Netnet Camomot THERE’S this expression, “throwing everything except the kitchen sink.” But the president is throwing the kitchen sink! That’s what he’s doing to the former justice secretary/ incumbent senator! O my gas! From PI—no, not Philippine Islands—to… this? But we should have expected that from a president whose war on drugs has produced cardboard justice. The first and only time I heard him speak live was at the district conference of Rotary International District 3870 held at Pryce Plaza, Cagayan de Oro last year. At that time, his candidacy was merely a rumor from some people with a sense of humor. He was blurting out too many PIs in between stories about how to kill bad people, throw them out of a flying chopper, and not give them a decent burial. There were instances when his speech was reduced to a mumble, requiring help from a friend seated beside me, whom I often asked with, Unsa daw? And he would patiently reply: Katong gipatay nila, wa niya gipalubong ug tarong kay mga kriminal daw to. Prompting my thought bubble to spark bursts of, Oh, TMI! TMI. Too much information. The last thing I wanted to hear from a speech was killings and burials. These are topics we could expect from a documentary. Or a movie. Teleserye. A stage play. Broadway show. A police report. A court case. But considering the seriousness of the situation Pinas is in, sometimes we need to wake up from this pretense of all is well with the world. Because it’s not. And if PIs are necessary to keep us awake, then, let it be. Still, his public relations machinery—that is, if there’s one—must be having nightmares. How to recover after throwing the kitchen sink? And that’s for both the thrower and the receiver. The president himself is no saint in the lovelife department, so why is he meddling with the senator’s lovelife? Unless the allegations against her alleged lover are true. At least, the president and the senator are not friends. They’ve always had these differences between them in the human rights department, and this latest regression in their non-friendship is simply more regression. Nothing new. Ho-hum. It started as a blind item, hinting at a certain lady senator with a “colorful” lovelife, which must have given some matronas a pause: You mean, she has a lovelife? Adding that the lady senator has been his rabid critic, well, no need to go for more hints, huh? It was, Voila! Pildi si Boy Abunda sa scoop. Pres, sorry ha, can’t help but compare. There are times when columnists also resort to blind items, which for sure our editor-in-chief Herbie Gomez doesn’t like. And then, there’s at least one person who would react to that blind item, thinking it’s him. A blind item is usually bad news. Otherwise the person’s name would be mentioned in all its glory. So, what does that say about the person who thinks he’s the subject in a blind item. Tsk tsk. He better shut up and let the moment pass, so people won’t start looking at him with, Oh, siya diay na? There are times, though, when a blind item is good news, but the writer hesitates to mention names especially if they don’t like publicity. A blind item can also be used in name-dropping, like being close to the friend of the friend of the friend of the Pinay nanny of Olympics’ swimming gold medalist Joseph Schooling. Yes, the Singaporean, who beat the US’ swimming gold-medal collector, Michael Phelps, has a Pinay nanny. Talk of six degrees of separation. It was Singapore’s first Olympic gold and gold-medal-hungry Pinoys couldn’t help but morph to leeches to have a taste of that glory. Had the fans of the immediate administration of Pinas claim that the victory of weightlifter silver-medalist Hidilyn Diaz is theirs, we would have raised our arms in surrender and to say, Yup, your administration trained her. But it’s the incumbent president who must have inspired her since she’s also a Mindanaoan! Like Manny Pacquiao and Miss Universe Pia Wurtzbach. Like Senate President Koko Pimentel, House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, and Philippine National Police Chief Bato dela Rosa. Like… Hey, like you and me. Proud pa more. Years ago, way back in the ’90s, the slogan for the Mindanao Jaycees was, We are one. Something like that. At that time, with all the armed conflicts and little wars happening all over this island, a united Mindanao was simply a dream. Now, with a Mindanaoan president whose plans for the island include a railway system, we may ignore his PIs and kitchen sinks if only his war on drugs could end up as friendly to all. Meanwhile, Justin Bieber has stopped being friendly at least to his Instagram followers. He has deleted his account due to his fans’ comments about this latest development in his lovelife. Hay, ambot unsay nahitabo sa uk-ok. Lovelife na pud. Young or old, it always makes the world go round. Bieber has photos with Lionel Richie’s daughter Sofia, which he posted on Instagram, but his fans didn’t like them. I don’t know if they also resorted to throwing the kitchen sink at him. Should we now arrange a meeting between the lady senator and Bieber so they can give each other advice on how to avoid kitchen sinks? Hmmm.