Here comes the climax of the crazy political carnival that happens once every six years in the Philippines. Don't blink, don't blush. For the contenders will exalt the hapless plight of the masses, they will promise high heavens and shake the rabbles of the earth. Sit tight, shift not. For tongues of promises and calls for change and dips of dreams will hound the days to come.
All in the name of that one precious vote.
Sick and tired of all this hellish hullabaloo? Your right to suffrage is your ticket to sanity. Vote for the person who you think is capable of leading you, of guiding each and every Filipino towards that elusive change we've all been longing for.
Vote!
It doesn't matter who it is; what matters is that you took your chances and supported the person you believe is most qualified. What matters is that you didn't just sit idly right where you are wishing for things to happen without lifting a finger like some pathetic Juan Tamad waiting for the guava to fall down the callous tree; because you pluck the fruit yourself. There's more in this for you than you think.
Go out and vote!
Go out and vote!
[This is a repost. Just so everyone who stumbles upon this blog will have an inkling that I support Noynoy Aquino. Here's to hoping that by the time I get my CPA license this May, we have an honest and incorruptible president sitting in the highest throne of this land who will genuinely lead us to positive change . Now back to chasing my number crunching dream. Good times!]
Before he was taken by a sickness whose cure has still eluded even the best of today’s doctors, Raul Roco has always been the kind of guy I’ve said would make a good president. I’ve told people, at the very least those who would bother to listen to my two-cents’-worth, that had he been given a chance to serve this country this man would surely have taken us out of the current rot we’re wallowing in.
For one thing, his public service track record wasn’t tainted with political anomalies unlike the person currently holding the highest seat of power whose governance is reeking of corruption and greed and all sins imaginable. For another, he does not crave power dissimilar yet again to the minute woman ruler who, in a close contention with Nora Aunor for the distinction, possibly possesses the most famous mole in this side of the land.
But in a nation where majority of the citizens look at someone’s popularity on TV rather than his political platform as a gauge for public trust, whose definition of goodwill to man is desperately confined to a noontime show host’s frothing saliva and his marionettes of skimpily clad gyrating dancers, where the apparent concern for change rests only on riding on the fad of wearing a suspicious dog tag whose message is loosely translated to “starting the change from one’s self,” the Raul Roco’s of this country will always find it difficult to become elected into office.
This, in spite of their refined moral fiber and genuine desire to change the decaying landscape of this Third World country.
Back in 2002, when a popular movie star known for his moustache and orange wristband and stupid Eraption text jokes reigned the presidential race but was untimely kicked out of Malacanang for fooling around Juan dela Cruz’ coffers, I cannot not hark a berating “I told you so!” to people who cast their votes based on "masa" appeal.
When the then vice president, whom everyone thought was a manna from high heavens but eventually turned out to be the the descendant of the demigods down under, occupied his remaining term and eventually had the gall to wear thick-facedness to run for re-election, riding on the dirty crest of “Hello Garci” controversy to wrest the win from yet another popular “masa” actor, I cannot help but utter the same outcry.
I told you so.
In a Third World society where people have been blatantly wronged left and right by the very government that's supposed to protect them, it is appalling to realize how Filipinos can be forgetful and how quickly so. Here was the man who committed plunder madly telling all television screens that he is “99.9% sure” of running for president once again as if he didn’t do us any wrong. Here was the woman entrusted with the former’s failed leadership being hounded by ghosts of scandals past, wearing the thickest rhinoceros skin while pretending she didn’t do us any wrong.
And yet here we are, living our own pathetic lives, wrapped in our own Facebook cocoons harvesting delusions of digital farms that do not make us any richer, running away from the issues that matter because majority think there’s nothing in it for us. Worse, because we think they did us no wrong.
But here comes Noynoy Aquino, a reluctant young man basking in a multitude’s urge to run for president, scion of the icon of democracy and a bloodied hero shot at tarmac, pedigreed to start a much-needed change long overdue for this country – if and when he wins the highest post in the land, if and when he decides to run for the highest post in the land.
I know little of this young politician’s track record to exalt him in high heavens but between him and a half-dozen lot who, to borrow the words of my much-revered wordsmith deity, are “atat na atat” to run, I will boldly tell you that I will pick Ninoy and Cory Aquino’s son.
His detractors, particularly this current administration, say he is not ripe for the picking. That he does not deserve to be president. Against whom, if I may ask? Heck, by all means he does if your standard for presidency is the woman sitting in the high throne who seems to be poised to cling to power ‘till kingdom come.
And what about Villar or even, gasp, Estrada?
At the risk of being bashed by these presidentiables’ supporters, I will say that they do not have the strong moral fiber and build of character Noynoy possesses. I've never heard of him lying nor cheating nor corrupting from the nation's coffers unlike other gods in the echelon of political hierarchy we've pretty much become familiar with. At the very least, the latter is reluctant to run, not because he is afraid to but because he very well knows being a president is no easy task unlike other presidentiables who would gladly smile at cameras, kiss dust-smocked children, plaster poker-face smiles at the slightest glint of a shutterbug in every opportunity they could get.
“In the first place, I had no plans of running for higher office. It’s not an easy job. I ask you, how many can honestly raise their hands and volunteer to take on this great responsibility? You have to think it over before you accept the challenge. You don’t want to fail. Most important, you don’t want to fail those who believe in you.”
How many, indeed, of these presidential contenders, sans the stupid excuse that they do not violate any laws for early campaigning because their TV ads are just “infomercials” and are paid for by their friends not them (Fuck, with all due respect Misters and Miss, I am not stupid!), can plead not guilty for being accused of being “atat na atat” to run? How many of them can honestly duplicate what the Aquino scion has said? And what exactly have they done for this country to give them the right to question Noynoy’s ability to run for presidency?
To quote JK Rowling’s literary character Albus Dumbledore, “Difficult times lie ahead.” You would think next year’s presidential election is just a waste of your voting time but no, I would have to tell you it isn’t. These are desperate times, indeed, and as in the magical realm of the Boy Who Lived that was threatened to be ruled over by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and his minion of Death Eaters, we need to rally over one hero to fight the tyranny of corruption and moral degradation spawned by the wicked bitch of Third World hell. The government we're supposed to rely on has been reduced to a quagmire of shitty lies and corruption that what we need is someone who is honest and willing to clean all the mess. It is high time for good to triumph over evil and I'm not even speaking about a celebrated young adult novel's plot.
Backed by his mother’s legacy and his father’s aborted promise to change this country for the better, the Aquino scion offers that little gleam of hope. I agree that Noynoy should come out as his own person and not merely ride on his popularity as the son of Cory and Ninoy in the long run. I will also have to admit I’ve never been impressed by this politician’s credentials to strongly endorse him to anyone I know. But between his untainted character and the thick-faced close-ups of “trapos” wiping our TV screens with their costly jingles and shitty pop ditties, I’d rather see someone who shows reluctance to hold the power than those “atat na atat” to grab it.
Those who are most qualified to hold power are those who least want the power.
I don’t know if it was Plato or some other obscure philosopher long forgotten who breathed these words (or something similar to such) but there’s an entirely pure truth in the thought.
You can always heed my warning or continue to be cozy with a cocoon of your pathetic Facebook farm-harvests, syntax-free texting, and swirls of overrated high-priced mocha fraps. But don’t blame me if after 2010, we've come to elect just another GMA or heck, a GMA puppet ready to don a hocus-pocus right before our eyes, protecting his master's shitty messes while she was still in office.
If we do, then expect me to shove my mocking two-cents'-shit up your ass yet again:
I told you so!
For one thing, his public service track record wasn’t tainted with political anomalies unlike the person currently holding the highest seat of power whose governance is reeking of corruption and greed and all sins imaginable. For another, he does not crave power dissimilar yet again to the minute woman ruler who, in a close contention with Nora Aunor for the distinction, possibly possesses the most famous mole in this side of the land.
But in a nation where majority of the citizens look at someone’s popularity on TV rather than his political platform as a gauge for public trust, whose definition of goodwill to man is desperately confined to a noontime show host’s frothing saliva and his marionettes of skimpily clad gyrating dancers, where the apparent concern for change rests only on riding on the fad of wearing a suspicious dog tag whose message is loosely translated to “starting the change from one’s self,” the Raul Roco’s of this country will always find it difficult to become elected into office.
This, in spite of their refined moral fiber and genuine desire to change the decaying landscape of this Third World country.
Back in 2002, when a popular movie star known for his moustache and orange wristband and stupid Eraption text jokes reigned the presidential race but was untimely kicked out of Malacanang for fooling around Juan dela Cruz’ coffers, I cannot not hark a berating “I told you so!” to people who cast their votes based on "masa" appeal.
When the then vice president, whom everyone thought was a manna from high heavens but eventually turned out to be the the descendant of the demigods down under, occupied his remaining term and eventually had the gall to wear thick-facedness to run for re-election, riding on the dirty crest of “Hello Garci” controversy to wrest the win from yet another popular “masa” actor, I cannot help but utter the same outcry.
I told you so.
In a Third World society where people have been blatantly wronged left and right by the very government that's supposed to protect them, it is appalling to realize how Filipinos can be forgetful and how quickly so. Here was the man who committed plunder madly telling all television screens that he is “99.9% sure” of running for president once again as if he didn’t do us any wrong. Here was the woman entrusted with the former’s failed leadership being hounded by ghosts of scandals past, wearing the thickest rhinoceros skin while pretending she didn’t do us any wrong.
And yet here we are, living our own pathetic lives, wrapped in our own Facebook cocoons harvesting delusions of digital farms that do not make us any richer, running away from the issues that matter because majority think there’s nothing in it for us. Worse, because we think they did us no wrong.
But here comes Noynoy Aquino, a reluctant young man basking in a multitude’s urge to run for president, scion of the icon of democracy and a bloodied hero shot at tarmac, pedigreed to start a much-needed change long overdue for this country – if and when he wins the highest post in the land, if and when he decides to run for the highest post in the land.
I know little of this young politician’s track record to exalt him in high heavens but between him and a half-dozen lot who, to borrow the words of my much-revered wordsmith deity, are “atat na atat” to run, I will boldly tell you that I will pick Ninoy and Cory Aquino’s son.
His detractors, particularly this current administration, say he is not ripe for the picking. That he does not deserve to be president. Against whom, if I may ask? Heck, by all means he does if your standard for presidency is the woman sitting in the high throne who seems to be poised to cling to power ‘till kingdom come.
And what about Villar or even, gasp, Estrada?
At the risk of being bashed by these presidentiables’ supporters, I will say that they do not have the strong moral fiber and build of character Noynoy possesses. I've never heard of him lying nor cheating nor corrupting from the nation's coffers unlike other gods in the echelon of political hierarchy we've pretty much become familiar with. At the very least, the latter is reluctant to run, not because he is afraid to but because he very well knows being a president is no easy task unlike other presidentiables who would gladly smile at cameras, kiss dust-smocked children, plaster poker-face smiles at the slightest glint of a shutterbug in every opportunity they could get.
“In the first place, I had no plans of running for higher office. It’s not an easy job. I ask you, how many can honestly raise their hands and volunteer to take on this great responsibility? You have to think it over before you accept the challenge. You don’t want to fail. Most important, you don’t want to fail those who believe in you.”
How many, indeed, of these presidential contenders, sans the stupid excuse that they do not violate any laws for early campaigning because their TV ads are just “infomercials” and are paid for by their friends not them (Fuck, with all due respect Misters and Miss, I am not stupid!), can plead not guilty for being accused of being “atat na atat” to run? How many of them can honestly duplicate what the Aquino scion has said? And what exactly have they done for this country to give them the right to question Noynoy’s ability to run for presidency?
To quote JK Rowling’s literary character Albus Dumbledore, “Difficult times lie ahead.” You would think next year’s presidential election is just a waste of your voting time but no, I would have to tell you it isn’t. These are desperate times, indeed, and as in the magical realm of the Boy Who Lived that was threatened to be ruled over by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and his minion of Death Eaters, we need to rally over one hero to fight the tyranny of corruption and moral degradation spawned by the wicked bitch of Third World hell. The government we're supposed to rely on has been reduced to a quagmire of shitty lies and corruption that what we need is someone who is honest and willing to clean all the mess. It is high time for good to triumph over evil and I'm not even speaking about a celebrated young adult novel's plot.
Backed by his mother’s legacy and his father’s aborted promise to change this country for the better, the Aquino scion offers that little gleam of hope. I agree that Noynoy should come out as his own person and not merely ride on his popularity as the son of Cory and Ninoy in the long run. I will also have to admit I’ve never been impressed by this politician’s credentials to strongly endorse him to anyone I know. But between his untainted character and the thick-faced close-ups of “trapos” wiping our TV screens with their costly jingles and shitty pop ditties, I’d rather see someone who shows reluctance to hold the power than those “atat na atat” to grab it.
Those who are most qualified to hold power are those who least want the power.
I don’t know if it was Plato or some other obscure philosopher long forgotten who breathed these words (or something similar to such) but there’s an entirely pure truth in the thought.
You can always heed my warning or continue to be cozy with a cocoon of your pathetic Facebook farm-harvests, syntax-free texting, and swirls of overrated high-priced mocha fraps. But don’t blame me if after 2010, we've come to elect just another GMA or heck, a GMA puppet ready to don a hocus-pocus right before our eyes, protecting his master's shitty messes while she was still in office.
If we do, then expect me to shove my mocking two-cents'-shit up your ass yet again:
I told you so!
