed: “Mr. Manuel Mejorada ("Mr. Mejorada") was my consultant and served as one of my media relations officer (sic) in the Province of Iloilo from

1 September 2010 to 31 December 2010 and again from 1 January 2011 to 30 June 2011.

“As a consultant, he enjoyed my trust and confidence. It was by reason of this trust that I even recommended him to various posts in the government.

“In particular, I recommended his appointment as

Regional Director of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and Airport Manager of the New Iloilo Airport.

“Unfortunately, despite my recommendation, he did not get appointed to either post.”

Was Mejorada taken for a ride?

BUMP

Did somebody bump someone for the coveted post or posts?

Weeks of waiting turned into months of speculations.

No appointment came from the higher office whatsoever.

While the boys were partying and enjoying the bacchanalia, someone has been left out cold.

Meanwhile, Mejorada filed a barrage of criminal cases against Drilon, et al before the Office of the Ombudsman in relation to the alleged overpriced Iloilo Esplanade spearheaded by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) regional office.

Drilon decided to sue Mejorada after the latter allegedly “betrayed my trust by using my social media accounts to attack political personalities in the Province of Iloilo.”

Drilon added: “Because of this, I lost confidence in him and I decided not to renew his consultancy contract in July 2011.

“It was after this non-renewal of his consultancy contract that Mr. Mejorada began the publication of several libelous statements against me through different internet media.

FACEBOOK

“In particular, Mr. Mejorada used his Facebook account and Wordpress2 blog entitled "Mejorada's Point of View" to publish libelous articles against me.

“On 30 September 2013, Mr. Mejorada published another blog entry on Wordpress called ‘Putting Safety on the Line-the Iloilo  Convention Center.’ In this entry, Mr. Mejorada claimed that I had chosen an architectural firm to prepare the design of the Iloilo Convention Center without complying with the bidding requirement under the Government Procurement Reform Act.

“Mr. Mejorada also posted pictures on Facebook on 14 January 2014. The pictures depicted the earth-filling project in the Iloilo Circumferential Road in Ungka, Pavia. He then described the picture as ‘Drilon's version of the Macapagal Boulevard--grossly overpriced."

In his latest Facebook comment, Mejorada wrote: “Indeed I am flattered by this libel complaint filed by the Senate President. Publicly, and under oath, he confessed to being an avid reader of my blog, ‘Mejorada's Point of View’ on Wordpress.Com.”