The Good General RMA

(Part I)

Often, the more fascinating kind spring out of the blue, like an unread Louis L’ Amour among PG-18 stuff. Or, a leather-boot-strutting Cool Uncle’s visit, light years off-grid, and spotting you share the same shoe size.

Surfing for Mark Manson self-help videos on YouTube, I stumbled on my recent fascination in the ongoing congressional inquiries on government folly and abuses.

Long low-key with his well-earned stars, in such a fashion came Rep. Romeo Macusi Acop – a retired and bemedalled PNP General and present Honorable (in every sense of the word) Representative of the 2^nd District of Antipolo, Rizal – who now continues to bring class, sense and an intense professional vibe to what may been an otherwise OA or humdrum congressional inquiry.

With faces stuck to the screen, the sinaing be damned – a Nation on edge awaits his turn at interpellation.

On average, real-time comments go like this:

Pre-Acop –  “Yari ka, napakasinungaling mo! Anjan na si Acop!”

Mid-Acop – “Napaka husay talaga ni Cong Acop. Daig pa yung mga nasa Senado.”

Post-Acop – “Dapat ito sa Senado. May 100 plus ka na pong boto sa pamilya ko, Cong Acop.”

Once the CIDG Chief, his no-nonsense reputation and high level of ‘Intelligence’ (in every sense of the word) prompt one to stick his nose closer to the screen, close enough to soak in the sweat and rising tension inside Villar Hall.

Mix working neurons with gravitas, perhaps drops of Samurai blood and the occasional glass of tapuy (I’d like to think), plus a whiff of boyish humor ‘interjected’ at just the right time, and you have yourself a “Chair Acop,” as his peers in the Lower House call him – a self-made, Intel-scarred man, who, perhaps having seen enough of the world’s sundry BS, won’t let any one – be they his peers or resource persons, some of whom strut their notoriety for being ‘Ma-Gan’ (siga) Generals – take him for a ride.

Unfettered and pretty damn sure is the distinguished General-turned-Statesman not to take even a gram of BS, sub rosa in magnetic lifters or not. Tested, his ready smile breaks into a fearsome scowl.

So, to those who were exceedingly dumb or daring enough to test him, well, let’s just say they got a good chiding, articulated with perfect grammar intact. And we’re guessing, soiled undies, too. And, to some, like the Hair-splitting Atty. Harry, hours and hours of self-introspection, I’m ugly damn sure. Or, probably not.

Of course, this could be mistaken for brute behavior. But – you see, while Chair Acop may seem unable, or, perhaps unwilling to shake off a General’s authoritarian demeanor (though ‘Authoritarian,’ is somehow misplaced there, given that he ‘served and protected’ our Nation with Honor and humility. ‘Authoritative’ is closer, I think.) – he is genuinely for The Poor, the Oppressed and the Defenseless (The POD). Like a Cool Uncle, he’d give them his leather boots, if needed.

Clearly, his scowl is reserved for the sly and the shifty.

It is reserved for the complicit, the unrepentant, for those who equivocate, who openly and brazenly lie even under oath, who come unprepared to an INQUIRY (for Fu’s sake!), who are utterly clueless or plain playing dumb, stuttering under lame excuses, who allude malice on the inquiry while earlier, accused of murder, wagging to the world  ‘Presumption of Regularity’ with arms akimbo, who thumb their noses on Proper Operational Procedure, or, worse, who now unabashedly pin the blame on the victims, of all the MF justifications!

Anyway, Chair Acop holds the high ground. Since, although clearly prepared before every inquiry, he is still seen deep in thought or deep into studying docus during the breaks. Or probing the demeanor of resource persons. And above all, he’s no BS artist, that’s for sure.

Plus, Chair Acop detests conceit. In one inquiry, during a face-off with Chair Acop, a glib, self-aggrandizing official lost his tongue by the inquiry’s end, although earlier growling like a gangster, thinking himself a real tiger. He left Batasang Pambansa, an ‘Al Capon-ed’ pussy cat.

Unlike that once Big-Time Thug (now reduced to a mere kulambo thug), his presence is reassuring. And he will live on as a just and steady voice who allows grieving mothers much-needed rest and justice without fear.

A calm, reassuring presence – this is who General Acop is, and what he offers to The POD.

(Part II follows: Beyond ‘Chair Acop’)