MY FRIENDS are still a little depressed with the outcome of Monday’s elections.
I can understand their feelings; I am smart that way.
What I can’t stand is the gloating of the stupids who think they have won the elections.
Hello? Are they rich? Will they ever get rich?
If they’re among the 30 million who sold their votes, what bright future is there for them?
They will die in despair.
They will die regretting.
***
I’m trying to move on.
(I’m planning a trip to Machu Picchu in Peru right now.)
But friends keep calling or messaging me on Facebook.
Of course, I have to comfort them.
Of course, I have to post my signature witticism and black humor in social media posts so that people can laugh through this tragedy.
***
Many people still look up to me.
They always ask my opinion on matters like the anomaly of computer-like precision of Leni-BBM votes as they come in by the minutes.
Or about the video of Leni-shaded ballots being destroyed by uniformed men.
And I’m just thinking, there must be a rational explanation somewhere.
Or there’s always the bigger picture.
***
But more importantly, that I don’t want to comment because I do not know everything on the matter.
(I am not even there in the Philippines yet!)
I also think that I should leave those to the experts.
To Leni’s lawyers and campaign people.
***
Which brings me to my point that if I, a seasoned writer, very knowledgeable, and most experienced, can refrain from giving “expert opinion”, can practice restrain and refrain from posting specific advice and analysis, what gave the ignoramuses entitlement to give their “opinion” unasked?
Is it really freedom of speech when people lie and pollute the world with stupid ideas, or spread misinformation?
***
I think what really stressed me about political writing during this campaign season is the energy I have to spend researching and fact-checking materials.
Because my credibility matters in my work.
I cannot afford to be wrong!
I don’t care that I am not popular with what ideas I’m running with, but I have to be armed with nothing but only the Truth.
That fuels my staying power. (22 years in Ilonggo journalism, baby!)
That is why I am still here.
***
So really, I just want to live my happy life, and if I can, to “give comfort to the afflicted, and afflict the comfortable.”
Now, more than just the founder’s philosophy for Panay News (our dear Danny Fajardo, our beloved DF), motto is also the biblical position of prophets.
I subscribe to the mission of prophets.
Therefore, I am so against misinformation and lies and deceit.
***
I would rather that people remember me as pornographic (even if it’s not really warranted) than for them to even think that I lie in what I write.
For 22 years, I am proud to report that I have never lied in my writing.
I have blown some things out of proportion, yes; I have made tall tales even taller, but I have never really lied to my readers to lead them to make wrong decisions.
***
If I say that I had sex with a man who has a foot-long dick, is that really a lie if the dick is 11.7” long?
And if I say that I had a pornstar for breakfast, does it really matter that the pornstar was a popular Czech pornstar 10 years ago?
***
And if I say that I’m planning a trip to Peru, and I cancel because I haven’t had an anti-malarial vaccine (recommended by the CDC for South American travel), is “planning” a lie?
Of course, smart people will always have something to say about Latin American travel.
(They probably know how expensive it is.)
But what shakes my head are the stupid people thinking I’m just gloating.
Like, BBM won, and ThePSN is gallivanting around the world.
***
This week after the elections, people all over the world have been calling me.
Friends I have visited in the UK and Europe during my “ambassadorial tour”, friends in North America, friends on social media.
They were discussing their frustrations with me.
They have no respect that I’m in a different time zone, or in a date with some sexy half-Portuguese.
They were all giving their opinions, their take on things.
Who do you think feeds me with all the screenshots and underground videos?
***
Do I listen to everything?
I don’t have to.
I practice critical thinking 24/7.
My mind has been sharpened by being abreast with everything in the world: art, politics, science, medicine, current events, sports, animal sex, et cetera.
I can spot what’s real and what is not from a mile away.
I can easily discern what is important and what is not.
So I can tune in and out at anytime without losing a beat in the conversation.
***
Do I believe in my heart that there was cheating in the recently concluded elections?
Yes, definitely! But also, I know where I stand with these things.
What does my heart’s belief have to do with the so-called voice of the 30 million — pardon the word — stupids?
***
Do I believe that those who elected BBM are stupid?
Yes, definitely! You can question that truth however strongly if you want, but I’m not changing my story.
If I perish, I perish.
But I will perish with dignity, and the ultimate truth that I had the Truth, held it, and spoke it as a prophet./PN
