THE President Digong-Vice President (VP) Leni hate-love relationship is a colorful tittle-tattle in 2016 that could still be a crisp news mongering in 2017. Filipinos love “gladiatorial” politics. We hate blood and violence but we look forward to an exciting conflict.
In other countries, the ordinary people in the streets, the common farmers, and the busy businessmen are not mindful of the day-to-day activities of their political leaders. They leave politics to the politicians. This does not hold true in our country. The employed, the idle, the rich, the poor and the nobody in our country are always updated who among our politicians coughed and sneezed.
To keep politics interesting in the Philippines (like in a drama), we always monitor what the important characters are doing. In each of them, we have created a three-dimensional character: intellect, emotion and…. passion. The focus is our “god versus god conflict” peppered with a love angle (or at least a semblance of it).
Few weeks after the national election, there was a some kind of mutual admiration between President Digong and Vice President Leni although they do not belong to one party and they do not share a common political belief. President Digong has a cure-all-image-of-a-Punisher. Vice President Leni reminds us of Tita Cory.
The administrator stage is a foreshadowing of the opposite event to happen. At the start, VP Leni felt that she was “Beauty” in front of the “Beast” that she admired. There was a “hall dancing” that the “cups” and the “spoons” believed that it could be a start of unity and political romance. The realm of dreams went up when VP Leni became a cabinet member of President Digong… a Housing Czar!
The P and VP were almost seen throwing smiles at each other as if they are creating a love team. In public, the P shyly offered a bottle of soda to the VP. The P started to look passionately by admiring the VP’s flawless knees (and started to imagine what could be wonderful above those knees). Someone started to float that the VP is having a congressman suitor. Just like in Greek mythology, the gods are also having many changes in their life.
The conflict of “men against” men also affected the relationship of the gods. While the gods enjoy eating ambrosia (the food of the gods) the men below start to complain about massive human rights violation, especially on police operations. The anti-Marcos burial groups are already showing outrage on President Digong because of his stand. The pro-Marcos supporters are also chanting for the return of Marcos. It’s a real drama starting on a low budget. Except for the climax.
If more sub-plots develop, we can expect for “god against men” conflict with the participation of minor gods like De Lima, Lacson, Trillanes, Gordon, Bato, Pimentel, and few others. If this will require a bigger budget, we need big producers also. In here, we may find China, Japan, America, or Russia to volunteer as executive producers. The script may include the mercury rising for the suspension of the “writ of habeas corpus,” the brewing martial law, Uncle Sam’s low intensity conflict, ISIS terrorism, and the arrival of lethal weapon.
The pro-Digong group will also take center stage to offer their defenses. The one million-strong Mayor Rodrigo Roa Duterte National Executive Coordinating Committee (MRRD NECC) will defend the president at all costs against the sinister forces. The Department of Interior and Local Government will always be there to say that everything is normal and business is as usual. Senator Alan Peter Cayetano will give his oratorical piece for VP Leni, “I challenge you to stop campaigning and thinking of the Presidency.”
Our imagination has been focused on all these while somewhere there poverty is still lurking. Our jobless brothers can hardly eat three times a day. Thousands of street children are unattended. The residents in conflict areas dwell in fear and uncertainty. We are confused with the growth of our economy. Calamity-stricken areas have not fully recovered yet. This is Dan Brown’s “Inferno.”
The Philippine politics is amusement with fear. What would politics be without variety? Soon all would die of sameness or satiety. Our politics is comedy. It is simply a funny way of being serious.