IT IS the way the cookie crumbles - I often say that when unexpected things happen. It is what they call the Murphy’s Law. “What can go wrong will go wrong.” Almost all losers in the recent elections may be still scratching their heads and asking themselves till today in their conversations with friends and supporters what went wrong. Simply put. Nothing lasts forever. In Tagalog, walang forever.
I don’t feel sorry for former mayor Edgardo Pamintuan for not getting a seat in the House of Representatives via his AbeKa party list. Like me, he is no longer young. He is a septuagenarian, meaning he in his 70s. It’s time for him and wife Miniang to smell the roses and do “apostolic” works. Take care of the grandchildren. Enjoy them while they are young and cute.
I am not sorry for the defeat of Bryan Nepomuceno in the hands of his friend Pogi Lazatin. (Just to recall. Me, Bryan and Pogi were the three musketeers in 2013 to 2016 in the council. We were the fiscalizers and had lunch every Tuesday for three straight years). Now, Atty. Bryan will have more time with Erika and will pursue with more vigor their law practices. And take good care of their growing children.
Vilma Caluag aspired for the mayorship of the City of San Fernando and didn’t make it, in the same manner Angie Hizon failed in her quest as vice mayor. Both beautiful ladies are young and have more years ahead of them. Let me quote a stanza in Elbert Hubbard’s poem to serve as your inspiration. “I think of you my dearest (San Fernando) as a promise of beauty untouched by the world. Be it my greatest pride that I’ve loved you, lost you rather not to have loved you at all.” The people of San Fernando deserve these two women entrepreneurs. You haven’t heard the last of them yet.
Christian Halili is young. He can bounce back in due time. In the meanwhile, he has to attend to his growing family. Mabalacat will wait for him. Marino “Boking” Morales had a sorry loss against his nephew, Gerd Aquino in the vice mayoral race. I will repeat: nothing lasts forever. He has been there, anyway. Now my Pareng Boking can attend to family business and may travel around the globe, take a cruise with partner Nina. More time to wonder and be awed by the blue water of the Mediterranean and see the wonderful work of arts by Michelangelo at the Louvre in Paris.
What a sorry loss for Mark Lapid in his quest to be mayor of Porac. He was a poor third. It’s a lesson learned for the Lapids to break the invisible barrier that was planted by them by building big houses with high walls in the town. It’s never too late for him. He’s still young with a career in movies. He can be back in “Probinsiyano”, the long-running Coco Martin series that helped his father Lito get back to the Senate.
It’s not yet the end of the road for former Bacolor Mayor Jose Maria “Jomar” Hizon. He is still young and energetic. His gubernatorial quest was his only first taste of political defeat. He can still bounce back big. The sphere may be small this time. The third congressional district is a manageable area, more so if he can draw on his side the Pinedas and former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
No regrets for the above persons. Life is like that. It’s a yin and yang thing. If there’s sadness, there’s happiness. If there’s success, there’s defeat.