One is the Marcoses winning, and winning big time. Imelda will be a representative, Imee a governor, and Bongbong a senator.
On the other hand, Loren Legarda will not be a vice president. That is not a non-sequitur.
Loren lost because she teamed up with Manny Villar, the one person she had been attacking in the Senate for corruption. Almost immediately after she did, the phrase “politics of prostitution” flew thick and fast in cell phones and Facebook. Which probably just added insult to injury, as the surrender of virtue for money was plain for all to see.
She should have taken her cue from Tito Sotto and Tessie Oreta who lost in the 2007 elections for roughly the same thing. Sotto was with the FPJ camp (he was FPJ’s campaign manager in 2004) when he suddenly bolted and joined President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the one person who had stolen “Da King’s” crown. The voters punished him for it in the elections.
But there’s a caveat to that. Both lost not because they turned their backs on friend or principle but because they did it too soon. Juan Ponce Enrile and Miriam Santiago did the same thing and far more epically, vowing undying loyalty to Arroyo after vowing undying loyalty to Joseph “Erap” Estrada. But they ran for senator years after the fact. They won then, and they’ve won now.
As has Sotto now. And as have the Marcoses now, the family that betrayed democracy.
The good news is that Filipinos do not like people who betray. The bad news is that Filipinos do not like people who betray—until after some time. Then they forget about it.
Two is Willie Revillame, Dolphy and Manny Pacquiao losing, and losing big time. Or Pacquiao at least in the endorsing department—he himself appears headed for a win in his province, though only by split decision. All three endorsed Villar, only to see him lose, and lose big time.
Maybe we’re maturing. If it wasn’t patent before, it should be patent now. Entertainers may still be able to sell snake oil, but they may no longer be able to sell snakes. Or they may still be able to sell defective cars but they may no longer be able to sell defective candidates.
My heart bleeds for Dolphy, who has had to settle for all sorts of things to make ends meet. I don’t begrudge him selling Villar, heaven knows we owe him big time for making us laugh all these years. My blood boils at Revillame, hell knows he owes us big time for adding whole new dimensions to the holes in asses.
Three is how a lot of things in this country invite theological interpretations. The epic fall from grace with the voters experienced by Loren Legarda, Manny Villar, and Mar Roxas after an initial or extended honeymoon period with them is one of them.
Loren suffered her free fall at the beginning of things because she redefined atat-na-atat, craving the vice presidency so badly that she was willing to do pretty much anything to get it. Hers was the sin of lust.
Villar suffered his free fall in the middle of things because his profligacy backfired on him, subverting the image of being one with the poor his campaign tried to pitch. Manny became associated with money, which lost him his honey. His was the sin of greed.
Roxas suffered his free fall at the end of things because he kept reaching for things beyond his grasp, or means. Or because he kept trying to be more than he was. From the start, he was never comfortable with being the junior partner in the campaign and kept trying to be the guy in charge. Forgetting, or scorning, the fact that the only reason his numbers soared (he was stuck in the cellar before then) was that he sold himself as the katuwang in the Edsa masquerading as an election by sacrificing his presidential ambitions for a grand cause. He dropped the Edsa story and, while holding on to his Edsa-given lead, even started quietly dropping the partnership, his fawners telling him he made a mistake giving up his presidential bid. While they themselves dreamt of carving up between themselves the empire that lay so tantalizingly close.
Jojo Binay not very quietly picked up what had been thrown away like a used condom. Lo and behold, it fit.
By the time Roxas realized what was happening and tried to re-forge the original bond, spending his last week wearing yellow instead of blue and sticking to the senior partner in the Edsa masquerading as an election like glue, it was too late. His is the sin of pride.
Cardinal sins get to be punished with weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Four is the epidemic of concessions that has struck the candidates. First there was Villar who scored points with Facebook and Twitter, if not with the voters, by acknowledging he was beat, he would lick his wounds and/or dedicate his time to repairing his badly tarnished image. Then came Gibo Teodoro and Dick Gordon conceding as well, Gibo begging Noynoy to tend to the poor as he presumably would have done, and Dick wishing the new president well while taking a well-earned dig at the disbelievers of automation in general and Smartmatic in particular. (I stand chastised.) Then came Loren who made a pre-campaign speech for 2016 by enumerating her accomplishments before relinquishing the field to Binay.
It used to be that there were only two types of people at the end of Philippine elections: the winners and the cheated. Suddenly, we saw a scene we never thought we’d see very soon, or at all, in these shores, not unlike John McCain congratulating the first black president of America. Well, as the joke goes, Mar may soon be congratulating the first black vice president of the Philippines. All this augurs well for the future of Philippine elections.
Again while getting indigestion from the words I am eating, I take my hat off to Jose Melo.
Five is the biggest twist of all: We actually had clean elections, and Arroyo is actually finally going.
**well, not quite sir.because we will still see her in Congress.parang change of residence lang yan.and God knows what she's up to following her appointment of Corona as CJ.
