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Twisting In The Wind Earlier
Thank Ferdinand Marcos Jr. He’s dispelling doubts that our politics today is skidding into a nuthouse. After the 2010 election virus bit, the Ilocos Norte congressman took time off from his avocation: running to the ground his late father’s former cronies. Junior would wring from them “ill-gotten wealth”. That’s boodle, amassed by Ferdinand Senior. Much had been furtively stashed with cronies, behind “smiling martial law” edicts. Is this a case of our “ill-gotten wealth” becoming their “ill-gotten wealth”? Pecunia non olet, Emperor Vespasian snorted. “Money has no smell” was his reply to objections against taxing public urinals. But how much is much, under Martial Law One and Two? Peach-and-pink mansions for everybody surnamed Ampatuan in a Maguindanao where poverty clips life expectancy to 57.6 years. In Benguet, people can live 72.9 years. Sixteen of the 22 Maguindanao towns are headed by Ampatuans. They rule over squalor, Inquirer notes. About 60 percent of just Lucio Tan firms, says Inquirer columnist Solita Collas Monsod. In Sandiganbayan Civil Case 005, Bongbong unveiled copies of blank deed of assignments that tycoon Lucio Tan gave to dear old dad. But “Tan never delivered shares of stocks to FM’s estate.” Marcos Jr. tossed in, proforma denunciation of the Maguindanao massacre. It was, Bongbong rightly says, the inevitable result of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s coddling of the Ampatuans and other warlords. Including the Ilocos? Newspapers and TV mercifully edit photos of Ampatuan town massacre victims. But Ely Dejaresco of Negros Chronicle and other journalists, share, with colleagues on Internet, raw photos. The gouged eye sockets, shattered faces and genitals tell of a brutality Filpinos haven’t seen since World War II. We must be “extra vigilant” lest Proclamation 1959, that clamped martial law on Magduindanao, spiral into nationwide declaration of martial law”. Bongbong frets. That’d “protect President Arroyo from scandals” that studded government under her watch.” Marcos Senior’s Proclamation 1081 did just as much. All Junior’s sound-bytes lacked was the right background music. Will the "21st Century Schizoid Man" do? That’s from progressive rock band “King Crimson.” Remember February 25, 1986? In fatigue uniform, Bongbong appeared, on a Malacanang balcony, and defended the “New Society” installed by bayonets. As the "20th Century Schizoid Young Man”, he predicted: We will prevail. Across town, the newly-sworn in President Corazon Aquino restored free speech, freedom of assembly and a free press suppressed by the “New Society”. And by 9:05, that same evening, Bongbong, family and cronies scrambled aboard Chinook helicopters to skip town, minutes ahead of People Power crowds. ”Schizophrenia beats dining alone,” Oscar Levant said. While Bongbong seeks a senate seat, Mama will run for his Lower House post. “The Marcos years were the most “democratic period in Philippine history” Imelda insists. This is “self-delusion, of course. “It’s like pulling in your stomach when you step on the scales” Can delusion be inherited, we joshed Dr Pureza Onate, former president of the Philippine Psychiatric Association. Is it contagious? Look at the 99 men and women who beat the deadline for filing certificates of candidacy for the presidency in 2010’s elections. They include front-runner Noynoy Aquino, Manny Villar to Gibo Teodoro. Don’t forget, the wife warned us: There’s Joseph Estrada. Trailing badly in the surveys, Erap would like to spend “his “twilight years as president” People Power Two ousted him for turning Malacanang into a honky-tonk for Jaime Dichavez, Dante Tan, Lucio Cao Co, William Gatchalian, et al. Now, he sees Malacanang as a five-star old folks’ hospice? That’s not schizophrenia. They call it dementia. The other candidates range from publicity seekers, chizoids to perennial first-filer Ely Pamatong. He is today’s Hilario Moncado, the genial but twitched-in-the-noggin perennial first-filer of yesteryears. Mar Roxas, Loren Legarda and 18 others can’t wait to show Vice-President Noli de Castro to the door. And 158 claw for one of 12 Senate seats. Terms are up for Juan Ponce Enrile who starred in the fake car ambushed that triggered Martial Law One to cipher Lito Lapid and 10 others. The same scramble is on for all Lower House seats. All pledge they’ll lead us to a land of milk and honey. Many candidates are deluded they’re qualified. Some even think they’ll win. We have a surplus of redeemers. Does a thin line separate altruism from hallucination? “Ask me after May 10,2010,” Dr Onate smiled. While the exodus is still massing, our would-be "saviors" bicker over where they’d march us. A fierce debate now rages on whether clamping martial is justified, even as more arsenals are unearthed. Evidence of burning of registration and identity of voters has turned up. Maguindanao is the “Last Chance Café” for the President. If martial law turns into a Marcos-era clone, she may find herself twisting in the wind earlier, rather than later. Email: juanlmercado@gmail.com |
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