As the saying goes

Netnet Camomot

“DO you ever feel like you’re on Season Five of your life, and the writers are just doing outrageous s**t to keep it interesting?” said a meme posted last Friday.

Two days later, an Ozamiz family could have said the same thing. And this is the family that occupies precious powerful seats, starting with the city mayor’s throne. His constituents are understandably mourning. Your thought bubble then goes, Why? Hmmm, because their mayor is gone. And it’s a permanent gone, no chance to occupy the city mayor’s throne forever and ever.

But other members of the family may occupy that throne again—yes, there is forever in Philippine politics. If you’re in dire need of proof, read Philippine history and see whose surnames were in precious positions in government in the ‘50s, ‘60s, ‘70s, ‘80s, ‘90s, and compare those surnames to that of incumbent government officials—the more things change, the more they remain the same.

“Revenge is a dish best served cold,” goes a saying. And surely those whose surnames are now being broadcasted as society’s bad elements will resurface in the future as the good ones. Pinoys are known to have selective amnesia, with a propensity to vote for the “rich and famous,” or should that be “infamous”? Or most probably they’re driven by fear, when there’s a threat to “vote for him or else.”

Or else, what? Pinoys who were old enough to vote in the ‘60s might know the answer to that. Well, we don’t have to dig up that much Philippine history. Elections in these 7,107 islands have always been supposedly fraught with guns, goons and gold.

Are you drugs? is the question we ask from someone who’s so out of whack. Someone whose statements, arguments and debates are neither here nor there, leaving behind more questions than answers. In Tagalog, its translation is, Ano raw? In Bisaya, Unsa daw? And then, there’s the Pinoy who simply rolls his eyes—the silent majority. His thought bubble: Yeah, right, mao ba, uhum.

But when drugs become too literal—meaning, the person you’re asking, Are you drugs?, is indeed addicted to drugs—you may have to mull over the idea of convincing him to go for rehabilitation. With Tokhang and extrajudicial killings now considered as another day in paradise, there’s a possibility he will be as gone as Ozamiz’s city mayor if he chooses to continue his hard habit to break.

President Rody Duterte himself read and announced the names of mayors who were alleged to be involved in drugs. That should have served as enough warning for the mayors to go and see if the allegations are true. But, like the dust balls that keep reappearing no matter how many times you’ve vacuumed the room, there’s this invisible glue that helps drugs stick to a place. It’s addictive, it’s fast and easy money, its ROI—return on investment—is, what, a billionfold? You need an equal replacement for drugs to be outta this country forevermore. You have to present an alternative—what’s life without drugs. Is life without drugs paradise—you know, healthy lifestyle, peace, love. Surely, people will embrace that even sans the billionfold ROI.

But how can you penetrate a drug-addicted brain, heart and soul. While the drug user is in that world he lives in now, how to make him shift to another way of living.

The nationwide smoking ban began last July 23. And it hasn’t stopped smokers from smoking. They have simply found open spaces for their hard habit to break. Cigars and cigarettes may not be as bad as drugs, but they also have their own consequences—like a hole in the throat, for example.

Alcohol also has its consequences—a bad liver. Fatty food also gives the same result—a bad liver.

Any addiction, from food to drugs, has its consequences. Choose your poison, as the saying goes. Wait, is that even a saying?

Once you feel guilty after eating red meat, it’s a sign you’re getting old. Because you’re now more aware of what food does to your body. Yup, no need for a doctor’s warning. Eat red meat, and the knees respond accordingly. No, they don’t go weak and you’re not in love. Romantic dinners with the most delish steaks as the main course are good for your 20s and 30s, but a certain age requires fish until you’re applying body lotion for the scales on your skin.

“For everything there is a season.” And for every recipe, there’s a seasoning.

Well, there’s one fish whose advice for all seasons doesn’t need seasoning. “Just keep swimming,” says Dory.

National Police Director General Bato dela Rosa promised, er, warned last Monday: “The PNP will implement the law without fear or favor.”

Brrrrr. Aren’t you feeling cold already after all that swimming?