General Admission
Just one handshake key to unification
Al S. Mendoza
THEY fought in the year past.
Benjie Lim versus Belen Fernandez.
Nani Braganza versus Guv Spines.
Bani’s Navarro versus Guv Spines.
They’ve been all fighting since I can remember.
But consider:
Belen’s never been a fighting politician. Spines, too.
Belen just loves politics but never the bickering, back-stabbing, vengeance-laden type of politics.
Same with Spines.
And Benjie, Nani and Mayor Navarro?
Benjie hit Belen with a no-mayor’s-permit blast on Belen’s wish to build a hotel complex in Dagupan.
Instantly, pundits viewed Benjie’s move as downright politicking.
But, of course!
And more.
Benjie and Belen, besides being entrenched in opposing political blocs, are known also as business rivals, engaged specifically in the mall war.
Clearly, therefore, Benjie’s punch wasn’t only below-the-belt, if not below-the-bra (pun intended). It also unmasked his true colors as a poor sport, completely missing his chance to become a gentleman – for once, sonamabitzki!
When will we ever learn?
Skullduggery is alive and kicking.
Chivalry is dead.
And then the Nani-Navarro Duet.
Why duel with Guv Spines at all?
He is the father of the province. As mayors, you, Nani & Navarro, are but his sons.
OK, you want some pointers on protocol?
P-Noy is our father, the father of the nation.
He is not yours alone to enjoy, to please, to lick boots, if you will.
Protocol calls that P-Noy is to be shared by everybody, from the man in the street to the man in Urduja.
P-Noy gets invited to Pangasinan and next we see Nani and Navarro, the main hosts, not inviting Spines to the occasion?
Unthinkable.
Look, we are a race steeped in tradition.
When a son or a daughter invites anyone to the house, that guest should first be introduced to the lord of the house before any proceeding could prosper.
Protocol, my dear, protocol.
The Nani-Navarro Duet sang out of key and I’m pretty sure even P-Noy must have heard the discordant chords while he was here.
If P-Noy had asked the duo, “Where’s Guv Spines? Why isn’t he with us?”, I wonder what answer he might have gotten from his hosts.
I say what they did to Spines was a disrespect of the first degree, thoroughly very un-Filipino.
It is the second day today of 2011, the Year of the Rabbit.
Will their fighting continue?
Yes.
By nature, we fight without end.
Once a fight starts, it is the hardest to stop.
It only stops when the protagonists themselves say so.
Or, to be more precise, it ends only when the aggressor halts his own aggression.
Oftentimes, the aggrieved can do nothing but pray and hope that those who vilify him see the light – finally.
The process of unification can start with a single handshake.
Happy New Year!
