Memoirs of an Amnesiac

No other place in the world could there be more colorful mixture in the politics scene as there have been in our country. We have a boxer as a congressman in a place that needed someone who has more guts and more importantly, nuts to run a province that is almost left by industrialization. We let a former impeached president run for mayor. (Whatever happened to our day long shouting and marching towards Fuente Osmena just so we could be in one accord against unlawful corruption of our well-earned taxes?) Small wonder when we had another one facing another impeachment trial while still holding public office as a congresswoman. And what's more, we placed so much trust on our current President whose sister has been in too far so many controversies as there had been in her morning talk shows. What is he doing? Actually, nothing. He just created a new fad -- Noynoying.

Just how exactly do we consider a person fit to run a public office? What are their qualifications? Does it mean that if they are able to manage a few talents, like Annabelle Rama, they are already considered for the position? And how do we test their integrity?

There are talks of Annabelle Rama running for office in Cebu. I begin to question the reasons why she should run. First, she handled talents. Yes, she did. But did she handle them well? I have never known any manager who has had more exposure than her. She always gets herself in brawls, either because of her talents or her children. She's always sporting the quote and quote "palaban" (kuno) way the Visayan ladies do it -- never retreating once challenged. I dare say, that is not characteristic of the Visayan women. We are peace-loving and we have more tact and finesse. Second, she's popular. Oh well, bad or good, it is still publicity. Go figure out which aspect she's more famous with. Third, her cousin said she has integrity because she had never been known to get involved in corruption. Wait until she's sworn into office.

Something's truly amiss. What does it take for a typical Filipino, whether educated or not, to remember what oppression has been done to them? Why do we always get lured away by the luster of money and fame and suffer the next generation with our caprices?

And why do we have such short term memories? What did they say? History repeats itself? Yes, and it will keep repeating until we learn something.