TITAN’S four passengers paid $250,000 each for the chance to explore the Titanic wreckage.
$250,000 is 13.9 million in Philippine peso. Where it lands may not matter to the payer who obviously has lots of money to spend.
There was this ice cream ad that asked, “Saan aabot ang 20 pesos mo?” The ice cream then cost P20 only.
So, the question now can be, Saan aabot ang $250,000 mo? It depends on who’s replying. For the gambler, it goes straight to the casino, and that’s for only one night or even less. For the fashionista, a Hermes bag as an addition to her Hermes collection. For the car enthusiast, it’s a reservation fee—haha—for a Rolls Royce Boat Tail which costs $28 million.
In the vaults of the rich and wealthy, money is merely a toy to play with. Scrooge McDuck even dives into his cold hard cash.
P1.5 million in P1,000 bills can be carried in a small eco bag that may appear like you’re only carrying small loaves of sliced bread from a convenience store. P13.9 million won’t be as easy to hide, though—you need luggage for that. Or an empty rice sack.
People in charge of distributing bribes the night before Election Day know how to hide those P1,000 bills, that is, if their candidate is generous. If not, then it’s down to P500, P100, P50, and P20 bills. Let’s see if the barangay election will be as festive.
For the 2022 campaign season, a friend showed me the peso bills he received from a candidate. I asked him if he would report it, and he looked at me like, Whaaat?!
There’s a brownout, and election results change once the lights are back on. It’s a miracle. A phenomenon. For which the Pinoy has shrugged his shoulders since birth. Perhaps it’s in his subconscious already as his parents constantly complained about the corrupt Pinoy government and the corrupt electoral practices. He can only hope that the Commission on Elections won’t shrug its shoulders, too.
P13.9 million is treated as a petty cash fund by the most corrupt government official. Much like the coins you keep in piggy banks. Can be easily spent as a downpayment for the Rolls Royce. But where and when to use such a luxury car if, say, the politician lives in Cagayan de Oro? Hmmm. He now has to buy a mansion in the US or Europe where he can flaunt the Royce without raising a Pinoy’s eyebrows.
The only Royce I can afford is the chocolate made in Japan. Yum!
As former President Erap Estrada once said, “Pa-weather-weather lang ‘yan.” And even the phone’s weather app has morphed into the weather-weather app as its recent forecasts seem to be the exact opposite of reality. A friend’s wise advice is to stop relying on the app and to go outside and see if it’s sunny, cloudy, or rainy. Then, bring an umbrella if you’re a girl scout who’s still following the motto, “Be prepared.”
