Senator’s Wife Bars By Law To Flaunt Wealth

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

 Pretty actress Heart Evangelista, the fashionable wife of Senator Chiz Escudero, was seen flaunting with a very expensive colorful scarf, a blue top, and a brown collar wrapped and clad on her Aspin bred dog named Princess Panda. 

A reader of the online news' Philippine Daily Inquirer said that the scarf alone from Hermes  has a hefty price of P40,000.

It was a headline of the Celebrities and Showbiz Section of the daily that said: “LOOK: Heart Evangelista’s dog impresses with expensive Hermes scarf”.

 BELEAGUERED celluloid screen actress Heart Evangelista and her pampered Aspin bred dog named Panda (Photo grabbed from Instagram).

Commenter Emy Bautista reacted on the online post on what Heart did  was a faux pas or blunderby showing off her wealth amidst the glaring poverty in the country.

“Wow, isn’t she a wife of a politician? Does she know how many meals she could have bought for the the homeless and the poor people in the slums of Manila. I know she’s very rich and fashion conscious but an Hermès scarf for your dog when you are surrounded by the poorest of the poor. Shame, shame, shame!”.

Ordinary readers and fans of the tinseltown’s  Filipino-Chinese actress immediately lambasted Bautista.

Here the excerpts of the two of them:

“Emy Bautista their family, the Ongpaucos are rich before his marriage with Chiz fyi (acronym “for your information” - MCO). CHIZUSSS the brains!” Joel Clint Haguisan commented at the controversial Facebook’s post.

“It's not even her responsibility. Lol (Loud out laugh – MCO) Paki mo ba kung anong gawin niya sa pera niya, for as long as hindi niya kinurakot yung pera, she can do whatever she wants to do with it. It's not like she have to donate every single drop of her money just because she's rich. We don't even know kung may foundation ba siyang sinusuportahan or what. Leave her alone, hypocrite!”scathing remarks by Jessah Trinchera Bacoy.

For me, the fans of Heart or the ordinary commenters were DEAD WRONG.

We have laws on extravagance or ostentatious display of wealth by a public official and a member of his family.

They are the following:

1)    (h) SIMPLE LIVING. – Public officials and employees and their families shall lead modest lives appropriate to their positions and income. They shall not indulge in extravagant or ostentatious display of wealth in any form. (Republic Act 6713 or Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employee);

2)    Section 1. LEAD MODEST LIVES. Public officers and employees must, at all times, be accountable to the people, serve them with utmost responsibility, integrity, loyalty, and efficiency; act with patriotism and justice, and LEAD MODEST LIVES (emphasis mine). (Article XI, Philippine Constitution);

3)    Article 25. THOUGHTLESS EXTRAVAGANCE in expenses for pleasure or display during a period of acute public want or emergency may be stopped by order of the courts at the instance of any government or private charitable institution ( Civil Code of the Philippines).

To those pin heads that immediately drew their guns blazing at the Inquirer.net in defense of the gorgeous Heart Evangelista Escudero, you now know the law.

Basa-basa rin, tee he! 


READ MY OTHER ARTICLE:

How Filipino Public Officials Steal

(You can read my selected columns at http://mortzortigoza.blogspot.com and articles at Pangasinan News Aro. You can send comments too at totomortz@yahoo.com)