I AM of course talking about Ramon “Bong” Revilla who seems to have secured the 11th spot in the senatorial race in the last midterm elections.
Like many, I am wondering what Revilla has that Jinggoy Estrada and Juan Ponce Enrile do not have.
I mention the three in comparison because all are out on bail after being charged with plunder at the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan over alleged misuse of their pork barrel or Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), the lump-sum funds previously allocated to legislators.
Could it be that Revilla has a more effective talisman than Estrada and Enrile have? Not that I believe that having in their possession something that is thought to have magical powers and bring good luck could actually happen, but the fact that Revilla has been returned to the Senate after what he has done makes one wonder really.
Does a lucky charm really work or is it the shallowness of the Filipino voters that made Revilla win?
It would have been a satisfying victory for the people if, like Estrada and Enrile, Revilla was repudiated too. For a government official, and a senator at that, to be accused of pocketing P224 million in kickbacks from fake projects with the help of businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles who herself was convicted of plunder is simply unconscionable no matter how one looks at it ,and the same rejection, therefore, should have befallen his candidacy.
I mean, if like Napoles, Revilla’s former chief-of-staff Richard Cambe, was also found guilty of plunder by the anti-graft court, what does that speak of Revilla’s acquittal, given that he is the head of his Senate staff? The same question can be asked of Enrile, while his former chief of staff, Jessica Lucila Reyes, continues to languish at the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, while Enrile while Enrile is out on bail in consideration of his old age and poor health.
Does this mean to say that had Estrada and Enrile also utilized a campaign video that showed him perform a goofy dance that they would have won too?
How shallow and cheap can we all be to parlay our votes for an idiotic dance so that we can have a questionable character at the Senate to represent the Filipino people in legislative matters that will protect the interests of the country and its government?
Sense of humor is one thing that Filipinos have aplenty. But just because a candidate has found a medium to amuse people so that his disgraceful past can be swept under the rug is another deceitful act on the part of the candidate.
On the part of the Filipinos who still voted for him, it is called stupidity. (By Jesus Sievert)