“Perhaps the lesson here is to ensure always the professionalism of our men in uniform. This means that Magalong should have filed the necessary complaint against Albayade 13 years ago when he obtained his information.

First, the good news. The Bureau of Animal Industry visited my hog farm in Tanay and obtained blood samples to check if the 26 pigs that died there suffered from the African swine virus. The result is negative. Even before the results of the blood tests came, the veterinarians who visited already theorized that the dreaded virus could not have caused the deaths. According to them, not one of my hogs could have survived had it been the African virus. So, the good news is that there will be at least 140 lechon Cebu for the Metro Manila market this December. While I refer to it as lechon Cebu, my lechoneros will actually be trained in Cagayan de Oro, which I think has the best tasting lechon.

As to the cause of death, the BAI opined that it could have been insufficient feeds in an upland area where the hogs needed to boost their immune systems from the cold. I wanted to market my lechon Cebu as both organic and native. By organic, this meant feeding them only with Madre de Agua, of which there are plenty in Tanay, gabi, the trunks of bananas, and pelletized darak. To obviate further deaths, my able caretaker started feeding them with commercial feeds which is double the cost of pelletized darak. The hogs did stop dying and, from all indications, all the remaining lot appear to be healthy.

Again, I was luckier than the rest of our hog raisers. Even with the Department of Agriculture offering P3,000 to cull suspected hogs with the virus, that could still mean financial devastation for our small hog raisers. This only highlights the need for stricter biosecurity measures to be implemented systematically nationwide to prevent yet another economic disaster for our farmers.

I find it difficult to choose whom to believe on the issue of the so-called “ninja cops.” On the one hand, I followed the career of Philippine National Police chief Oscar Albayalde and rejoiced when President Rodrigo Roa Duterte appointed him as chief of the PNP even if he has not done service in Davao, normally a prerequisite for promotions under his administration. Truth to tell is that the President did not know Albayade personally. He nonetheless appointed him because according to him, he was “very strict,” a requirement, which the Chief Executive knew, was indispensable in maintaining the integrity of our police force.

On the other hand, retired PNP General Benjamin Magalong was also an admirable officer of the PNP. I had my first encounter with him when as a member of the 17th Congress, we investigated the drug trade in Muntinlupa. Prior to his appearance in the House, I have known him, as did the rest of the nation, as the PNP officer who investigated the Mamasapano incident and recommended that both criminal and administrative sanctions be imposed against officials of the PNP including its then chief. Clearly, Magalong, to many, is a man of unquestionable integrity.

How to deal with his claim that Albayade benefitted from the illegal drug trade?

In fairness to Albayalde, Magalong’s account was based on secondary information, which is hearsay under our law on evidence. The problem is legal technicality aside, one cannot merely dismiss information coming from an unimpeachable source. I still do not know who and what to believe. Perhaps the lesson here is to ensure always the professionalism of our men in uniform. This means that Magalong should have filed the necessary complaint against Albayade 13 years ago when he obtained his information. If he were correct, he could have prevented the appointment of a tainted character to the highest post of the PNP. As it stands, let’s accord Albayalde the benefit of the presumption of innocence and bid him farewell when he retires from his post in a month’s time.