Alan and Allan

Netnet Camomot .

AS Manila Mayor Isko Moreno begins to rehabilitate his city, other Metro Manila city governments have followed suit, with Quezon City, for one, conducting clearing operations at the Balintawak Market. This is the kind of domino effect that Pinas needs, in lieu of crab mentality, ningas-kugon, utang na loob, and all the other hard habits to break ingrained in the Pinoy’s beholden heart.

Will Cagayan de Oro follow the good example that Manila has started? Or is our city already there—no street vendors, no garbage, no traffic? Hmmm. Esep-esep pud ‘pag may time.

“Show me the money,” Rod Tidwell (Cuba Gooding Jr.) said to Jerry Maguire (Tom Cruise).

Wherever the money is, there’s the government official—supposedly, reportedly, allegedly. Please feel free to ponder on that while I focus on the saying, “Wherever you go, there you are.”

There’s no instant return on investment (ROI) in clearing streets of vendors but there is in keeping them on the streets. There’s no instant ROI in collecting garbage on time but there is in hiring the favorite garbage collector. There’s no instant ROI in solving the traffic problem but there is in buying traffic lights.

Vested interest is always a deterrent to public service. By the word public itself, it already hints that it’s not for your personal gain but for the public good. That’s why there’s the “public” in public image—that’s the face the politician or celebrity shows to the world. Hidden inside that image is his private self, the real person whom his team doesn’t want the madlang pehpohl to see unless it’s as good as his public image.

The Pinoy is still shocked whenever he learns about politicians being accused of plunder—and that’s because the public image has managed to keep that side of the politician away from the nosy Pinoy, while those who know the real story behind the headlines would rather keep their mouths shut or else they’ll lose their share of the loot. Sarap ng buhay!

Only a few can remain untainted by graft and corruption since fast money is the shortest distance between greed and a potential source of “commissions.” Lucky are those few for having peace of mind. If only they can give the grafting and corrupting a piece of their mind, eh?

Meanwhile, the House of Representathieves, er, Representatives is in Magellan mode with its 15-21 term sharing for the position of House Speaker, with Taguig Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano for the first 15 months, and Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco for the remaining 21 months of the 18th Congress. Alan and Allan—what’s in a name? At least, the House Speaker wannabes have been reduced to two. When the race began, there were, hmmm, a million contenders? Haha! The Pinoy has lost count.

For Pinoy politicians, being Senate President or House Speaker is more powerful than sitting on the vice presidential throne whose present occupant is still facing the election protest filed by her closest rival in the 2016 election. That rival can move forward only after he’s finally occupying that throne? Hmmm.

Since I’m one of the few who didn’t watch the “Game of Thrones” (GOT), I can’t connect Pinas’ political scenario to the HBO series. But perhaps watching GOT can help us understand the hunger for thrones.

While Pinoy politicians were engrossed in power play, there was this Rugby boy who went on to shine as a rugby star. Lito Ramirez was a six-year-old orphan when he began sniffing Rugby. Later, when he was 11 years old and staying in a Manila orphanage, he was asked if he wanted to try rugby since he didn’t like football and basketball. Thinking it was the Rugby he used to sniff, he chose rugby as his sport. And the rest is history. Since 2015, he has been “one of the first born and bred Filipinos to land a spot on the Philippines’ national rugby squad, the Volcanoes (“Orphan goes from sniffing ‘Rugby’ glue to playing for PH,” Philippine Daily Inquirer, 7/11/19).”

Good news like that of Ramirez and also about Moreno’s rise from rags to the mayoralty of the capital of Pinas should be spread especially to the youth to encourage them in their slowly-but-surely journey in this oh so complicated world.

Did you even notice Moreno in “That’s Entertainment”? That is, if you were old enough then to be a fan of the TV variety show.