Is Ate Glue still in control?

My readers might have noticed that I had hardly written about the election next week. For one thing, I am sick of our politics. I tried to bury any serious thoughts about local politics at the back of my mind. That was not possible. I had to prepare a speech before a group of foreign businessmen who wanted to know what will happen next.

There is no escaping it. I keep getting asked what to make of the headlines. People, particularly foreigners, are particularly alarmed about the killings. The killings make the President appear helpless, I am told, specially because they are made to believe she is in control of local politicians.

It does not help that Malacañang keeps on issuing press releases ordering the PNP to quickly solve the latest political killing. To the foreigners I have talked to, the press releases give the impression that our beloved President is no longer in control of her people because the killings continue in spite of her statements of concern. She is starting to look like King Canute at a lonely beach, ordering the waves to stop.

The disappearance of Jonas Burgos is not helping the image of Ate Glue. There she is ordering yet again, that the PNP and the military locate him. The case of Burgos had been lumped with all the mysterious killings and disappearances of leftist activists. If, as the PNP and the AFP insist, they have nothing to do with the killings and the disappearances, the police and the military are still duty bound to locate these persons and quickly. Otherwise, there is a negative perception of the peace and order situation.

In the matter of political killings, foreigners often ask why is it that Filipinos are ready to kill for a public office that on paper seems hardly worth it. Frankly, I tell them, I do not know. Maybe it is a matter of family honor for political families. Political office has also become a family business for many.

I normally do not have a personal stake in the political violence that characterizes our elections. As far as I am concerned, politicians and their followers can finish off each other and that might even be good for the country. But this time around, I am hoping and praying that a very close friend of mine survives her candidacy in the traditionally violence-prone province of Masbate.

I was pretty much in shock when Maloli Espinosa told me over coffee at the Edsa Plaza Tuesday Club that she is running for Congress in a district in Masbate. I asked her if she was out of her mind. Why give up a good job at ABS-CBN and the tenure of many years at the network for an extremely hazardous run in her violence-prone province?

Maloli knew where I was coming from. All she said was, if you are my friend, don’t even try to talk me out of it. Just pray for me. She explained that she wants to serve her province, one of the most poverty stricken provinces in the country today. The way she sees it, her family has paid the ultimate price for wanting to serve the province. Both her father and brother have been killed as part of Masbate’s bloody political tradition.

I have worked with Maloli since the early 90s when I was head of the ABS-CBN News operations. I know her as one tireless and dependable worker who is always a pleasure to work with. I know too that in the course of her years with ABS-CBN, she has won many friends in and out of government. I guess she knows that as a representative, she can tap them to help bring Masbate out of the poverty list.

 I have never been to Masbate but some of the guys at the Tuesday Club know the province well. They tell me that it is one hell of a cowboy place, a Philippine version of the Wild Wild West. A human life is as cheap as the price of a bullet. Local political warlords have prospered visibly while the people have remained as poor as ever and too afraid to express themselves.

I guess, other than family reasons, the chance to be able to use her Manila connections to uplift the quality of life in Masbate is why Maloli is risking her life to run for one of its congressional seats. I know there are other ways of helping Masbate but Maloli is right too in thinking that unless she has political blessing from the people, she can’t be an effective agent of change in Masbate.

So my dear friend is running, not just for office but probably for her life. But let her entrenched political opponent know that if anything bad happens to Maloli, it will be one hell of a national issue. Maloli’s many friends in national and international media as well as in many organizations of influence here and abroad will watch Masbate closely this time around.

I guess Masbate politicians must be made to realize that the only legitimate means of deciding who’s who is by the ballot box. Let the Masbateños express their free will, if at all possible. Then again, if there is one provincial contest that will test how much in control Ate Glue is, it will have to be Masbate. Maloli and her opponent are both aligned with Ate Glue.

Scientists for Congress

I got this e-mail from Rogelio Paglomutan, who says he is an OFW.

Your today’s column entitled "Nurture local scientists for economic growth" is indeed enlightening to your readers, particularly to our policymakers. In this regard, we hope you can support Agham for party-list. Its nominees can champion S&T policies in Congress.  

As you know, we, the OFWs, have seen the economic progress of other countries. Technological competitiveness is one of key elements for their rapid economic growth. For this reason, please consider Agham (Alyansa ng mga Grupong Haligi ng Agham at Teknolohiya para sa Mamayan) for the party-list to represent the S&T sector. They can do a lot for the country’s technological competitiveness so that the country can catch-up.

Who are the nominees of Agham who be can be trusted to push for these things? Do they have the track record in the S&T sector ?

1. Dr. Emil Javier - international plant breeding expert, former chancellor of UP-Los Banos, DOST secretary, UP President and other chairmanships of international S&T organizations, and outstanding UP alumnus.

2. Dr. Angel Alcala - international marine biologist, former college dean & President of Silliman University, CHED chairman, DENR secretary, and Ramon Magsaysay awardee.

Both have made significant contributions in their respective fields of academic expertise and in their sectors while in government offices, thus, are familiar with the political processes to advance S&T to greater heights.

The Agham nominees would do better in policy making in Congress than most of those politicians and celebrities seeking party list nomination.

Maraming salamat at mabuhay. Keep up the good work in enlightening our policymakers, reading public, including us, OFWs.

I have to agree that Dr. Javier and Dr. Alcala will indeed uplift the level of congressional discussions, specially with the current hot issue of global warming. We do need them to be in Congress.

Married

Here’s Dr. Ernie E.

Husband and wife in bed together. She feels his hand rubbing her shoulder.

She: "Oh, that feels good."

His hand moves to her breast.

She: "Gee, honey, that feels wonderful."

His hand moves to her leg.

She: "Oh, honey, don’t stop."

But he stops.

She: "Why did you stop?"

He: "I found the TV remote."

Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is [email protected]