Netnet Camomot
THERE’S something about waking up the morning after Election Day and knowing that somehow the winners will bring something new to the country you live in.
Imagine living in a country that functions like Davao City. With pedestrian overpasses that have "30 kph" instead of a congressman's name. Where smokers have to walk far to find designated smoking areas. Where drinkers have to behave like Cinderella, going home by, say, 12 midnight to avoid getting caught by cops. Or is it 1 am for the millennial Cinderella?
Say goodbye, then, to your morning-the-night bar-hopping. You can always stay in your own home or a friend's house and drink the night away anyway. But, of course, that won't be the same as going drunk, er, tipsy in a bar where you can make "bag-id bag-id" with the object of your drunken desires.
With the curfew, at least the forty-something drinker won't have any reason anymore to look funny in a bar at the ungodly hour of 3 am as he tries to look cool while grasping a bottle or a glass of alcohol amidst a sea of millennials. Now, if that drinker is 50 and above, o my gas, please go home already--it's time to take your anti-hypertensive meds.
The presidency of the Davao City mayor is supposed to bring change to these islands. That's what propelled his speedy ascendancy to the throne at Malacanang. It's too early to tell if the positive change he brought to Davao City will be possible for the whole country, but there's this meme where an alleged drug addict is campaigning for him, and the caption written at the bottom is something like, What's this, suicide?
Yes, the drug addicts, drunkards, traffic violators, and criminals who voted for Duterte might have sealed their fate for the next six years.
Does the country always get the president she deserves? Hmmm.
As for Cagayan de Oro, it's the yellow mayor again and his fans are celebrating: Yehey! And they're hoping the city council will be friendlier this time to his goals for a wonderful world. That's his favorite song, by the way--"What a Wonderful World."
I made my list of candidates only on the eve of Election Day. Yup, kind of Christmas Eve: "making a list and checking it twice/He's gonna find out who's naughty or nice."
Before that, I belonged to the undecided. The ones who could not make up their minds on whether they want the daan to remain matuwid or to have a 30-kph speed limit. The ones who could not choose between the wife of a tsinelas-wearing mayor or the son of the former First Lady who allegedly owned 3,000 pairs of shoes. The ones who have had enough of the surveys, debates, and social media political posts, and would vote for anyone, to simply end it all.
But then, I saw this video of the Duterte caravan from Camigiun to CDO, and remembered the 1986 People Power. That helped me decide.
Change has always been the rallying cry of an incumbent politician's opponent. Because if the rival is not craving for change, that means even he would vote for the incumbent who's seeking reelection, right? I mean, why bother going against someone if you like the way he's running the country. Still, if you like the way things are, but there are people who want you to be president, or you yourself want to be president, then you start campaigning for change.
And change is now inevitable for Pinas.
This country has been there, done that with presidents since December 1965--dictator, hero's wife, dictator's former military guy aka People Power hero, actor, former president's daughter, and hero and former president's son. On July 1, 2016, add to that the former Davao City mayor. I wonder if his sound bites will still be peppered with PI. And, nope, that's not for Philippine Islands.
