AS expected, some of Cagayan de Oro’s political candidates are now doing the Elias dance.
If the campaign season began in December 2024, they would be dancing to “APT.” Remember that song? It was the favorite music for line dancing at the 2024 Christmas parties.
There’s the music that’s good for only one particular time. And there’s the music that sounds nice no matter what year it is. For example, Pearl Jam’s “Light Years.” And Sting’s “If I Ever Lose My Faith In You.” And 10,000 Maniacs’ “These Are Days”: “These are days you’ll remember/Never before and never since I promise/Will the whole world be warm as this/And as you feel it/You’ll know it’s true/That you are blessed and lucky/It’s true that you/Are touched by something /That will grow in you, in you.”
Can that be the theme song for the “Bring Him Home” prayer rallies for former Pres. Rodrigo Duterte? Hmmm. Except for “That you are blessed and lucky.” If he were blessed and lucky, his only challenge today would be how to celebrate his victory at the polls — he’s running for Davao City mayor again.
The prayer rallies may gain momentum and reach People-Power proportions if his fans will keep the faith and will not sing, “You could say I lost my faith in science and progress/You could say I lost my belief in the holy Church/You could say I lost my sense of direction/You could say all of this and worse, but/If I ever lose my faith in you/There’d be nothing left for me to do.”
The 1986 People Power unofficially began on Aug. 21, 1983 when Ninoy Aquino was assassinated. Those were dark days in Manila. Literally — there was a blackout both in electrical power and the news after Ninoy was killed.
The media was controlled by then Pres. Ferdinand Marcos Sr. and had long been silenced by martial law. Pinas had three newspapers then, namely Bulletin Today, Daily Express, and Times Journal. My dorm roommate often complained each time she saw the day’s banner news which usually featured the Marcoses.
Still, I had a favorite: Times Journal. My parents preferred Bulletin Today.
We knew that silence and going with the flow would help us avoid ruffling the feathers of the powers that be. And that was easy for us then because we were used to it — we grew up in the years when martial law was bubbling like some witches’ brew.
The silence then can be likened to the current day’s decision to shut up and stare without actually listening if, say, you’re talking with someone whose beliefs are the exact opposite of yours. You’ve learned to choose your battles.
And choosing your battles during the martial law years was crucial to survival. Thus, when Tokhang became the trend during Duterte’s presidency, it alarmed the Pinoy who experienced the 1970s’ martial law. Could Tokhang be history repeating itself?
But the Pinoy must be used to history repeating itself by now as he wonders when People Power 3 will happen.
Graft and corruption didn’t even leave Pinas, therefore, this vicious pair never became part of history as they simply continued to lord over the national treasury.
Meanwhile, the Duterte fan who can’t fly to The Hague to visit him can now relate with “Light Years”: “And wherever you’ve gone/And wherever we might go/It don’t seem fair/Today just disappeared/Your lights reflected now/Reflected from afar/We were but stones/Your light made us stars.”
