The other side of fear

Netnet Camomot

SO, it’s the designated smoking area and not simply any open space.

Much like drugs—there’s a “designated” area where users can hide, and that’s exactly the cause of their capture once surveillance has proven the place is, uh, “designated.”

But smoking and drugs are not the same—the former is legal, the latter illegal. Cigarette business owners have gotten rich but they don’t end up in jail or—gasp!—dead. Illegal drug business owners have gotten rich, too, but look where they are now or where they may end up in while President Rody Duterte is at the helm of the Philippine government.

The Commission on Human Rights and some government officials have lots of questions for what happened in Ozamiz last Sunday. That’s called checks and balances—when people want to see the other side of the story, the other side of the coin, the other side of midnight. Although, in the Ozamiz case, it was pre-dawn, after midnight. And no coins, please—only high-denomination bills allowed. For the Hermes bags.

All sides of a story always have their respective believers. Or supporters who have no other choice but to believe. When one is kapit sa patalim, try to find out what he’s leaning on, you know, the wall that makes him feel parang nakasandal sa pader. The wall that gives him false security. The wall that gives him chutzpah. The wall that makes him believe he’s the carabao when in fact he’s merely the fly on the carabao. Once the carabao is gone, see where that fly will go. To the next carabao, of course. But if carabaos are nowhere in sight, the fly will shift back to its nature—feasting on s**t.

“Poor unfortunate souls/In pain, in need/This one longing to be thinner/That one wants to get the girl/And do I help them?/Yes, indeed/Those poor unfortunate souls/So sad, so true/They come flocking to my cauldron/Crying, ‘Spells, Ursula, please!’/And I help them/Yes I do,” sings Ursula.

So, who’s the Ursula in the pathetic lives of these unfortunate souls in Pinas?

So far, three mayors have perished due to their alleged involvement in illegal drugs. The third time was definitely not a charm for the latest one, with some of his family members also dead or jailed.

“Dead men tell no tales,” the saying goes. But the prisoner can still tell those tales, either to defend himself or to be a state witness and save himself. There’s that one obstacle, though, when the case is illegal drugs—if the prisoner can’t keep his hands off the drugs he’s allegedly selling, and has become addicted, too, his drugged brain has lost the wisdom needed in defending and saving himself. All he’s capable of now is paranoia. Well, he can always hire the most brilliant—and most expensive—lawyers, to tell tales.

President Rody Duterte has a list of mayors allegedly involved in illegal drugs. He read it aloud last year. Those who are still alive should quiver in their thrones and run as far away as possible from illegal drugs. If last year they thought the president simply had a weird sense of humor, they should take these three dead mayors as proof that he wasn’t joking at all.

“Everything you want is on the other side of fear”—this line was on a wall. No, not on the third mayor’s wall.

Let’s backtrack for a while. We watched “Finally Found Someone” last Friday. The only thing that caught my attention was, it stars John Lloyd Cruz. I knew it also stars Sarah Geronimo, but with Lloydie there, my thought bubble morphed to… Tolerance is a virtue. Meaning, I can tolerate Sarah G because Lloydie is there. Besides, “Kita Kita” has levelled up my expectations and somehow I thought Lloydie and Sarah G would also be an AlEmpoy. Well, Realization 101—not even Lloydie could ease the pain of surviving through this film which should change its title to, Finally Found Someone to Blame This Movie On.

The last time I checked, the film’s stars were sweet sixteen eons ago. Sarah G is going to be 30 years old next year. 30! But this movie is too sugar-and-spice-and-everything nice, the lips of 34-year-old Lloydie and 29-year-old Sarah G are not even allowed to touch. Oh my gas. That scene won’t even convince the 40-year-old Pinoy virgin that a couple in a relationship will simply make beso-beso in real life.

Verdict: If you’re allowed to watch only one movie this year, avoid “Finally Found Someone.” Even if it’s the only one showing this year, here’s unsolicited advice: Please, parang awa mo na, don’t.

I didn’t want to go home with all that sugar and spice and everything nice in mind—yikes!—so, we watched “Atomic Blonde” right after. There was “Wonder Woman,” and now, “Atomic Blonde” where Charlize Theron kicks a**. Women empowerment must be this year’s theme, if only Sarah G’s handlers can realize that.

Now, let’s go back to that line. There’s this scene in “Atomic Blonde” where a wall has “Everything you want is on the other side of fear.” Sarah G’s public image team should sit on a bench and stare at that wall until all the sugar and spice and everything nice have fled from their veins and hibernated to Siberia.

And smokers could ponder on that line, too, if they’re afraid of entering the designated smoking area. Inhale. Exhale.

What movie to watch this week? Hmmm. Let’s see—and, no, it’s not pronounced as the Spanish word for milk.