Saturday, September 5, 2009

Mar and Noynoy

Politicians who kiss babies (or drive them in sidecars), use the elderly as props and demonstrate the leakiness of their childhood residences leave a bad taste in my mouth. Clearly, even poverty itself is being exploited. Because majority of our people can comprehend little else than daily bread, the bid to demonstrate who can relate the most to the underfed has replaced substantive speeches and debates.

Since most of the candidates parade shamelessly in borrowed rags, I thought I would have to skip voting yet again rather than risk vomiting on those shiny new million peso counting machines. Recently though, the sidecar driver caught my attention and might just change my mind.

After spending an inordinate amount of cash that defies my ability to count on infomercials, shedding pounds of perfumed sweat driving two scrawny kids in a sidecar and soiling expensive soles on a wet market, Mar Roxas has declared his intention to withdraw from the presidential race in favor of Noynoy Aquino.

He doesn’t care that he is more qualified. He doesn’t care that Korina Sanchez will lose the chance to be first lady. If purging our country of thieves in high places means stepping down for a more popular, less experienced man, Roxas is willing to make the ultimate sacrifice even if it means having wasted campaign money and a weeping Korina.

It’s obvious. No one would have thought of pushing a reluctant Aquino into the forefront if Cory, his mother, had not died and if an emaciated nation had not been thrown into remembering the moving rhetoric of his martyred father. If not for the turn of events, Roxas would still have had a shot driving those kids all the way to the presidential living room. But I suppose Roxas is right. He does not matter. This country does.

I know what I do not want. I do not want a president who had a 2001 net worth of P67 million that ballooned like a gangrened foot to a 2008 net worth of P144 million. I do not want a presidential son who was worth P5 million in 2002 and is now worth more than P99 million. I do not want public officials with unexplained wealth even if they technically cannot be called thieves yet. No one wants even just the suspicion of thievery hanging in the air, not the hungry, not the silenced, not the oppressed. Getting what we want may mean shoving the reigns of leadership into the hands of a lesser but more honest man. Noynoy will not dare shame the ghosts of his parents or he’ll asphyxiate to death in a sea of yellow ribbons.

The question is whether Noynoy will step up and do justice to Mar’s sacrifice. We’ll find out in a day or two. It will take several years though to find out if we’ve been had by yet another unraveling circus side show.


  1. One day, I looked at the PDI headlines and poof! There it was: Mar gives way to Noynoy. At first I was shocked, then I wondered why he did it. Until now, I still wonder.

    One of my classmates reckons it's political ploy. Winnie Monsod says it's 'statesmanship' in action. I don't know what to make of Mar's decision or of Noynoy's skills. Can he do it?

  2. i have serious doubts about noynoy's abilities sandy. i'm certain lakas and mar are only backing him up because of the popularity and timing factor. but even if he isn't too capable, he is a better bet than whoever the admin can dish out simply because his integrity is intact.

    i don't think it was that easy for mar to give up his bid. he was really keen on running and there was no way to predict that cory would die and people would be taken up in a sentimental wave.

  3. it wasnt easy for mar. conrad de quiros even said that every candidate is very "atat" for the position except for noy. then, nagdrama nadayun si korina. (Gosh!Producers should get politicians as talents and korina, too!)
    have you heard of the news? Korina got angry at RG Cruz(an ABS-CBN reporter) because RG posted (on his facebook account) something like Korina - the first lady wannabe. hahaha! serves her right! true naman! poor RG!

  4. oh yeah i heard about the RG cruz bruhaha. grabe noh? may anonymous letter circulating ABS CBN pa against him. talagang na shock ako don.

  5. i think she has no right to reprimand RG. After all, it's RG's personal page and he has a right to say something. bato bato sa langit tamaan wag magalit. defensive kaayo si korina!

  6. ehehehe. sa una ra bya ni siya balat sibuyas ug malditahon. :)

  7. If you're thinking about voting for Noynoy, you need to know this important issue about the unfortunate plight of the workers at Hacienda Luisita ( How can an aspiring presidentiable take a nation at its helm if he could not even control a long term issue brewing in his own backyard? He could not even control his own sister's yapping their personal lives on TV. One time I remembered Kris amusingly saying that even her jewelry came from "KATAS NG HACIENDA LUISITA."
    ( For me, there is nothing amusing about it.

    Is it fair to say that until now there is no clear cut remedy on the hardships that the workers are experiencing? I think not.

    So Noynoy for president? Think again. Hindi siya si Ninoy.

  8. hi tandang. that's why my last paragraph has an inconclusive sentence in it. every Filipino who is updated in current events knows about hacienda luisita. it is in fact an issue that is being loudly trumpeted as noynoy makes his rounds campaigning.

    i think all the candidates have skeletons in their closets. it's going to be a matter of choosing which skeletons are least horrific

    i don't know who i'm going to vote for yet


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