Singing in the rain

“RAINY days and Mondays…”
…always get you down? It had been raining cats and dogs, even cows and carabaos before Saturday morning. Those days were cccccold, brrrrr. The exact opposite of summer’s humidity that had me suspecting of hot flashes and pre-menopausal syndrome.

Well, the rainy weather is not as icy cold as Mr. Frozen’s attacks against the administration he left behind, but you notice the difference–hot summer, cold June. And you realize rain is better as long as it doesn’t result to floods. Rain is romantic, makes you want to dance and sing in the rain. “I’m singing in the rain/Just singing in the rain/What a glorious feelin’/I’m happy again.”

I wonder if Mr. Frozen is happy again now that he’s free to attack PNoy’s administration. But I’m sure there are people in that administration who are happy that he has resigned.

Will happy days be there again in 2016 for Cagayan de Oro’s violet mayor and his city hall office’s violet curtains? The chika is it’s going to be violet versus yellow again next year. Hahay. Are there no other colors in this city? If you’ve been to the office of the incumbent city mayor, you couldn’t help but notice the difference. Before: violet. After: no violet. Nope, no yellow colors there. The colors of his office are calming, the kind that can make you sit and savor the ambience.

If violet wins next year, say goodbye to that office’s calming ambience and hello to the violet curtains again. But that also means saying hello to my favorite ube products–ube ice cream, ube cake, ube jam. Yum! But politicians who keep on attacking their enemies should focus on their work instead and let the madlang pehpohl decide on who’s worthy of their votes. That’s the madlang pehpohl who don’t watch TV news, don’t read newspapers, don’t listen to radio news. They do listen to radio drama especially those aired after lunch, kind of their siesta habit. But news, nope, they don’t. What’s the use of a politician to go on a this-is-war mode if the audience he wants to convince doesn’t listen anyway?

The madlang pehpohl will vote for the person who gave them money, rice or groceries for at least one meal. They didn’t go hungry for a few hours, a huge blessing that makes the political candidate who made it possible, now worthy of their votes. If that candidate partakes of that meal with them, the more they’ll remember his generosity, his kindness, his empathy for his fellow mahihirap.

The Pinoy, who’s busy looking for money for a meal, may have no TV set, no radio, he connects with the world through his cellphone, that is, if he has any. Once he votes in 2016, he won’t be aware of what Mr. Frozen and the other candidates have done for this country. He’ll simply look for a familiar name on the list of candidates in front of him, and lucky are those who end up written on his ballot. That’s why there’s still a great possibility for Mr. Frozen to win. The madlang pehpohl are tired of these talks on plunder because they believe all politicians are the same, they’re all corrupt, so, what’s the diff?

An educated Pinoy voter is as rare as the peacock whose appearance we were hoping for while waiting for our boat to Puerto Princesa’s Underground River. But if someone is patient enough to sit with that voter and tell him about the reality behind the bola-bola that politicians tend to make tusok-tusok with, then there’s still a chance for that voter to vote wisely.

Mr. Frozen is lucky he lives in the Philippines and not, say, Japan. Imagine him facing those plunder allegations in Japan where honesty is the best policy. Here in Pinas, he’s simply one among the many plunderers who may or may not end up in jail depending on what former Pres. Erap Estrada calls as “weather-weather lang.”

If Mr. Frozen wins in 2016, then he won’t have any problems anymore since he can choose whatever weather he prefers for his political goals. And his friends, some of whom are detained for now, will be able to choose their own weathers, too. It’s going to be sunny for them for as long as an allegedly plunder-friendly president is at the helm.
Meanwhile, the Pinoy voter will continue to look for money for his next meal, as his financial situation further deteriorates under the frozen administration, unaware that the kind of government he helped put in place is hugely responsible for the situation he’s now stuck with.