TMI

Netnet Camomot .

“WHERE do we go from here?/This isn’t where we intended to be/We had it all/You believed in me, I believed in you.”

After listening to the speakers at the “Debate on Federal Philippines” held at Limketkai Luxe Hotel, Cagayan de Oro last Friday, that song became the dessert churning in my minute brain, adding more grist to the mill that was still trying to digest all the information that the Debate’s speakers shared that day.

The United States has a federal government. Thus, when the Pinoy hears the word, “federalism,” his hopefully brilliant brain—a.k.a. not as minute as mine—may tend to veer towards the US for the much-needed info that should now be learned by each Pinoy as federalism is slowly becoming a possibility in these 7,107 or 7,641 islands, our beloved Philippines. Which has been democratic, at least in theory, since after the 1986 People Power.

Former Senate President Nene Pimentel, who’s the father of the Local Government Code and has been the main supporter of federalism in the Philippines, talked on “Bayanihan Federalism” at Saturday’s “Debate.”

The first time I listened to Pimentel was in the late ’70s when he spoke about the ills of being led by then President Ferdinand Marcos.

When you’re a young Cagayanon and the highlight of your day is shopping at Ororama with the family after school hours, listening to someone talk about Marcos, dictatorship and martial law is like discovering for the first time that a pig was killed in order for you to have bacon for breakfast this morning. In other words, it’s a sad, sad, sad thought. Makes you stop and stare for so long.

But somehow you knew. You grew up in a house whose compound had a small piggery and a poultry. You saw pigs being slaughtered for every fiesta and for the annual feast of San Jose and for each family reunion. You saw headless chickens running around as they desperately looked for their heads which they could no longer see because, hey, their eyes were in those heads. You saw hens laying eggs. Eggs that ended up fried, scrambled, hard-boiled, mixed with flour, milk and sugar, or added to that other egg—the eggplant.

While the pigs and chickens sacrificed their lives and the lives of their children and their future children, there was this kind of hush when evening came and dinner was served and grandparents and parents talked about anything and everything except the Philippine government and the Marcoses. Thus, the clueless you became an avid fan of Bongbong Marcos.

When Pimentel, who was then rabidly anti-Marcos, talked about the Marcoses, you sat and stared for so long, wondering if Bongbong could still be your crush.

Years later, you’re in so-called Imperial Manila where you start to notice that the national broadsheets always had the Marcoses on the front page. Then, on Aug. 21, 1983, Ninoy Aquino was assassinated, and you asked, Ninoy who? You had no idea.

Some millennials must be asking the same thing: Ninoy who? And not only that. They also have to deal with fake news, Mocha Uson, President Rody Duterte’s love for p***ng in*, climate change, and the possibility of federalism. TMI—too much information. And it’s delivered fast through the internet provided the Wifi connection is not loading… buffering…

If your two-year-old daughter knows more about your smartphone than you will ever do despite the fact that you’ve been using that phone even before you met her dad—you know, the guy you had sex with—well, welcome to 2018. But be grateful that at least that phone has survived for so long—extrajudicial-killing victims have not been as lucky.

There’s now another kind of hush—the tendency for the Pinoy to ask, What will Duterte do? And to follow what he believes Duterte will do. He’s playing safe, he doesn’t want to rock the boat that Duterte is steering.

Pimentel, however, vehemently affirmed that he’s promoting federalism on his own, without any financial assistance from the government, and not because of any orders from Duterte. Pimentel, after all, was one of the few who dared to be anti-Marcos when it was dangerous to be anti-Marcos. So, when Pimentel talks about federalism, you listen with your heart and soul intact. This is a man who has always been passionate about the causes he believes in.

I now have the book, “Federalizing the Philippines: A Primer,” written by Pimentel. The color of its cover is yellow—the favorite color of the Aquinos and their loyal fans, but I don’t know if that’s the reason he chose that color for the book cover.

But the book I’ve been reading since forever is Nancy Friday’s “The Power of Beauty.” It’s 9.25 by 6 by 2 inches, with 589 pages. After so many months, I’m now on page 69 where Chapter 2 begins.

The chapter’s title: “Envy.” Which some people say can be the reason why a certain person may gossip about you.

Pimentel must be dealing with gossip, too, but at 84 years old, most probably his only reaction to gossip is, Keber.

Pimentel is the president the Philippines never had and the Pinoy should be extremely sorry for that as the latter wonders, What if, If only.

As Pimentel and former Senator Joey Lina, who was one of the reactors at the “Debate,” kind of, well, debated on the pros and cons of federalism, wish ko lang the incumbent senators could be as fluent, too, in expressing their opinions.

Madonna, as Eva Peron in the movie, “Evita,” sang, “You Must Love Me.”

Imelda Marcos is usually compared to Eva Peron. If you want to know why, Louie Joseph Lopez, vice president of Xavier University Association of Law Students and also one of the reactors at the “Debate,” said that his professor had this advice if you want to learn something: Read, read, read.

So, read about the Marcoses, the Perons, and federalism. Hopefully, you’ll learn why.