From hinting at retiring into the academe a few months ago, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is now keeping us in suspense on whether she’ll go for a congressional seat in Pampanga, or turn into sea foam at the end of her term.
[indolent update: She's running. ]
You can't read my poker face.
The factor that made her consider running, apparently, is “public clamor,” the most abused excuse to get into politics since Caesar. Ever since Filipinos have been voting, everyone who runs for any position is simply listening to public clamor.
Cory did it. FPJ did it. Gloria, assisted as she was by civil society and the military, did it in 2001, although she didn’t run that year. She did in 2004, though. The same public clamor forcing her to renege on a promise to step down at the end of what should have been Estrada’s term.
Sen. Benigno Aquino III did it too a few weeks ago, as did Sen. Maria Ana Madrigal, although probably accompanied by a softer clamor made mostly by her staff and her pampered whippets.
None of them have any ambitions of power or whatever. They don’t even really want to do it. The people are just forcing them to, you know, put up banners with their faces on them, go around the country, and pay off handlers to keep the public clamoring.
"God, I hate this so much."
And that would be fine, really,if they’d keep listening to the public clamor after the elections. More often than not, though, the same voices are then called destabilizers and enemies of the Republic.
You guys in the back will have to speak up...
It’s nice, if you think about it, giving the little guys the illusion of actually mattering in national politics. But giving public clamor so much weight can also be dangerous. If we don’t end up with politicians who truck in their supporters to each rally venue, we get figureheads who are widely popular, but have no idea how to run a country. Sometimes we also get Lito Lapid, who is running for reelection into the Senate as a placeholder.
#1 by betterphilippines on November 30, 2009 - 7:31 pm
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someone should liquidate this “public clamor.” it’s all his/her/its fault.
#2 by onetamad on November 30, 2009 - 9:21 pm
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Oh, don’t worry. Government will get around to it eventually. If it hasn’t started already
#3 by FreeSince09 on December 1, 2009 - 1:33 am
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Same public clamor for Manny’s partylist too eh?
#4 by onetamad on December 1, 2009 - 8:43 am
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@FreeSince09: Vox populi, as they say.
#5 by shimering jemmy (you'll never guess who, faggot) on December 1, 2009 - 10:36 am
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“or turn into sea foam at the end of her term.”
Allusion to King Haggard and the last unicorn, perchance? You’re on a roll, geek king.
#6 by onetamad on December 1, 2009 - 10:41 am
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@shimmering jemmy: I, uh, I can see your IP address, you know.
#7 by shimering jemmy (you\'ll never guess who, faggot) on December 1, 2009 - 10:51 am
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Super Proxy is not the same as a proxy server. Damn you, Eheads.
#8 by onetamad on December 1, 2009 - 10:57 am
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are you calling me a faggot?
#9 by 67xray on December 1, 2009 - 1:38 pm
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Is Lito Lapid an actual person? I thought he was a cardboard cutout, like you see at the Caltex station. Who the hell is clamoring for him to run, anyway?
#10 by DICKLIP on December 1, 2009 - 10:56 pm
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I think they just call the Senate lamp posts \"Lito Lapid\".
#11 by mousemouse on December 2, 2009 - 9:16 am
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Love this piece.
)
#12 by onetamad on December 2, 2009 - 5:23 pm
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Thank you, mousemouse!
@67xray: Pampanga folk clamored for him to run. Anything to keep him away from their province, I suppose.
#13 by howcomebubblegum on December 3, 2009 - 1:33 pm
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<blockquote cite=\"#comment-body-2805\">
<strong><a href=\"#comment-2805\">shimering jemmy (you\’ll never guess who, faggot)</a> :</strong>
<div class=\"avatar\">
<img alt=\"\" src=\"http://www.gravatar.com/avatar/64c2e5418a19cc04cc72675097991012?s=64&d=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D64&r=G\" class=\"avatar avatar-64 photo\" height=\"64\" width=\"64\"> </div>
<p>“or turn into sea foam at the end of her term.”</p>
<p>Allusion to King Haggard and the last unicorn, perchance? You’re on a roll, geek king.</p>
<a id=\"comment-reply-2805\"></a>
</blockquote>
Hindi ba The Little Mermaid yun?
Hi onetamad, I really like your blog. At ang kapal talaga ng pagmumukha ni Gloria, hmph! \"Public clamor,\" ulol!
#14 by Lou on December 4, 2009 - 10:39 am
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Gonzalez will have none of those criticizing the President’s supposed motives for seeking election to a lesser office.
“There is no moral issue there—all these people talking about morality are all hypocrites!” he said.
“When it is something not against the law, there is no immorality involved. If it is illegal then it is immoral,” [sic] he said.
*****************************************************
Senility is its own reward.
#15 by onetamad on December 5, 2009 - 3:12 pm
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@Lou: It sounds like an actual argument, though. Not like the rest of the crap that he’s said in the past.
#16 by onetamad on December 5, 2009 - 3:13 pm
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@howcomebubblegum: Yeah, it was a reference to the Little Mermaid. I guess she’s also a unicorn in disguise.
Thanks for dropping by!
#17 by onetamad on December 5, 2009 - 3:15 pm
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Wow, we’ve get a shitload of robots on this thread…