Five days before the elections…
One of the things that make my weekend is the time I spend with my sister’s three kids. Ages three to 10, they are at their most adorable and… ummm… most infuriating.
Aside from their current fascination with the national geographic channel (Side story: my mom was able to unhinge their attention from the cartoon network by convincing them that if they want to become scientists and doctors, the national geographic is the channel to watch. See, moms are superheroes really), my nephews and niece are so caught up in the upcoming elections and have actually been singing/ re-enacting the senatorial candidates’ campaign jingles/ ads while eating or taking a bath or playing.
Just this weekend, they were insisting that I vote for that pathetic excuse for a presidential chief of staff and that cabbage head who fills up the entire TV screen with this prominent jaw and pompadour. I said, “no, I’m sticking to my six senators.” For a moment, I thought the conversation was over. Until my nephews, between spoonfuls of lasagna, asked why I am supporting the Opposition and if GMA really cheated in 2004.
I wanted to swallow my fork. I mean, for a second, I was elated that at such a young age, the kids actually know the government officials and are aware of some issues. But on second thought, it worried me that the kids, thru mass media have become witnesses to how power corrupts in this country.
I didn’t want to answer my nephews’ questions because I didn’t want them to be disillusioned. I didn’t want them to know how some people have bastardized their future. I didn’t want to burden them with the challenge to clean up the mess left by those older than they are. I didn’t want them to be fearful. I didn’t want them to be frustrated.
Just like I am now.
I have yet to find a solution to my career woes when I found out the attack at the Villanueva compound at dawn last Friday. My friend Jake, immediately came to my mind. I texted him to ask if they were okay. Each minute that I waited for a reply, made me sicker in the gut with worry. When my phone finally beeped, I was sort of relieved. As it is, the military under the orders of the Cheat Executive is doing special operations against the Villanuevas and the CIBAC party list.
I am not surprised by the stunt. I mean, hey, in 2004, the camp of Mrs. Arroyo ordered the kidnapping of the family of their election operator who turned against them. So what is a little spraying of bullets at one of the vocal critics of GMA, right?
The brazenness for which this administration is known for is not new to me. What is new to me is the thought that, this time the bullets are aimed at the family of someone whom I just had dinner with last month. The fact that I have two other friends—people whom I have coffee with from time to time—running under the Opposition makes me scared shitless. I don’t think I can handle having a friend die over politics.
That Friday evening too, my mayor, Jojo Binay was handed another preventive suspension order by the DILG. Jojo Binay is not my friend, it’s his son, Jun-Jun who is. But even if I had not met Jun-Jun, having been a Makati resident for close to three years, I hold the Mayor in high esteem. I mean, in Makati, I actually feel that there is a government functioning the way governments are supposed to. I didn’t mind paying the city tax because I see where it is being used. And at the rate Makati, under Binay’s leadership is investing on human development, it is one of the few LGUs which can and will achieve the MDGs even before 2015.
The fact that Mayor BInay is my idol, the way FPJ is Chiz’s idol, is notable considering that I do not like local government executives at all. Of course this overwhelming disgusto for local executives stems from way back home in Pampanga where development is translated as merely having shopping malls and where our very street remains unpaved to this day.
With the ongoing harassment of those who dare go against this freaking Arroyo regime, I momentarily forget about the turbulence that I am going thru in my career. Indeed, there are things worse than my life not going as I had planned.
As enumerated in my previous post, “First, there were CPR, EO 464, and PP 1017 – all intended to suppress the truth, muzzling any legitimate inquiry into the Garci scandal and fertilizer scam. Then, there were the GMA-funded People's initiative and the shameless ConAss attempt by GMA lackeys in Congress. This time, the goal was to pre-empt any further impeachment and entrench themselves (GMA and her allies) in power by amending the charter.”
Then, over the weekend, I discovered how Mrs. Arroyo has perverted the partylist system. As it is, GMA is planting party list groups in the coming Congress to avert any impeachment attempt. And boy, with the public funds at their disposal, these Malacanang party-ers are a lucky bunch. I mean hey, they have so much money, they are bribing voters with accident insurance and what-have-you.
One of the things that make my weekend is the time I spend with my sister’s three kids. Ages three to 10, they are at their most adorable and… ummm… most infuriating.
Aside from their current fascination with the national geographic channel (Side story: my mom was able to unhinge their attention from the cartoon network by convincing them that if they want to become scientists and doctors, the national geographic is the channel to watch. See, moms are superheroes really), my nephews and niece are so caught up in the upcoming elections and have actually been singing/ re-enacting the senatorial candidates’ campaign jingles/ ads while eating or taking a bath or playing.
Just this weekend, they were insisting that I vote for that pathetic excuse for a presidential chief of staff and that cabbage head who fills up the entire TV screen with this prominent jaw and pompadour. I said, “no, I’m sticking to my six senators.” For a moment, I thought the conversation was over. Until my nephews, between spoonfuls of lasagna, asked why I am supporting the Opposition and if GMA really cheated in 2004.
I wanted to swallow my fork. I mean, for a second, I was elated that at such a young age, the kids actually know the government officials and are aware of some issues. But on second thought, it worried me that the kids, thru mass media have become witnesses to how power corrupts in this country.
I didn’t want to answer my nephews’ questions because I didn’t want them to be disillusioned. I didn’t want them to know how some people have bastardized their future. I didn’t want to burden them with the challenge to clean up the mess left by those older than they are. I didn’t want them to be fearful. I didn’t want them to be frustrated.
Just like I am now.
I have yet to find a solution to my career woes when I found out the attack at the Villanueva compound at dawn last Friday. My friend Jake, immediately came to my mind. I texted him to ask if they were okay. Each minute that I waited for a reply, made me sicker in the gut with worry. When my phone finally beeped, I was sort of relieved. As it is, the military under the orders of the Cheat Executive is doing special operations against the Villanuevas and the CIBAC party list.
I am not surprised by the stunt. I mean, hey, in 2004, the camp of Mrs. Arroyo ordered the kidnapping of the family of their election operator who turned against them. So what is a little spraying of bullets at one of the vocal critics of GMA, right?
The brazenness for which this administration is known for is not new to me. What is new to me is the thought that, this time the bullets are aimed at the family of someone whom I just had dinner with last month. The fact that I have two other friends—people whom I have coffee with from time to time—running under the Opposition makes me scared shitless. I don’t think I can handle having a friend die over politics.
That Friday evening too, my mayor, Jojo Binay was handed another preventive suspension order by the DILG. Jojo Binay is not my friend, it’s his son, Jun-Jun who is. But even if I had not met Jun-Jun, having been a Makati resident for close to three years, I hold the Mayor in high esteem. I mean, in Makati, I actually feel that there is a government functioning the way governments are supposed to. I didn’t mind paying the city tax because I see where it is being used. And at the rate Makati, under Binay’s leadership is investing on human development, it is one of the few LGUs which can and will achieve the MDGs even before 2015.
The fact that Mayor BInay is my idol, the way FPJ is Chiz’s idol, is notable considering that I do not like local government executives at all. Of course this overwhelming disgusto for local executives stems from way back home in Pampanga where development is translated as merely having shopping malls and where our very street remains unpaved to this day.
With the ongoing harassment of those who dare go against this freaking Arroyo regime, I momentarily forget about the turbulence that I am going thru in my career. Indeed, there are things worse than my life not going as I had planned.
As enumerated in my previous post, “First, there were CPR, EO 464, and PP 1017 – all intended to suppress the truth, muzzling any legitimate inquiry into the Garci scandal and fertilizer scam. Then, there were the GMA-funded People's initiative and the shameless ConAss attempt by GMA lackeys in Congress. This time, the goal was to pre-empt any further impeachment and entrench themselves (GMA and her allies) in power by amending the charter.”
Then, over the weekend, I discovered how Mrs. Arroyo has perverted the partylist system. As it is, GMA is planting party list groups in the coming Congress to avert any impeachment attempt. And boy, with the public funds at their disposal, these Malacanang party-ers are a lucky bunch. I mean hey, they have so much money, they are bribing voters with accident insurance and what-have-you.
Add the several acts of human rights violation and extra judicial killings and you have Sodom and Gomorrah.
I wring my hands and pace in my little blue room wondering when redemption will come upon this nation.
I was reminded by what my favorite hero, Ninoy Aquino said,
“How shall freedom be defended? By arms when it is attacked by arms; by truth when it is attacked by lies, by democratic faith when it is attacked by authoritarian dogma. Always in the final act, by determination and faith.”
(to be continued….. )
I wring my hands and pace in my little blue room wondering when redemption will come upon this nation.
I was reminded by what my favorite hero, Ninoy Aquino said,
“How shall freedom be defended? By arms when it is attacked by arms; by truth when it is attacked by lies, by democratic faith when it is attacked by authoritarian dogma. Always in the final act, by determination and faith.”
(to be continued….. )
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