BY ERWIN ‘AMBO’ DELILAN
WHERE’S GREG? Is he “masturdating” right now?
These are the two “weighty” questions frequently asked by Bacolodnons for quite six months already, referring to Bacolod City’s Lone District Representative Greg Gasayata.
Greg cannot be seen and reached even by the media. And barely two weeks left before the filing of Certificates of Candidacy (CoCs) for next year’s polls, lots of talks about his “where a bouts” continue to mill all over the city.
Bacolodnons are now eagerly waiting for his final announcement. Will he stick with Mayor Bing Leonardia’s Grupo Progreso (GP)? Or will he jump to Albee Benitez’s political ship?
Greg is known to be one of the GP’s formidable allies since then. Bing, on record, planted Greg’s political seed in Bacolod when the latter ran for councilor in 2004. Greg performed well, and became vice mayor in 2013 then congressman (now a second-termer).
However, Albee, a known “political horticulturist” in Negros, reportedly watered and fertilized Greg’s political sprout, especially when he ran for vice mayor until it grew so fast and blooming.
Undeniably, Greg’s now bearing political fruit and that fruit is currently ripe. So, who’ll take it?
Greg is reportedly on “bothered conscience” status now, leading to a state of confusion.
Talks mushrooming around say he’d already left GP. But sans official declaration, it remains to be seen.
Others speculate that Greg won’t take sides between Bing and Albee. Instead he’s opted to run (still) for congressman but as an independent wannabe.
But Greg, the reports add, will be bringing with him another GP’s “baby”, former councilor Caesar Distrito who’s ambitioning to run for vice mayor.
Again, this remains to be seen. But with all these current talks complicated by “cloudy speculations”, it’s really a must for Greg to “masturdate”.
According to Urban Dictionary, to “masturdate” is “to take oneself out when one has no date”. To masturdate, you have to treat yourself, and do something that feels a little special. That means going out to dinner alone, or taking yourself to see a movie, or going to that art gallery you’ve always wanted to visit. It can be just watching a movie at home but adding something extra, like a nice bottle of wine and fancy snacks.
Meditation is one of the best forms of masturdating. It can help Greg fine-tune or exact his much-awaited decision(s).
I can feel him. I know it ain’t easy to decide on matters beset by high-level confusion. Current pressure, of course, makes Greg “groggy”.
Correct me if I am wrong, but I am sure Greg is now spending lots of sleepless night just because of the upcoming Bing-Albee duel. He’s torn between two political masters. Hence, he needs to pray harder. He needs to ask God’s guidance. Too, he must be prudent and wise.
Bacolodnons are now on standby for his final words. Right there and then, every word coming out of his mouth will be scrutinized. Then, people will gonna do their summative exercises before rendering their final judgment on Greg. He will be judged not because of his current financial assets or political capabilities.
Greg’s credibility and integrity are also at stake here. Bacolodnons will never forget Greg’s real life story. From being an ordinary reporter-cum-anchorman of Bombo Radyo-Bacolod, Bing scouted him in politics and helped him gain a slot at the city council in 2004.
From then on, Greg started to crawl out of poverty. Eighteen years after, Greg (now) is one of the “richest” politicos in Bacolod and Negros. Thus, his soon-to-be final decision will also be a “make or break” in his political career.
If he’ll stay with GP, Greg, per the political pundits in Negros and Bacolod, will still be a sure winner for congressman. Next elections (in 2025), analysts believe he will be ripe for mayor of Bacolod.
But if he abandons GP, Greg must expect “cursing” from the group’s die-hard supporters.
If he joins Albee’s circle, for sure, he’ll be indicted for being “walang utang na loob”.
And if he opts to be independent, he’ll be branded as “daw si kautot”.
Worse, if “dimalason”, the 2022 elections might be a conclusion of Greg’s political career.
Just last week, 54 out of 61 village chiefs in Bacolod inked a manifesto asking Greg to stay with GP as much as possible.
One of the paragraphs in the “leaked” manifesto reads: “The GP Punong Barangays cannot afford to lose one leader like Cong. Gasataya, who may leave us to take the opposite side.” Then, added the village chiefs, “We find silence as weak as inaction.”
Simple line but packed with “hibubun-ot“. It’s alarming, therefore, on the part of Greg who is now the sole target of both Bing’s and Albee’s political binoculars.
‘LOOSE CANNON’
Also complicating GP’s status was the “unrehearsed” political drama (P-Drama) starring Councilor Al Espino more than a week ago.
Like Greg, Al is also a known GP’s “baby”. But on Sept. 3, 2021 Al reportedly walked out of GP’s meeting.
The following day, however, he told the media that he was eased out of GP because of his perceived closeness to Albee. Thus, he claimed to be disheartened and brokenhearted – two heavy or unbearable sorrowful adjectives probably meant to solicit public empathies.
But GP was too quick to put the “fire” out by issuing an open letter denying Al’s allegations. Bing, in a “meaty” statement, straightened the facts by simply telling the public that it was Al who walked out of the GP’s meeting – no more, no less!
Al, in an interview over DyRL’s Mercado Publiko Program, also admitted that everything the mayor said in the statement was true.
Netizens truly “misbehave” on Facebook, lambasting Al as if there’s no tomorrow. The “tipsy” Al went “berserk” by berating some of Albee’s allies and friends using “distasteful” adjectives.
Then, he publicly pronounced the so-called “zero probability” on his part to run for councilor or any position next year.
So sad!
Al is witty and smart. His profile and aura plus his guts are really “swak” at the City Council. Seeing him becoming a “loose cannon” – talking sense, but perceived to be “nonsense” – is quite pitiable.
Probably, Al was just carried away by his unguarded emotions triggered by unrestrained temperament at the time.
Or maybe he has not yet reached the point how to differentiate a “political ally” from a “political friend”. The same with the difference between “ease out” and “walk out”. Well, a dictionary or thesaurus is the key.
Stressed by Al, Bing is his political ally (ever since) while Albee is his (current) political friend.
So, like Greg, Al is also in the “state of confusion” on where to defect and whom to support.
However, his unmanaged confusion is leading him to a more challenging situation – to be “politically orphaned “as early as now.
I do hope Al has still a last ditch effort of redemption. If none, better for him to stay on the sideline than position himself to be a “political gunner” against someone.
It’s good for Al to preserve his “formidable assets” – being an eloquent speaker and a good fiscalizer.
It’s inappropriate to see him “skinning” someone (on stage) that once also made him one of the best budding politicians in Bacolod.
After all, Al is a well-tutored homo sapien not to know the real score that in Philippines politics, “ang buhay ay weather-weather lang!”/PN
