Funny

As early as January, I'm already hearing a lot of new things to write about what's happening in the Philippines, specifically on the politics side. Now that I'm home (not for a long time, though since I have to leave next week again), I'm in a good mood today so I'll just be posting here some things that I would categorize as "funny".

Funny how Richard Gomez reacted to Leo Martinez's suggestion for actors, actresses and basketball players not to run for any executive office in the coming elections simply because most of them know absolutely nothing regarding lawmaking. I wasn't able to memorize his exact words, but I believe his text message said "Kilala ko si Leo Martinez dahil nakasama ko sya sa mga projects namin. Sabog lang siguro sya kaya nasabi nya yun." This, coming from someone who's running for senator. Again, funny. Nakakahiya, and funny.

Mr. Gomez also said those who'd want to run for senator wouldn't need the skills and knowledge about the law, that they just need the heart to serve the people. This proves a lot of things really- that it's an unfortunate fact that most Filipinos these days don't realize the worth of education, that we don't move forward with the rest of the world because of our "pwede na" mentality. This is also an obvious reason why most of our elected government officials are incompetent- most of us vote because we think they are simply... nice, and nothing else.

I've nothing against actors and actresses running for political office, as some had proven their worth already in the past. I believe Vilma Santos, for instance, did a great job in bringing Lipa City to it's current pace. Unfortunately, most of them just never left any significant mark in history. Instead, they became popular either because of scandals or by using their position to their selfish claims. Take for example Senator Jinggoy Estrada. Do you know anything about him in the Senate other than using his Privilege Speech tickets for either (or both) defending his family from speculations or (and) some political blahblahs that, most of the time, are never connected to the agenda of their official sessions?

Meanwhile, funny how Senator Lito Lapid, who is now running for mayor, attempted to please the Makati crowd by actually telling incumbent mayor Binay in front of news cameras to let him continue his work. He said, "Ibigay mo na sa 'kin ang Makati, tutal naman napatunayan na natin na pang-lokal lang talaga ang serbisyo ko." Some thoughts rushed in mind after hearing that stupendously foolhardy comment:

1. That he has just proven that he's not supposed to be a senator in the first place.
2. That Binay is much much better than him.
3. The term used is "ibigay", which here means "to turn over",... so Makati is like something that he needs to be turned over, eh?

If we got someone like this in Senate, no wonder why our contry is in such a dump. Binay, perhaps caught unprepared for such a stupid act, just candidly said, "Marami pa akong ipagpapatuloy sa Makati..." I know that smile in his face caught very clearly by the newscameras. I'm sure in his mind was a resounding sidecomment "STUPID IDIOT!"

Later, Lapid was asked what he'd do for Makati if he wins the mayorial slate. He said something like, "Maganda na at napakayaman na ng Makati, pero malungkot." Then, his exact words: "LET MAKATI HAPPY." Again, funny. Nakakahiya and funny.

And of course, there is this 'Tol commercial by Mike Defensor to top all those election (though not confessed) TV ads. Aside from being the most uninspired bland TV ads that I ever saw in my entire life, this 2-minute commercial doesn't prove or say anything at all but "Hi! I am Mike Defensor, and though I'm not actually saying it, I'm running for Senator in May 2007!" If this is his attempt to make himself known to the general public, he just leaves the people scratching their heads saying "Who the hell is that?!" if they're totally oblivious about politics, or "What the hell was that about?!" if they are searching for any meaning or purpose to it. This ad is just like those printed ads we see everyday in the streets. Happy Fiesta from Congressman this. Happy Valentines Day from Councilor that. And they say they're not selling their names to voters yet. And they say they're not violating any COMELEC laws since they're not submitting their candidacy yet. So oh! I'm so happy Congressman this and Councilor took some effort (not to mention our taxes) just to greet us Happy Fiesta or Happy Valentines! Is that it?! Funny.

I just wish the Filipino is already matured enough to vote this time, and that we've already learned from our mistakes in the past. With all these political craziness going around, the only way to make a wise choice is to really look into how these candidates did their job while in office, their REAL contributions to the society, and their credentials to prove their worth in the position they are running for. If only voters would devote more time for this.