Will Rodel Rodis do Bobby Reyes a favor, and for a change face up to his money problems with NaFFAA? – Ado Paglinawan

 
Rodel Rodis replies – with his usual arrogance and abusive language – to Ado Paglinawan, a writer and a community activist in Washington, DC. Once again, Mr. Rodis acts like he is not educated at all and worse, he behaves as if he is not an educator, being the president of the San Francisco Community College. Mr. Rodis does the unthinkable once more – like when he called Filipino Express’ columnist Ricky Rillera and this writer as “as_holes” for questioning data being peddled by Mr. Rodis’ organization, the National Federation of Filipino-American Associations (NaFFAA). Mr. Rodis’ reply to Mr. Paglinawan shows how bankrupt he really is – both intellectually and financially. (Yes, Atty. Rodis sought the protection of a bankruptcy court in Northern California when a client sued him successfully for legal malpractice. He may soon be disbarred.)

To read again the misadventures of some NaFFAA cofounders in the bankruptcy courts, please go to The NaFFAA Is Bankrupt Not Only Financially But Also Intellectually. Readers can also revisit the bombshell of an article about Rodel Rodis in this link The NaFFAA Is in Turmoil: Rodis Continues to Commit Political Suicide.

Hereunder is the classic reply of Mr. Paglinawan to his new detractor, Rodel Rodis. The  retort of Atty. Rodis to Mr. Paglinawan's original e-mail to Nonoy Mendoza, with CC to Bobby Reyes, is reproduced in the Users' Comments following this article.

QUOTE.

Dear Mr. Rodis,

Your ego is so bloated, every criticism thrown at your direction you consider ad hominem, or an attack against your personality. Well, unfortunately I am not one whom you can scare by speaking Latin that may sound Greek to others.

If you read back your reply to me, it is you Mr. Rodis who is attacking me personally, slandering my very name and even my dead parents who have nothing to do with the issues at hand. The proof has your ink prints: "Adolf, your name certainly suits you. Your parents must have known what kind of thinking you would grow up to have."

You know I have often wondered why you could not get Bobby Reyes off your back. Well the answer is right there in your words - you look down on people. Let me tell you straight to your face as you read this from your screen -- you have a condescending attitude. From someone who writes, appears and shares his opinion publicly that very patronizing posture robs you of credibility. And when you do that on the boob tube, that balloon amplifies to your viewers your infertile and decrepit mind. That is a pity because you are not even telegenic.

It is you, Mr. Rodis, sir, who has exposed your utmost lack of breeding by dragging my parents to this issue. And because you are of Filipino descent, this is unpardonable. Worse, it even unmasked your bereft level of literacy and outstanding lack of depth. for your education, the etymology of "Adolf" is a "wolf of nobility", and so let me provide a balm to your hurt feelings, by saying that I agree with you that my name suits me in that sense.

Rodis’ ego is so bloated, every criticism thrown at his direction he considers ad hominem, or an attack against his person. Well, unfortunately Ado Paglinawan is not one whom Mr. Rodis can scare by speaking Latin that sounds Greek to others.

But this is hardly a time to be noble but wolfy because nowhere too in my email to Nonoy Mendoza did I say I was for any other candidate. you said, "If you support McCain, then state your case." now that to any third party who will come across this mail is the classic example of a "swift boat" tactic that you accuse me of but you cannot drag me into your kind of play, sir. as an alleged lawyer or if you were at all teachable, you would have certainly learned to keep the topic within the confines of the evidence, that is in fact a statement you don't anyway deny but even affirm making. 

My reference to you was nowhere political. Surely as a lawyer you were taught to guard against non sequitur statements - it does not necessarily follow that if I disagree with what you said favoring one candidate, I am automatically for another. Mrs. Clinton, Obama or McCain are not the issue here, it is your statement that rocks of bigotry against your own kind even if you have indeed met Filipinos who have said that they are not voting for Obama because he is black. That some Filipinos think so does not mean all Filipinos think likewise. Your fallacious reasoning presents a dangerous generalization because you forget, sir, that we, too, are minority here.

Mr. Rodis, when you allow your mind to overreach beyond what is true and available and allow it to manifest in your behavior and public statements, you become a bigot.

Webster defines bigotry as the attitude, state of mind or behavior characteristic of a bigot. A bigot, he defines as one fanatically devoted one's own group, religion, race or politics and intolerant of those who differ. There you go, Mr. Rodis, if you only bother brush up with your semantics. See, your very irrational reaction to my message is again another proof of your bigotry that feigns impunity escalating to insulting me and my parents. 

So when you ask "How does being anti-racist make me racist? How does having lived here for so long make me think that I'm now 'itim'?" I suggest you constructively reflect on my criticism. Your representation of people, who think they have been disadvantaged because they are not white, does not automatically make you "anti-racist". The length of your residence here neither precludes that you are racist as tenure does not always result to tolerance or wisdom. You say you are anti-racist, but your attitude points the opposite direction.

But repeating on the air, specifically Balitang America, a statement (which you accept you made) to lend support to your candidate on the basis of what you perceive to be racist, is bigoted because it suggest intolerance not only to the peoples of other colors, but most especially of your fellow Filipinos who just differ from your perception or opinion. Are you therefore suggesting that people won't vote for Obama only because he is not white? I know a lot more people because they perceive him as more talk than experience. Or are you suggesting people should vote for Obama because he is black? So what was your point bringing up the prejudicial issue in the first place?

And neither am I the issue here, Mr. Rodis, sir, but you. So why even hide behind Eric Lachica's witness that I am a nice person. You claim he is your friend too, but you obviously do not take his word. So what else is new? Besides Eric Lachica, one of whose virtues is tolerance, is also not the issue here, sir, but it is the intolerant, bigoted and racist you.

Accept your wrongdoing, Mr. Rodis and apologize to your countrymen – to your former countrymen, the Filipinos, whom you wrecklessly lumped as racists and to your present countrymen here regardless of skin, whose hospitality you reward with your bigotry.

Please, do Bobby Reyes a favor, and for a change face up to your money problems with NaFFAA. And if you insist of staying in denial of this issue, take a sabbatical from public appearances and writings because that NaFFAA stain begs for closure and speaks more than whatever mumbo-jumbo you say on TV or write in emails and newspapers.

And next time, please tell me what you exactly mean by "nice" because it may have a different connotation for you who have lived for the longest time in or around San Francisco.

UNQUOTE.

What say you, Atty. Rodis? You can write nasty retorts (like what you replied to Mr. Paglinawan) and even a weekly column in the Philippine News. Yet you cannot write a one-page Statement of Profit or Loss about the 2002 (2-0-0-2) national convention of the NaFFAA in San Jose, CA. You, Mr. Rodis, and Ben Menor co-chaired that convention and both of you channeled illegally city funds to bankroll the NaFFAA convention and you did not turn over to the NaFFAA the revenues generated by that convention. Mr. Menor is awaiting sentencing, after he pleaded “no contest” to a criminal indictment. When will you face the truth, Atty. Rodis, and make a plea bargain yourself? At least you can confess your crimes and plead for leniency in the Court of Public Opinion. After all, many of the students – Filipinos and non-Filipinos alike – at the San Francisco Community College think that you are indeed a crook (C-R-O-O-K). Have you got no shame in serving as the president of a community college, knowing that your sheep’s clothing is really a camouflage for your nefarious activities?

To read Mr. Menor’s plea bargain, please go to this link, Ben Menor Pleads Guilty (No Contest) to One Count of Felony # # #

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