‘Let it be’

Netnet Camomot .

IT’S the Fourth of July! Yay! But we’re in Pinas where Independence Day is celebrated on June 12.

Independence from what? Let’s calculate the ways.

Former President Noynoy Aquino and President Rody Duterte are the North and South Poles of Pinas. Extremes. One is politically correct; the other always inserts curses and rants in his speeches and statements. But since actions speak louder than words, whose actions have had a more positive impact on Pinas? Esep-esep!

If you don’t see a tambay in the barangay and the drug supply in the neighborhood has dwindled from bags to sachets, then perhaps that proves Duterte is the better prez. Human rights groups are of course protesting against extrajudicial killings, TokHang and the arrest of the tambay. Still, if the presidential election were held today and knowing what we know now, Duterte will probably win. Okay, the survey says, yes, it’s possible.

The Social Weather Stations’ survey for the first quarter of 2018 did reveal his +56 net satisfaction rating as “very good.” If that translates to votes, then, it’s a yes. The Pinoy is probably tired of the pa-cute president and now prefers one who says it as it is.

Duterte has a team that makes things happen. As to what those things are and how they make them happen, well…

The Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO), on the other hand, makes typos happen, but that’s another story. And that’s a story with a P1.38-billion budget for 2018. Wow. If only they can learn to use all that moolah for Editing 101.

Once you hear about a multi-million budget for an office, program or project, you start expecting a yummy feast, bonggang-bongga décor, fun, good vibes and of course no typos.

Good vibes like this recent “Carpool Karaoke” with “Late Late Show” host James Corben and Paul McCartney where the latter revealed that many decades ago, he dreamed about his late mom telling him to “Let it be.” He woke up, he remembered her words and wrote the song.

We may have similar dreams of our dear departed giving us advice, except for this one little detail: We are not Paul McCartney, therefore, we can’t whip up a song out of our dreams and make that last forevermore.

“Let It Be” has been a popular Beatles classic hit, with its lyrics having more meaning now that we know why McCartney wrote them:

“When I find myself in times of trouble

Mother Mary comes to me

Speaking words of wisdom

Let it be”

There were many other bands and groups way back when we were the young ones but only a few managed to stretch their relevance to the 21st century. I don’t know if we can still consider Tito, Vic & Joey as relevant but they do still have “Eat Bulaga,” without Tito this time as he focuses on being Senate President.

In the ‘70s, Tito, Vic & Joey changed the lyrics of familiar songs such as this one: “Blue, blue, my girl is blue/Blue is her short and polo shirt, too/Flesh, flesh, my girl is flesh/Somebody took away her blue dress/Burlesque.” I’m not sure of those lyrics but that’s how I remember their version of “Love is Blue” which had an instrumental version by Paul Mauriat. And there’s the millennial’s thought bubble: Paul who?

Anyway, this was way before 1982 when Vic Sotto, Joey de Leon and the late Richie D’Horsie allegedly drugged and raped Pepsi Paloma who died by suicide three years later in 1985. But the rumor was she was murdered.

Tito Sotto then became Quezon City vice mayor in 1988, and now he’s Senate President.

Senate President Sotto now wants the Paloma case erased at least from the archives of the Philippine Daily Inquirer. “These kinds of unverified articles have been negatively affecting my reputation for the longest time,” he said. Hmmm. I guess he also wants some kind of independence. But what was his involvement in the case? Well, once upon a time, he allegedly ensured for Paloma’s case to be banished to Siberia through an affidavit of desistance and for her to drop the case. Which is not exactly a nice info in a Senate President’s resume unless the Pinoy can be convinced it’s another confusing PCOO typo.

In the US, the Statue of Liberty must be confused, too, with US President Donald Trump’s views on immigration. “Give me your tired, your poor/Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,” Lady Liberty says. And then, there’s Trump saying, “We have people coming into the country, or trying to come in—and we’re stopping a lot of them—but we’re taking people out of the country. You wouldn’t believe how bad these people are. These aren’t people. These are animals. And we’re taking them out of the country at a level and at a rate that’s never happened before. And because of the weak laws, they come in fast, we get them, we release them, we get them again, we bring them out. It’s crazy.”

Is it still a Happy Fourth of July for the US? Oh, well.