Thursday, November 01, 2007 So: Loser, emote please By Michelle P. So Caught in the Net
FOR those who lost in Monday’s elections, the cemetery would be a good place to bawl their sorrows. The dead are more tolerant of the dejected and the afflicted. At least, no one sees them rolling their eyes as they feign interest in hearing the cries of election woes.
For those of us working today and tomorrow while the rest of the Philippine population contemplate their four-day itinerary, the cemetery holds a special place in the hearts of journalists. The dead console us in these days of holiday deprivation. They give us stories.
A check with the Sun.Star affiliate papers tells me the same things I had told my editors back when I was a reporter: All is well; the dead tell no tales but the living do and say the same things. The words “peaceful,” “on red alert,” “police ready,” “no liquor in cemeteries,” “clean-up” and “expensive flowers” are common in stories that the Sun.Star affiliate papers have been running this week.
Common, too, is the profound question from the editors of the affiliate papers: Do we have work on Nov. 1 and 2? My reply slivers their hearts and tempts them beat me with a shovel and bury me in the cemetery, and then they would have stories about my “accidental and gruesome” death for Nov. 1 (breaking story) and Nov. 2 (follow-up story) and they’d run my most unflattering pictures. That is how editors get even.
But the October 29 twin elections have made filling up the news pages during the holidays less stressful for editors. So in the next immediate issues, the dead and the living will be mingling with winners and losers. Sun.Star advocates fairness in news.
Except for the names, the results of the barangay and Sanggunian Kabataan elections in areas covered by Sun.Star were just about the same. Some of the post-election day stories:
“Dad saddened by vote-buying” (Bacolod); “Peaceful SK, barangay elections noted in Cordillera” (Baguio); “Vote buying, fights spoiling twin polls (Cagayan de Oro), “Drugs money funded bets” (Cebu), “More cops deployed in region’s hotspots” (General Santos); “Comelec to file charges against overaged SK bets” (Iloilo); “23 new faces in Mexico’s barangay governance” (Pampanga).
Ho-hum stories. What sprung me to my feet at 7 a.m. was a picture of a new barangay captain in Tinago, Cebu City on page 4 of yesterday’s issue of Sun.Star Cebu. I had expected Joel Garganera, the irrepressible almost hunk who loves kids and women, to win as barangay captain. Like I always did after an election that he ran in but lost, I called him up to condole. Perplexed at my electoral condolences, he said he won and topped the slate of barangay councilors. Ngek. I upgraded my condolences to congratulations. Kapitan is now Konsehal. He won’t be bawling in the cemetery today or tomorrow after all.
If any election loser is heard crying out to ghosts of losers past in the cemeteries today or tomorrow, he will destroy the peace that police have avowed to keep. But he will make a good story and may even find himself in the news pages. The editors of the Sun.Star affiliate papers already have the picture in mind to accompany the story.
A tip to the election loser who might find himself in the situation: Strike a good pose, put some theatrics, emote. This is your chance to land on page 2.
