Tuesday, February 13, 2007 Obenieta:Lick-worthy kick By Myke U. Obenieta So to Speak
IN this age of video, guess what’s more captivating for voyeurs than lovers caught in the act?
Forget about those footages from triple-X “scandals” crawling out of the sidewalk stalls; these are nowhere as lewd as the stolen shots of politicians and public officials flaunting the nakedness of their basic instinct.
If some of them would go out on a Valentine date tomorrow, they better beware of sneaky camera zooming in not only on the candle-lit dinner but also on the under-the-table maneuvers that prove how propriety and public trust have been flushed down the urinal.
Smoky in the eye is this report heating up this paper’s front page yesterday: “Video to provoke Ombudsman inquiry on project kickbacks.”
If reporters did not drool at the DVD showing a contractor short of panting with his allegations that the mayor of Lapu-Lapu City “asked for three percent of the contract price of P500 million for four big projects,” it must be because such a trick of the trade is not exactly a whore-decides-to-be-a-nun sort of stunt.
Like the rhymes in Valentine cards or the acrobatics in a porno production, something about official transactions are simply stuck in the trite and routine tedium.
Knowing the ways of the world, after all, also means being acquainted with this almost obscene fact: Aside from being an aphrodisiac, power is also apt for prostitution.
That explains why it persists like pubic lice, despite the fire and brimstone that go with the watered-down crusade for morality in government. So is there anything startling about a mayor who allegedly asked a P15-million bribe to favor a contractor for government projects?
If you were born yesterday, consider this paper’s disclosure enough to drain the last ounce of your innocence: “According to industry sources, it’s not unusual for contractors to spend 10 to 20 percent of project costs on bribes for local officials. That practice is so pervasive, that if government were to get serious about running after those who give or receive kickbacks almost all local government officials will be sent to jail.”
Wonder no more, therefore, why there’s a throng out there trotting off and swearing their sweet hearts out for you and me in exchange for our votes.
Once they win, of course, most of them would be prompt about projects—new roads and street lamps and the devil knows what else—emblazoned with the empathy of their reminders, more lurid and aggressive than graffiti: All this came to pass out of love and care for the constituents.
Kickbacks? Well, along with blueprints for progress, these often come to the fore when these so-called “public servants” put their best foot forward. Like perverts simulating manners sweet enough to sweep us off our feet.
