Of Twang, Oxymoron and Citizenship

I have no quarrel with the recent appointee, the newest drumbeater of Junior.

It was just that I was somehow startled by the introduction of Atty. Cheloy Garafil, Office of the Press Secretary (OPS) Officer-in-charge Cheloy Garafil, that Daphne Oseña-Paez is the Palace’s “press briefer.”

Computer thesaurus tells us briefer means “short-lived” if used as an adjective but it, too, is synonymous to “transitory, fleeting, momentary, and short-term.”

In the military, a briefer is an official whose main responsibility is to provide information about something such as an update on on-going atrocities and/or war.

As a briefer, she will be the voice with a twang of Junior, the Cabinet and the entire bureaucracy, as in the government. She will “express and to represent whatever programs and news items that need to be amplified.”

She will be the informant, the squealer of “news and information about the activities” of Junior. Having in my mind that she used to be a lifestyle host, I just hope she adheres to her acceptance speech that the message and programs of Junior will be dished out “in an accurate and effective way.”

Alternatively, this would mean she would refrain from going overboard in her description and instead be like her title “brief” and precise. No sugar coating, just dishing out plain and simple facts as it happens.

There's a question on her citizenship. Is she carrying dual citizenship?

From what I’ve heard, she is a Fil-Canadian. There’s an on-going debate on whether or not she’s qualified to serve the government with her citizenship. Some agree because she’s married to a Filipino, broadcast journalist Patrick Paez, who is the head of TV5's news production and host of the TV documentary Kaya.

From my view deck, there’s no such thing as automatic dual citizenship. Curious? Well, allow me to fill you in on this. Based on my research, an individual “must apply,” the key word here is “must” apply for a dual citizenship.

The position given her was a special creation so some sectors believed there is no need for her to go through the gauntlet of the powerful Commission on Appointments. Besides, it is a sub-cabinet level despite such huge responsibility given her.

Which brings me to the next question: Can legal Palace luminaries fill us in on whether a foreigner (this is on the basis that she remains a Fil-Canadian) be allowed to serve the government? Will she be considered as foreign consultant?   

This issue crops up when asked by Palace reporters if she can liken her role to the presidential spokesperson, to which she unabashedly said: she would support the OPS “for now.”

Oops, isn’t that a bit telling? It might be possible that her stint at the Palace will not be a “briefer” as her position at the moment. Considering the words “for now,” does this mean she will soon be elevated to presidential spokesperson? If indeed, she will be, isn’t that a bit of an oxymoron taking into account that Junior said in no uncertain terms that he would rather talk to the working press himself.

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