General Admission
It’s showtime!
By Al S. Mendoza
LOOK how crazy this country is, or has become.
Last Friday, March 29, was the first day of campaigning for persons running for councilor, mayor, congress, vice governor and governor.
Don’t tell me you didn’t know what was last Friday—Good Friday.
The day God “died.”
The day we were not to do anything of consequence.
The day we were to just stay home.
The day we were not even supposed to take a bath.
The day we were to seal our lips.
In short, it was the day when “No” was the operative word.
No brushing of teeth even.
No to everything.
No singing. No dancing. No loud talking. No music. No parties. No cavorting. No nothing. Not even a Mass to celebrate.
But why did the Comelec choose Good Friday as the first day of campaigning?
What could be a crazier decision than that?
Or, is Comelec chief Brillantes God-less, an atheist?
Only in the Philippines, indeed.
It’s more fun in the Philippines, indeed.
So, I asked a friend of mine who is running for mayor in a town called Agooyong, “How would you campaign on the first day of campaigning?”
“Simple,” he said. “I will just stand there on the stage that I built at the town plaza.”
“What will you tell the people?”
“Nothing,” he said. “Since loud talking isn’t allowed, better that no talkies. That’s why there is no microphone, nor a sound system, at the entablado. Not even a bullhorn.”
“So, you will just stand up there doing nothing, saying nothing?” I said.
“But, of course,” he said. “The people, when they come at all, are prohibited anyway from clapping their hands, nor roaring in glee as to approve of my muted speech while I do my Humphrey Bogart pose up there for an hour or two.”
“You mean you will just stand up there a la Bogart for an hour or two?” I asked.
“Yes,” he said. “With a stick of unlighted ciggie stuck in-between my lips.”
“Uh-oh,” I said. “Good luck.”
These crazy things happen because we are a peace-loving race.
Which means we’d rather tolerate than exacerbate matters, shoo away inanities than shoot them down outright with a buck shotgun, or turn our backs rather than take the bull by the horn, right?
Listen to the American Declaration of Independence:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute a new government.”
I bet you, not many candidates know this by heart.
Share your Comments or Reactions
Powered by Facebook Comments
