CHRISTMAS came and went and seemed like it was just another celebration in paradise. Perhaps because I continued gymming on weekdays except on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.
I never expected to reach this level of commitment to gymming. I used to find many excuses for not attending aerobics classes, step aerobics classes, yoga classes, oh my gosh, how many kinds of workouts did I join in the past?
But I always found a reason to be absent: work, holidays, hangovers, meetings, parties, fatigue. I was young then when drinking and smoking were sometimes my preferred “therapies.”
I guess old age has made me choose gymming as the better therapy, with the low-carb diet helping me accept reality as it is. City hall and the Bureau of Internal Revenue must be wishing now that all taxpayers are like me whose only query is, How much? I’m tired of raging against the machine. I’d rather join TikTok dances.
Yes, I’ve reached that age. If I were a beauty queen, my answer to all questions would be “world peace.” Still, I can easily see motives and I hope I’ll continue to be aware of that: the awful truth behind the headlines.
I wonder if a certain provincial governor also wants to learn about the awful truth behind the headlines as she targets mainstream media through her speeches. The speeches that seem to be carbon copies of those delivered by a nearby province’s male politician. And delivered in the dialect for more impact on the madlang pehpohl.
This could be the Duterte effect, with every politician now believing that if it made Duterte occupy Malacanang, it could work for everyone else. But only former Pres. Rodrigo Duterte could get away with that kind of speech, but look where he is now.
Pinas is a country that still prefers women to be epitomes of Maria Clara. Okay. The modern Maria Clara, an updated version a la Cebu Gov. Pam Baricuatro who’s beautiful, and she can dance, cook yummy dishes, look sweet in her videos.
The public image that politicians and/or their PR teams are aiming for should consider Malacanang as their highest goal. Or at least the vice presidency. Being a senator is also fine. These are the positions that every Pinoy from Aparri to Jolo may recognize when he sees them. Operative word: may. Because there’s always that Pinoy who doesn’t care about who’s who: Oh, he’s the president?
Governors, mayors, and congressmen are popular only in their respective provinces, cities, towns, and districts. Unless they’re active in congressional hearings or other major events that have reached national prominence, and even then, only if the Pinoy still watches the news. If he doesn’t, he’d be like me — clueless about Cathy Cabral, the Department of Public Works and Highways undersecretary who died last month amidst the hearings on the controversial flood control projects.
As for councilors, the Pinoy learns about their names through the official ballot. Eeny, meeny, miny, moe. Oops.
The country’s future starts on Election Day which should be taken seriously. But it has become even more fun than Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, with the Pinoy waiting for more ulan-ulan from political candidates, as if the ulan-ulan before that day wasn’t enough.
