“QUESTION me an answer bright and clear/I will answer with a question clear and bright/Even though your answer may be wrong/My question will be right/Question me an answer/Answer with a question,” so goes a song from the 1973 movie, “Lost Horizon.”
Those lyrics were in my minute brain while mulling over why PBBM’s old friends chose Duran Duran as their birthday gift for him. And then—eureka!—I finally get it now.
Just look at the band’s song titles: “Notorious,” “A View to a Kill,” “The Wild Boys,” “Hungry Like the Wolf,” “Skin Trade,” “Union of the Snake,” “Playing With Uranium,” “What Happens Tomorrow,” “Too Much Information,” “What Are the Chances,” “Meet El Presidente.” It seems like PBBM’s old friends were making fun of him. And the gift was still appreciated—greatly and gratefully? Hmmm.
PBBM needs new friends—kind of give chance to others. Much like Pinas needing new airports and there’s the Bulacan International Airport which is expected to open in 2028.
For now, though, the New NAIA Infrastructure Corp. has released new airport assignments as an appetizer, with all international flights using Laguindingan Airport. Ah, joke only. But we can dream, can’t we?
Mindanao as the national government’s priority became possible with President Digong Duterte at the helm. But with the current Malacanang occupant coming from Ilocos Norte, is Mindanao forgotten again?
And even the Dutertes couldn’t attract a 100-percent support from Mindanao residents. Is the Mindanaoan always expected to support a fellow Mindanaoan who happens to be the country’s president?
Looking back to the Dutertes’ time to shine is like wishing I learned about the low-carb diet when I was in my 20s. It’s not possible to go back to my 20s anymore. Does that mean the Dutertes can’t have another chance to shine?
Duterte’s Malacanang years were exciting because I never knew what he would say in his speeches, or who he would assign to hunt down drug lords, and who among the drug lords he would finally catch. There was a lot of hide-and-seek in the illegal drug industry at that time, and those who were caught were the unlucky ones. Unlucky as in they didn’t have the right wink-wink connections? Hmmm.
Duterte’s anti-drug speeches could be the major factor behind his successful bid for the presidency. Had he focused on, say, reducing the price of rice, he could have lost. Wait, that’s how PBBM won. So, what exactly is not effective anymore in presidential campaigns?
But the price of rice is important only to the rice eater. Carnivores, on the other hand, would rather focus on the African swine fever’s (ASF) effect on pork supply, with the law of supply and demand in mind.
The price of lechon, for example, may increase depending on where the pig was bought. If the lechonero’s suki piggery is suddenly under ASF quarantine, he has to find another source which can be more expensive, thus, also increasing the lechon’s price.
Talk about pork—pork barrel, anyone?
