WHEN WAITING IS AGONY

Wilhelmina S. Orozco Today, the 7th of January 2010, we are still awaiting the response of the Comelec to our opposition to their rejection of our candidacy. It seems like ages just to know if we can serve our country or not, if we can be allowed to campaign nationwide and bring to the people our ideas on how this country can be and should be governed. Far too long, whenever we attend a political rally, the focus of attention is on the personalities on stage, and to make the event more exciting, the candidates would go to the extent of dancing and singing just so their faces and names would be remembered well come voting time. This is the traditional meaning and actual conduct of political rallies in our midst. We are treated to a circus, an entertainment of the different faces of the political candidates and then at the end, everyone raises their hands. The last rally I attended was that of FPJ, who saluted the people when he came out of stage. The applause and the oohs and ahhs were deafeaning, as if some kind of god had descended on the streets of Makati. I could feel my breathing getting deeper and deeper as he spoke – kapag ang banga ay puno n ang bigas, panahon na upang ito’y kalusin, his most often quoted statement. FPJ was a man of few words, but I knew that he was going to make good his promises to the people, that he would make our lives a lot better than those who stole the presidency from Erap. By the way, though their friendship I know revolved around, not only on movie scripts and productions, but also on the women with whom they had liaisons with, I could forgive them then because I knew that otherwise, when it came to politics, they would be shamefaced not to fulfill their promises to the people. When FPJ was at Sto. Domingo, I viewed his body twice. He was like sleeping with such a regal face as if a true king had died. Yes, he was and looked very much like a king, “Da King,” even in death. I saw Imelda there and when she passed by, I cried out, “Isoli ang ninakaw na kaban ng bayan.” Everyone looked at me, as if I had crossed the threshold of decency; but to my mind, all criminals who stole from the peoples’ coffers are guilty unless they had been freed by the courts. I felt it was my shining glory to be telling off Imelda that she was still guilty. Funny but a repairman of the Fabar Austin mini shop told me that the Barrettos closed down that company during martial law because Imelda wanted to have shares in the company. Instead of acceding to that “request” the Barrettos decided to close shop. Sayang, I said. What they could have done was just put up the company as a repair shop for Austin, instead of importers of that British car. Through all these years, my mind has been immersed in getting even with those who had stolen my votes, in 2004, and in 2007. I believe that from today hereon, we should view our vote as our greatest possession which nobody has any right to grab, to use for his or her own ends. It is a sacred gift to be able to choose the leaders that I want to rule this country. Hence, I hope that the Comelec would live up to its name of its being the protector of the peoples’ rights to vote and be voted upon.