"Ninong" 1:09 AM

Pinoy politicians have a common mind frame: They ask only one question.

What’s in it for them?

My soon to be “ninong” is the best example. He thinks of building roads but thinks twice if many people would be able know that he build it. If you tell him that it’s important to build that road because it would propel development in the locality, he would definitely agree, and promises only one thing: UNCERTAINTY.

I don’t blame him. He has been around for years in Philippine Congress. And “to be with the sharks, you have to be a shark” lest you risk being an outcast or a "prey". He comes from a family of politicians, and grew-up learning all the “tricks-of-the trade” from his father, who was a City Mayor. He has aged and learned a lot, from his experiences that he too now, has his own very unique “tricks”. So who says, old dogs can’t learn new tricks.

He is an avid story teller and would probably tell you narratives about his family—most often the parallelism between how he was raised and how he raised his kids. Yet, then again he is telling you that because he assumes that it sells. He is telling you that because he assumes, his “story” is a good example. But if you listen along his lines, you would clearly see that he knows “just that”, believes it to be “righteously correct” and frequently makes “off-beat” assumptions. Although, I think, sometimes he intends just to do so, perhaps to gauge people whom he met for the first time. Well come to think of it: Was it not that Erap purposively invented his brand of “Carabao English” just to sell himself to the “elite-hating” masa?

He is a very convincing person. Not that he convinced me of his “tricks”, but his logic tends to twist beliefs more so often to the amusement of his guests. He is very keen on what you say and tends to validate things very quickly. He would astutely assess, if you are a good constituent who can move “numbers” or whether you could likely spread “a good word” for him.

You would wonder that while he lives in Manila, he gets to become a congressman somewhere in Mindanao. He traces his roots very well; he speaks the local language and associates himself with local leaders. He will serve as “ninong” to just about anyone who would come to him. I think, in his mind its an investment, he might not probably benefit from that but certainly, somebody whom he wants always “does”.

At the end of the day, you would think and probably thank him---for a favor perhaps. Most people do that and I did it too. At least to show gratitude but deep inside me, I felt “Nadah”. Perhaps it was mutual, if he has his interests…So do I

"Kharma Kho Katrina" 1:08 AM

You have to hate me for this…

That’s because I am not jumping into the bandwagon of support for Katrina Halili

Katrina, I think deserves more of the “shame” than the sympathy because her "over publicized" outcry for "justice" has very little moral ground. Common sense alone would show that her trysts with Hayden Kho is not something very admirable in the first place. For someone whose lifestyle is peddled to the public, she should have calculated that only a scandal could come out from a relationship with the "camera" especially in very revealing situations. Did she not heed Ricky Lo's undying advice to be "discreet"? Or was the “urge” more powerful than the “head”?



Don't get me wrong, I am not a conservative but I am not also inclined to put on some dose of sympathy for those who cheated and cried "foul". When you have to cheat, you have to know that it cannot be a secret forever. You don't have to cry and ask everybody “That you want justice" if you are caught. Sure, she was a victim of Hayden Kho's "alleged" perversity, but she was certainly not an unwilling victim.

Perhaps the more intersting question to ask would be, whether she “knew or not “about the video. If she would have known and had her consent on it, then certainly it is not Kho’s perversity alone. Well, the other Katrina (Legarda) says that they video alone could cause Kho some legal problems---which he does deserve. But does it mean, it absolves Katrina Halili of the perversity herself?

I agree that Hayden deserves to be in jail. But I don’t agree that the public should look at Katrina Halili as a helpless victim---which Kris Aquino and Boy Abunda sells. If there is one person who has been the image of “a victim” in all these—that would be Vicky Belo. Vicky deserves the sympathy not Katrina. If there is one thing I think, Katrina should do... that would be to do a” Paris Hilton”. Get on with it and stop the act of being the victim.

Katrina is only a symbol of how decadent “showbiz lifestyle” is. Even the Senator Revilla who likes to grandstand on this issue is no different than Hayden and Katrina. The public seems swayed to believe that all these are acceptable and that the victim is a “martyr”. It disturbs me that somehow projecting Katrina Halili as a victim results to reclassifying her actions as "acceptable". And all these hullabaloo on the sex scandal has left "moral" imprints in the minds of the people--that somehow, its easy to cry and plead "injustice" over the actions that one has consciously done. Clearly, I cannot be sympathetic to Katrina.