Siftings
After the Deluge, the Political Storms?
The political commercials – infomercials or whatever–paid for by “Friends” of government officials presently holding office seem to be back after the hiatus created by the aftermath of Typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng. It seems these paid TV ads have grown even more dramatic, with professional talents giving the scenes the authenticity and grace of realism. They’re growing bolder too, with their frequency and thick-skinned disregard of the Omnibus Election Code about campaign periods, qualifications, etc.
With Typhoon Ramil expected to make a landfall in Northern Luzon, to ravage the previously- hit provinces with even more ferocity, are these politicians and would-be-presidents of the country showing their concern for what is going to happen? Nah. Not even GMA. She seemed more concerned with her Image as she came to this city and went, then came again and went, came again and went, to inaugurate a project, attend a function for a would-be saint who happens to be her husband’s relative ( believe it or not!), then open another program or whatever, without a single word of concern about the state of the devastated provinces’ health and that of their citizens, or express her worry about their capacity to withstand another onslaught from an enraged Mother Nature. No calls from the safety of her high and mighty throne to the disenfranchised, marginalized evacuees to bolster their morale and make them feel safe and at least feel they are still a part of this country that they expect to live in for the rest of their lives.
Where has ordinary run-of-the-mill Decency and Humility of Spirit gone to? It seems to me the normal sequence of life has left us in the wake of the storms that needlessly took lives and destroyed property without rhyme or reason. It seems the Spirit or Essence of Surreality refuses to let go of this country and has taken over our lives. How can we expect more, in this country where Politics rules every aspect of our daily existence? From the very moment we open our eyes in the morning, to the very hour when we close them in sleep, the political sphere of national life colors our visions, confuses our ears with conflicting sound bites, renders us senseless with the surreal scenarios of politics. Consider the following “political tandems:”
A real estate billionaire developer cum ex-Senate President obsessed with winning the Presidency of this country (for whatever reason only he knows), and rumored to have as running mate the popular host of a top-rating noontime variety show which caters to the masa audiences nationwide and worldwide, himself a nouveau riche millionaire with three yachts, uncounted luxury cars and houses galore, not to mention a newly-acquired helicopter, which would make very handy assets during campaigns. A couple of billionaires would be hard to beat, unless you are a billionaire in the making like Manny Pacquiao. O, di ba? This is the tandem with the megabucks that can sway the votes of the starving, dirt-poor masa (our lavandera or driver or gardener included) who don’t care whether the personage they vote for has the right moral values and the requisite gray matter between the ears, they just want to get their hands on the P500-1000 dole-outs on Election Day to bring food to their tables. A pity really. This is one occasion when I fervently wish we could have limited suffrage again, so that we could rule out as voters whose who are ignorant or only interested in selling their votes for a brief respite from hunger. If only we could rule out Hunger from our land permanently!
Consider this ex-president accused of and given pardon for plundering this country, well-known for his womanizing and lotto connections, and for using his so-called “devotion” to the masa for furthering his political ambitions in the past, and now is again doing it for next year’s elections. He will mount a campaign in tandem with a mayor who has been using infomercials to promote his city long before elections were becoming a reality. Talk of the earliest bird to catch the worm.
Then there’s the Administration candidate. Not one to be bested by the early announcement of a cousin to run for the Presidency, he is an achiever certainly, but tainted by his closeness to the powers-that-be of the present dispensation. Rumored to be his running mate is a woman-senator who had made her bid for the presidency earlier but stopped when questions regarding the legality of campaigning before the mandated period cropped up. The legality is still dubious at this stage, but the campaigners, including one young senator who is another wannabe, have begun filling the TV screens with political claptrap and Grade B movie-sh productions!
These are not the last of the list. Expect the sundry religious leaders and nuisance candidates to still make their bid for media space in the coming months, before the end or after the filing date of candidacy. That being the case, I fervently hope that the presidential campaign of at least one presidential candidate and his running mate, who had the courage and decency to forgo his own ambitions and put a stop to the airing of his own infomercials–which were in the running, so to speak, for the Famas or Movie Critics or whatever Awards while they were airing on TV a few months back–would not fall into this basically corny and comically pathetic ploy of getting votes. Too much showbiz is simply sickening. Too much bathos, not pathos.
We hope the Senator-son of a certified martyr and a beloved former president would have a campaign that will rise above all the cheap and outlandish gimmickry. With his qualifications and those of his running mate, himself the grandson and son of political leaders of untarnished reputations distinguished for service to the nation, any gimmickry would prove unnecessary to prove their worth to serve Filipinos who love their country and fellowmen. It is time we put to action what we have always suspected would work for this country: that Reforms are possible when they come from the Heart. And Sincerity from the Heart can always win the day!
