I DON’T expect most politicians to be grateful. They’re very busy, either serving the people or stealing from the people. Both are done with dexterity and panache. And it’s hard to tell who’s doing good and who’s committing a crime.
Many politicians are amorphous. They are extremely complex. They’re a different breed of human beings. Some dance in the darkness like bats. Beware and watch them carefully, intently and relentlessly. Use your flashlights or searchlights if you smell something foul. By now, we must have learned it is our sacred duty to take care of this country. Because if we don’t, no one will.
Watching the ABS-CBN hearings, I do solemnly declare I like Congressmen Edcel Lagman, Rufus Rodriguez, Sol Aragones, Benny Abante, Loren Legarda and the party-list reps of Bayan Muna, Ako Bicol and Gabriela. They are good men and women. They are respectful. They recognize how the shutdown of ABS-CBN affects its employees, the industry and the industries around it. They know the contributions the media institution has made in the country. They are not petty, nor bastos. I would like to be their best friend one day.
I also wrote other congressmen, saying that I hope they vote with their conscience on this issue. While many of them ghosted me, a few remarkable ones replied. I will not tell you what they answered on my e-mail or Facebook message but Alfred Vargas, Stella Quimbo, Tonypet Albano, Janette Garin and Yul Nieto shot to my “like list” for their honest answers. Kudos goes to Stella Quimbo and her staff for thinking I was first asking for milk, and their e-mail declared that all her funding for this would come from her personal funds and donation from friends. If I were a billionaire, I would donate milk to her and her district. Pasensya na po, Ma’m Stella, hindi po ako maka-donate ng malaki para sa milk project niyo, kasi bilang bakla, ako lagi ginagatasan ng mga lalake eh! Charot!
Anyway, if they win again in 2022 should they decide to run, then it will be a simple validation, as far as I’m concerned, that not everything is lost in the Pinoy. If they don’t make it, I will escape for a day to a deserted seashore. I will weep with the sharks, seahorses and mermaids—not for them but for me and this country. After I commune with the sea, I will come back with hope that they will still be around to serve this country.
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GLOBAL Pinoy artist Arnel Pineda voices the courage and spirit of local heroes in his self-penned song “Your Soldiers,” newly released under DNA Music.
In this pop rock track, the singer-songwriter also inspires unity to fend off the perils in a crisis, and dedicates it to the people leading the Filipinos’ defense against the coronavirus pandemic: the medical frontliners.
“Your Soldiers,” with music also from Arnel, is arranged by Gabriel Tagadtad and produced by ABS-CBN Music’s creative director Jonathan Manalo. Its music video, uploaded on YouTube, immediately received positive feedback from listeners. Arnel is one of the artists under DNA Music, ABS-CBN’s record label catering to the musicality of gifted Filipino rock and alternative artists.
Since 2007, the renowned Filipino performer has served as the lead singer of the iconic American rock band Journey. Last month, he performed “Don’t Stop Believin’” with the band for Unicef’s Covid-19 benefit show.