Wick is not weak

Netnet Camomot .

JOHN Wick is anything but weak. His “Chapter 3–Parabellum” is filled with non-stop action scenes again, much like the series’ first two installments, giving you no time to breathe. Whew. And it’s precisely the action scenes that inspire its fans to go back for more. Yay! But I slept during some parts of the movie—blame that on jet lag, for it was definitely not due to boredom.

If only Wick could help increase the votes for Pinas’ losing candidates, huh?

But reelectionist Sen. JV Ejercito somehow knows the reason why he was in 13th place. Last Saturday, he blamed his precarious situation on this: “As the saying goes: You don’t fight too many battles,” citing the number of Ejercito/Estrada family members who all joined the May 13 fray, namely, his father, former President Erap Estrada (third term as Manila mayor); his brother, former senator Jinggoy Estrada (trying for a Senate comeback despite pork-barrel-scam woes); Erap’s granddaughter, Janella Ejercito Estrada (a “mayorable” in San Juan City, which used to be an Erap territory); JV’s sister, Jerika Ejercito (Manila city council); and his cousin, Emilio Ramon “ER” Ejercito (Laguna governor). Only Sen. JV had a chance at winning as of Monday.

The Philippine Daily Inquirer piece (“JV: Too many family members ran in polls” by Melvin Gascon, May 19, 2019) quoted Ejercito as saying, “From the start, I was always opposed to the idea, especially with two of us brothers running in the Senate, while others were running for city mayor and another for governor. It’s really difficult because family resources, machinery as well as focus had to be divided.”

Hmmm. I wonder if his family has already computed the total amount of resources they wasted in this latest campaign season.

Too bad for Ejercito since he’s supposed to be the better brother and “senatoriable”: “Let us not forget that I am the incumbent senator, and I can say I worked hard while in office, and I had a clean record while in office.” That is, if compared to Jinggoy.

I met Sen. JV many years ago when Erap was the country’s vice president or running for vice president. It was too long ago, I couldn’t remember anymore what his father was into then. We brought him to what’s now known as the Apple Tree in Opol, Misamis Oriental where we had halo-halo by the beach. He was then the national president—or the incoming national president?—of Junior Chamber International, and we found him to be humble, simple, and soft-spoken, with absolutely no sense of entitlement at all.

He was one of the guest speakers of the regional conference of the Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants a few months ago, and he seemed to have remained unassuming despite his achievements as a senator. He was then with his fellow Sen. Migz Zubiri who, once upon a time, helped me with my carryon luggage when we were about to disembark from a plane. Which is proof of this Maya Angelou quote: “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

While Sen. JV is sure of his “clean record,” Erap is being accused of giving P108-million real property tax shares to 27 ghost barangays in Manila.

And Mindanao Gold Star Daily associate editor Cong Corrales shared the Erap news on Facebook with this comment: “Dinagko sad kang mayor oh. Ang uban kay ghost employees lang. Hahaha.”

Ghosts are scary. Brrr. But a ghost barangay is even scarier. Brrrrr.

This is what happens when an ousted president—due to plunder—is allowed to make a political comeback as Manila mayor. But perhaps the Pinoy is finally learning his lessons well, and he realized that his best contribution to Pinas was to not vote for Erap and the Estradas, er, Ejercitos, er, Estradas, er, ano ba talaga, Kuya?

As of Monday morning, Sen. JV was still 13th, an unluckiest number for a “senatoriable” aiming to be included in the Magic 12. He could win if Tuesday’s canvassing would be friendly to him.

Meanwhile, imagine a Senate that will have Lito Lapid again, plus Imee Marcos and Bong Revilla. Happy days are here again for them? Wheee!