COME 2022, some of my friends in the media will cash in on their popularity to try and win an election to public office.
I do not blame them.
Sometimes, work in radio and print journalism can be unrewarding.
I think differently about TV fame and movies, so let’s not go there.
If boxers like Pacquiao can run for president, why can’t we?
Especially if we have a decent college education.
Sure, education is not everything in politics.
(Sorry, I can’t say “in public service” because that would be sarcastic, and insulting to your intelligence!)
I mean, look at Ferdinand Marcos, and the dictators in this country, who they say are learned men.
Lawyers, aren’t/weren’t they?
People forget that the Marcoses stole from us.
In billions of dollars!
The courts have ruled about it already.
And I can’t understand their apologists.
And their loyalists.
I often hear that the sins of the father are not the sins of the son.
True. And I would so far as say that the debts of the father are not the debts of the son.
But what about the stolen wealth of the father?
If the billions of dollars ill-gotten wealth is not returned to the country he stole it from, doesn’t it become the billions of dollars inheritance of the son?
I don’t know which planet of ignorance you came from, but in my book, that’s pretty serious.
I am a Filipino voter.
And I campaigned and voted for Duterte in 2016; and I admit that I may have made a mistake.
I said so in early 2018.
Duterte has disappointed me.
But I did not join the call to oust him.
Will I vote another Duterte in office though?
No!
I give people a chance.
And depending on how they offended me (or the people dear to me), I forgive, give another chance, or…
I don’t.
I’m not very political.
I am politically aware, and I try to do my duties as a responsible citizen.
I vote with high hopes that my candidates would do well when they are elected into office.
Some of my candidates in the past did not win: like Raul Roco, Miriam Santiago, Neri Colmenares, Chel Diokno, Grace Poe, and so on.
Some of my candidates would win, and do good.
Some of them win, and f*ck up.
I become sad, and frustrated for the f*ck ups; and then, I move on with my life, and withdraw my support.
I will not die for any candidate.
I will not try to defend, and cover up, for any political candidate.
I’m not political that way.
There is no doubt in my mind that a majority of Filipino voters are stupid.
Maybe even illiterate.
They sell their votes; and are too stupid to know that they can just take the money, and vote for the best candidate.
Oh, yeah, I forgot to add: They don’t know who the best candidates are because they’re really don’t care.
*
The Filipino people, and especially the electorate, like to complain.
Like, it’s the victim culture talking.
“I’m so poor, I’m helpless, I’m stupid, I have nothing to eat.
“The government is stupid, inutile, unjust, pro-rich, doesn’t care.”
Oh, they have so many complaints.
They also have so many ideas on how to run an office, a town, a city, a province, the country.
And yet, they would sell their votes for P500.
Well, f*ck that!
Sometimes, I wonder why these stupid people weren’t wiped out by the first wave of COVID-19.
And still, I pray for the Filipino people.
I pray for an enlightened electorate.
For clean and honest elections.
For good leaders.
For Hope. That sense of the-Filipinos-will-get-through-this.
Having lived in both America and the Philippines, I’ve seen what is possible.
I’ve seen affluence, and poverty.
I’ve seen hard work, and just compensations.
I’ve seen despair, and tragedy.
And I hate it that I can feel for the stupids.
I hate it that I cannot turn my eyes away from the train wreck.
Sometimes, it is easier to just die, or disappear, or withdraw from the world.
But that’s not me.
So, I write.
I write to the world, even if the world doesn’t write back.
I write to the world, even if the world doesn’t hear me./PN
