A lawyer’s letter and response

BENCHWARMER

Ramon Dacawi

(We share the following letter to the Courier editor by Atty. Roland Rillera Salazar in response to the letter of dialysis patients the week before. – RD):

This has to do with the letter allegedly sent by the BGH Dialysis Patients, Watchers, Doctors and Nurses, which appeared in your August 26,2018 issue.

I am also a Dialysis Patient of BGH, but I DO NOT SHARE THE SAME OPINION AS THE ONES WHO WROTE THAT LETTER that appeared in your August 26, 2018 issue. 

First of all, the generalization that all the BGH dialysis patients signed the letter is erroneous. I DID NOT GIVE MY CONSENT TO THE WRITING OF THAT LETTER.

Thus, whoever wrote that letter should not make it appear everybody (BGH dialysis patients and watchers) participated in the writing of that letter, when in truth and in fact, neither me, nor my wife's (who is also a watcher) consent were obtained, so as to generally include us as signatories to that letter. 

I am not like the other BGH Dialysis patients, especially a certain "benchwarmer", who are bitter and sore losers because they did not receive a single centavo from the proceeds of the Kalayaan Trail run organized by the P7 group."Haan ak agraraman iti kwarta nga haan ko nagrigatan".

Being a journalist, that "benchwarmer" who wrote the letter about the P7 group, should have obtained the consent of all the patients before signing his letter as "BGH DIALYSIS PATIENTS,etc."

Worse, they managed to get my wife to sign the letter by making it appear that it was a petition for free dialysis (sic). They did not tell her the truth that she was signing for a letter that was to be published in the Baguio Midland Courier! How brazenly deceitful!!!

I am saying this because I was chided by several friends who read the letter in your August 26, 2018 issue, by saying:" Apay pards, agraraman kayo la unayen iti kwarta nga haan kayo la ketdi maka move on?", which was to my embarrassment.  

For my fellow BGH dialyis patients, MOVE ON. There is no use being bitter and crying over spilled milk. The fact that you have been griping over not being able to receive any money from the proceeds of the Kalayaan Trail Run, is already a source of embarrassment because people are beginning to think that "sobra namang kapal ng mukha natin pagdating sa pagpapalimos ng pera". As I always say:"ipasa Diyos nyo na yan". Karma always balances out injustices..

As for the "benchwarmer" who generalized and made it appear that all the dialysis patients and watchers signed his letter, where is your journalism ethics? You are not supposed to include people in something, especially a letter criticizing others, without their express consent. To make things clear: NOT EVERYBODY SHARES YOUR BITTERNESS AND OPINION.

Atty. ROLAND RILLERA SALAZAR

*****

Response: Atty.  Salazar angrily confronted me regarding this while I was on dialysis, threatening to slap me with a copy of the Courier last Tuesday. 1) I am sorry that he feels alluded to, even as we tried to explain he was not included as what I wrote in that letter to the editor was: “Dialysis Patients, Watchers, Doctors, Nurses of BGHMC Dialysis Center” – without the adverbial qualifier “All”. This clearly means that NOT ALL dialysis patients, watchers, doctors and nurses were included.   I tried to present this basic grammatical rule during our exchange. 2) I discussed the  issue if only  to prevent similar instances wherein illness, pain and suffering are used to solicit funds, part of which went to the project organizers as salaries, and none to the announced beneficiaries. As Atty, Salazar pointed out, it’s not about money, even if many patients were looking forward to the Run to help them pay for the repair of their fistulas so they can continue to undergo dialysis –and live.

             It’s about hope, for the Run was offered as their hope for deliverance, albeit temporary.   It’s about being true, about being honest, transparent and human.  It’s about our continuous struggle to be alive, for life is beautiful, despite the hardships we, dialysis patients, face for life. 4) The letter to the Courier editor was attached to where the patients signed and those who did not sign are, therefore, not included. Clearly, it was not a petition for free dialysis,