Eh-hum # 44

Okay, obvious ba na wala akong mai-sulat and I had to post those (sort of) personality quiz results as a substitute. Reading the newspapers has given me the needed, uh, inspiration. ETO NA!!!

The (Conspiracy) Knockout

Ah yes. What more to boost the morale of our typhoon-inflicted brothers and sisters than a stunning victory for the PAC-MAN. People might say that Yanig sa Taguig was a major success. Actually, I was glad that the Filipino bet won by a fourth-round knockout or else the bout may be criticized as LUTO if the challenger made it through the last round and then the judges had to make a decision.

However, the fight had issues, at least to the sports commentators. They believe that the bout was an obvious mismatch between the Thai and the Gen San native. If the idea of an intentional mismatch is true, this fight may just be a warm-up for Manny’s rematch with Juan Marquez in February 2005, or a quick relief for the (mostly) downtrodden PINOYS. But, its hardly worthwhile if everybody knew Manny would win. I mean, where’s the challenge in that?

But, let’s give Manny’s camp the benefit of the doubt. Manny, in his past matches, has proven himself a worthy opponent to the Latino boxing champs. Let’s just hope that his victory in February will be undisputed.

Turn of Events…

So, it has come to pass that the King of Philippine (Action) Movies lost his final battle. Fernando Poe, Jr., a.k.a. FPJ, “Da King”, passed away at 12:01 am today at St. Luke’s Hospital. While I am no FPJ fan, his death is a major loss to the Philippine entertainment industry and he will surely be remembered through his memorable performances onscreen and numerous credentials as the country’s best known actor.

However, while his passing was truly a sad event, especially to his fans, this has become a political issue. Since he fell into a coma after a massive stroke over the weekend, politicians and politically-active actors have been plaguing our television screens with their comments on the matter. The media are in a feeding frenzy, interviewing and taking pictures of distince opposition politicians and artistas. Every now and then, we would see his agressive supporters on TV crying and praying for his speedy recovery, and cursing the President on the side. If I am not mistaken, his "rabid" supporters and (former) political allies were saying his death was caused by depression after his disappointing loss in the May elections. Oh please. If that is the case, winning the presidency would easily kill him, since he has to face TONS of depressing issues: corruption, the budget deficit, terrorism, oil and electricity price hikes, pending peace processes with the LEFT, etc, etc. Besides, self-indulgence (debauchery?) killed him, not depression (it should have been a suicide).

While I laughed at his campaign machinery prior to the elections, now I pity FPJ. His decision to run for the presidency made him an easy target for power hungry re-electionists. Armed with his movie one-liners and winning smile, he was totally unprepared upon entering the cut throat world of Philippine politics. People around him, supposedly supporting his candidacy, took advantage of his star power and his popularity to gain massive votes for themselves.

His death should be, first and foremost, a family concern (in his case, families). A credible spokesperson would be his (legal?) wife, actress Susan Roces, or their (adopted) daughter, Mary Grace. Or if they are too distressed, it should be ANYBODY not involved in politics. The opposition has forgotten that he was first an actor and member of the citizenry.

After his defeat in the elections, he should’ve steered clear of them political predators. Now, even after his death, the opposition is extending his short political stint. Opposition spokesperson Rep. Escudero announced that they will continue the fight and prove that PGMA and Kabayan cheated the 10 May 2004 elections. Well, the Electoral Tribunal should work on that immediately; the President is getting busier and busier by the day.