I HAVE a special gift for reading faces.
(Check out the Enneagram of the Sufi Desert Fathers!)
I had practiced that art since I was 23; which means, for about 30 years now.
I am so good at it that people I met in my travels are often amazed how accurately I read their personalities on first meeting.
Which also means that I know which people I could flirt with, and which men would probably kill me in the dark alley, or in a hotel room.
***
So, yeah. Back in the early 1980s, I read up on Imelda and Ferdinand, on Cory and Ninoy.
I also studied their faces.
And I could really say that although Imelda is beautiful, there is something naturally sinister about her.
And while I can agree that Ferdinand came from poverty, I could not believe the war medals, the so-called Yamashita treasure loot (before he was elected president).
Was he really intelligent?
I may concede; but if he used intelligence to enrich himself and put the country under, he lost his soul.
What is intelligence if it is used for evil purposes?
What is intelligence if it is used to take advantage of others, especially the poor and disadvantaged?
***
As for Cory and Ninoy, well, they may not be perfect.
But what they did for the country elevated their status and legend.
Cory Aquino will always be the first Joan of Arc of Asia.
The underdog who toppled the dictatorship with the support of the people in a peaceful Revolution.
If Leni Roberto can be seen as another, that is fine by me.
There are a few parallels between Cory and Leni.
And I love this grand design of the universe!
***
Both are widows, both chose non-traditional colors for their symbolic battle against darkness and evil in the land.
For Cory, it was yellow; for Leni, it is pink.
Both are perceived as not as eloquent as the Marcoses, but both exude sincerity; and in truth, they are highly educated.
Check Cory’s and Leni’s educational attainment.
(Do your f*cking research, you idiots of TikTok history!)
I mean, Cory and Leni are more educated than the fake claims of Oxford, Princeton, et cetera.
***
So anyway, I was 17, and couldn’t vote in 1986, but I campaigned hard for Cory Aquino.
Marcos tried to steal the election.
He even had his stamping pad Batasang Pambansa declare him winner of the presidential election.
But brave Filipinos wouldn’t have it back then in 1986.
So, now, I’m wondering, where are those brave and smart Filipinos of 1986?
Have they forgotten?
Have they become jaded?
Have they hoped so much, became lazy, and became disappointed when the government didn’t spoon feed them?
***
I hate vote selling, and vote buying.
And I blame this on Marcos.
According to my grandfather, they never heard of vote buying in the times of Magsaysay, and other presidents.
Marcos started this nasty practice in Filipino politics.
Because he wanted to cling to power.
And power corrupted his soul absolutely.
Fact check: Who was the the first and last president of the third Republic to win a second full term?
Do I believe that he won his second term without any sort of cheating? No!
No, no, no, no, no!
***
In fact, I will point to the 1969 elections as the start of the massive vote buying tradition in Philippine politics.
When an incumbent runs for presidency, you know there’s money he can print.
(And didn’t the Marcoses take boxes of this newly minted pesos to the US when they fled on February 25, 1986?)
***
So, the Greed of the Marcoses for Power and Loot—
Constitutionally barred from a third term, Marcos declared Martial Law in 1972.
And they crowned themselves, the first family, as Philippine royalty.
“And they owned the Philippines.”
“And they didn’t know how rich they were.”
“And they stashed money away in Swiss accounts.”
And the Philippine foreign debt were in the billions of dollars.
All for stupid, and not-so-stupid, Filipinos to pay!
***
There’s a stupid story among the stupid Filipinos:
The Marcoses want to go back to power so that they can get back the money from the Swiss accounts…
… and share these to the Filipino people.
Now, what kind of hog shit is that?
Really?
Your brain must be smaller than a mosquito’s to believe that.
Or you must be in some alternative universe where stupidity is the currency.
***
Firstly, the truth: Did the Marcoses plunder the country during the dictatorship, and stash money away in Swiss banks?
If No, then there is nothing to return.
No need to elect the son of a dictator who killed many people; no need to elect the son himself who lied about his credentials.
If Yes, then they stole from the Philippines—plain and simple.
Will they really give back the money they stole to the Filipino people?
Bullshit!
You must really be retarded if you believe that! (To be continued)/PN
