General Admission

From Arroyo to arrogance

By Al S. Mendoza

SONS versus a son.

Father and son versus sons and parents.

The country’s No. 3 versus No. 1.

A triad of encounters.

Who will win?

The sons will. Superiority in numbers.

The sons and parents will.  Superiority in numbers.

The No. 1 will. Superiority in resources, influence and power.

The sons are Mikey and Dato, otherwise known as the nation’s most powerful siblings. Why because their mother is Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the President of the Republic of the Philippines.

The son is Joey de Venecia, otherwise known as the son of Jose de Venecia Jr., the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Father and son are Jose and Joey, the parents are the country’s First Couple.

As Speaker of the House, JDV is the nation’s No. 3 Filipino. As President of the Republic, GMA is the nation’s No. 1 citizen.

All of the above have just concluded their epic battles.

The winners were the sons, the First Couple and the No. 1 citizen.

But of course.

How can Joey beat Mikey and Dato?

Joey isn’t even a congressman while Mikey and Dato, besides being congressmen, are the President’s sons.

Like the President, Mikey and Dato wield considerable power on and off the corridors of power.  Their being presidential sons should end all arguments about how powerful they are up to 2010.

Joey is a mere citizen of the land: moneyless and therefore powerless.

JDV is powerful, yes, but ranged against the President of the Republic, he’s but a midget.  It showed in the final count: 174 in favor of a JDV ouster against a mere 36 if I am not mistaken in the no-ouster vote.

Who said the House of Congress just did an act in the name of democracy?

What it did was transform itself into a despicable House of Sin, making a travesty of democracy as it authored the most horrendous act of treason and back-stabbing in the annals of Philippine politics.

What else is new?

The removal of JDV wasn’t a democratic process in the so-called august halls of Congress but, rather, it was the execution of a conspiracy hatched by the First Couple to bow to the wishes of their two sons.

What an irony.

We now heed the wishes of our children instead of them listening to us.

Joey himself didn’t listen to his father and exposed the alleged corruption among the high and the mighty, led by the First Gentleman, Mike Arroyo, in that now infamous, scuttled ZTE broadband deal.

For that, Joey the Speaker’s son incurred the ire of the Palace, the flames of vengeance fanned by the presidential sons so onion-skinned they couldn’t distinguish fair-game comment from character assassination.

This country has long gone to the dogs and what could be a more glaring truth to that than the recent political murder of JDV.

The tragedy is, there is no way JDV and his son could mount a counter-offensive anymore as the Palace tenants will leave the scene of their crimes in two years time – laughing their way to the bank.

Some say JDV’s political murder was the Congressional Hour.

It was the Comedy Hour, if you ask me: They didn’t cast votes, they made a roll-call on   the running dogs of the President.

Funny, if not weird, but the man on the chopping block was the same man who had helped the executioner become President of this Republic.

Who needs gratitude when your own husband is being pilloried, your own two sons are bloodshot with revenge?

Kill everything in sight, especially if there is no need no more for the intended bird of prey – such as JDV.

Gratitude isn’t the highest virtue on earth anymore.

And, yes, we have changed our name from Arroyo to arrogance.

From here onwards, anybody getting in the way would be erased from the face of the earth.

(Readers may reach columnist at also147@yahoo.com. For past columns, click http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/category/opinion/general-admission/ For reactions to this column, click “Send MESSAGES, OPINIONS, COMMENTS” on default page.)