February 26, 1986
BD Mail
Business Day
Sir:

Gethsename Selirio paints the rather sympathetic picture of a Dr. Jaime Laya remaining steadfastly loyal to the President he served (BD, Feb. 26).

But we should not overlook (as Selirio does) the darker side of "loyalty a la Laya." Dr. Laya’s loyalty to the ousted president superseded his loyalties to: (1) the students at all academic levels, (2) the teachers and staff members in the Ministry of education, (3) the professors, researchers and other professionals in the various academic disciplines, and (4) his colleagues in the business and professional world.

In this context, I bewail Dr. Laya’s open contempt for Etta Rosales at this time of our history which demands a spirit of conciliation.

Dr. Laya’s attitude toward Mrs. Rosales is especially hard to understand. After all, Mrs. Rosales’ blind, unreasoning commitment to a left-wing ideology is no worse than Dr. Lava’s slavish truckling to Mr. Marcos’ every whim. In fact, what Dr. Laya condemns as Mrs. Rosales’ unreasonableness was merely the most reasonable response to Dr. Laya’s arrogant intransigence.

J. Pedrosa Ramas