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IT must have something to do with still being in a
post-Lenten state of mind, for two candidates panting for high
office in next month’s national election have delved into the
inner recesses of their soul and apparently churned up…ahem…
sheer nonsense.
Last week one of them was
purposefully telling anybody who cared to listen that he was aiming
to return to the legislative body where he once sat (and basically
did only just that) because he has “unfinished business.”
Café society tattle appears to
suggest that the “unfinished business” might have something to
do with the new mansion he started constructing in a gated village
when he was a lawmaker, and where work has slowed down almost to
halt since his term ended and he could no longer count on pork
barrel largesse.
So putting the finishing touches
to his desirable but yet unfinished abode might be one of the first
“development projects” on his agenda should he be returned to
the corridors of legislative power.
The other bit of campaign
nonsense came from an actor-turned-wannabe politician who
pontificated on the hustings that he was running for office so as to
bat for “solid principles of social justice.”
Strewth! If the truth must be
known, then the only time this guy must have ever come up close and
personal to absolutely anything connected with “social justice”
would have been when it was written in as a scene in a movie script.
With candidates of this caliber,
perhaps the best way to sum up the election campaign thus far is by
paraphrasing a Hollywood saying and applying it to the Philippine
context.
So here goes: Sincerity is
everything in Philippine politics. And if you can fake that you’ve
got it made as a politician!
Even as 54 junior military
officers belonging to the so called Magdaló faction involved in the
infamous 2003 Oakwood mutiny were receiving a custodial sentence of
seven years (coup leader Lt. Antonio Trillanes is hoping for a
lighter sentence of six years in the Senate!) at other end of the
town the word “Oakwood” was being ceremoniously removed from the
horizon.
Oakwood, the serviced residence
landmark in the heart of the Makati Business District, has changed
ownership and is now operating under the Ascott brand name, a
Singapore-headquartered company.
This could now mean that without
the prominent Oakwood signage high over Makati City, the term
“Oakwood mutiny”—will be discreetly erased from memory, and
also the pages of recent history. And for sure Malacańang Palace
and Camp Aguinaldo won’t be complaining about that at all.
Besides, referring to that
jarring example of military adventurism as the “Ascott mutiny”
will never have the same political resonance.
Just like in the Philippines,
Papua New Guinea will also be holding a national election next
month.
And according to the updated
electoral rolls just issued by the PNG’s version of the Commission
on Election, one of the voters listed as eligible to cast his ballot
next month will be Elvis Presley.
This has to be world-shattering
news indeed, because it finally solves a mystery that has been
intriguing rock and roll for over three decades.
For now it can be finally
confirmed that far from being dead and buried, the legendary US
rocker is alive and well and living quietly in Port Moresby, PNG’s
capital city.
Oh, by the way, we almost forgot
to mention. As per the PNG electoral rolls, Tom Jones and Frank
Sinatra are also registered citizens and eligible to vote over
there.
Gosh, these guys should be
running for office in PNG, not merely voting.
rjottings@yahoo.com
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