BY ERWIN ‘AMBO’ DELILAN
I WAS stunned by radio reports and Facebook (FB) posts about the sudden (daily) influx of people at the Bacolod public plaza.
Day and night they’re lining up towards the local office of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) at the Bay’s Center. They want to register or transfer their voter’s registration for the 2022 elections. Thus curiosity – with added “widespread controversies” hounding the much-awaited mayoral derby in Bacolod – struck reporters, necessitating them to make live reporting and interviews (left and right). It is like there’s a “media fiesta” in Bacolod right now.
Listening to them via FB live streaming, I can’t help but be amused by what’s happening in the city with only eight days remaining for Comelec to cap the voter’s registration. The throng of people flocking at the plaza, radio reports say, was from out-of-town. Meaning they’re not Bacolod residents.
Some are lining up till night as Comelec-Bacolod can only accommodate a maximum of 300 registrants per day. Others brought their kids with them. They, too, have cauldrons (kaldero), rice, canned goods, biscuits, thermos, rice cookers, and beddings. Very at home, I exclaimed. OMG (Oh, my God)!
Reporters described them like sacadas (migrant sugarcane workers) who hastily stormed the plaza. They’re (even) willing to sleep overnight.
When asked by reporters where they came from, one said they were from Victorias City, others from Hacienda San Fernando, in Talisay City. They said they’ll register in Bacolod because of the promised jobs at the New Government Center (NGC) once their candidate wins.
Who’s this candidate they’re referring to? They refused to name yet.
EXPLOITING THE WEAK
At the Ayala Mall, radio reports say, another mob of out-of-town residents also formed a line as early as 4 a.m. last Saturday.
Most of them came all the way from Barangay Amin in Isabela town.
Asked by the mall guards why they’re trooping as early as 4 a.m., the “innocent” ones answered because of the P1,000 – P2,000 “prize” in case they’d completed their registration.
Is that so?
But what struck my attention was the case of a deaf-mute man who reportedly fainted at the plaza due to hunger and hot weather. He was from Bago City.
Operatives of the city’s Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (DRRMO) immediately aided him and sent him back to Bago.
Quite disgusting! So shameful!
Pity the poor and innocent to be “exploited” this way.
This is also tantamount to “prostituting” the weak and ignorant, who are in dire need.
Uh-oh! This is “dinamak” – to the maximum level.
Dinamak in English, per the ph.Dictionary, is nasty, dirty, slovenly, slatternly, indecent, obscene, to act or speak in vile or abominable way.
Question: Who are the promoters of this kind of duplicitous gimmickry?
And what’s the real motive behind this scenario?
This is double whammy – exploiting the poor and, at the same time, exposing them to the potential risks of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Radio reports say there’s somebody as contact person in Bacolod for these sacada-like registrants. Netizens tag this contact person as an “election pimp”.
For now, I refuse to believe that former 3rd Congressional District (Negros Occidental) congressman Albee Benitez who is running for mayor in Bacolod against incumbent Mayor Bing Leonardia – or any of his political minions – is behind this. No direct proof yet linking him or any of his men to this kind of a “dirty tactic”.
Bacolodnons, however, are keen observers. They know how to weigh things.
IOTA OF DOUBT
The influx of out-of-town registrants in Bacolod – likened to “apan” (grasshoppers) – for a week now is a “science of living intelligence” for Bacolodnons. And if former councilor Homer Bais were to be believed (during his rant against Sen. Migz Zubiri), “Alams na, abot na ni Rokit!”
Quite unbelievable! The Marcos era has long been gone. But perhaps, political tricks like this, including the infamous “vote or gabot” in Negros haciendas, were in the archives of known political pundits in the province. Those trying to revive such “dirty magic” to ensure victory in next year’s elections are “hilarious”.
Bacolodnons want to see a fair battle of “might and resources”. Resorting to a “hakot” (hauling) is a no-no. It’s an insult to their “sovereignty”. Bacolodnons will not allow “aliens” to subjugate them. They will say no to blatant incursions of “imported” voters.
HEARTHFELT INTENTIONS
Meanwhile, when someone banters “change” as battle cry, it must be anchored on the purest and heartfelt intention(s). The best if it is not clouded with deceit and treachery.
I remember the story of Orestes in an ancient Greek play by Euripides. Such dwells on treachery that resulted to the matricide or the murder of Orestes’ mother by himself. There, warned the play, “When one with honeyed words but evil mind persuades the mob, great woes befall the state.”
On the other hand, “trick and treachery,” as enunciated by Founding Father of the United States of America (USA) Benjamin Franklin, “are the practice of fools that don’t have the brains enough to be honest.”
Hence, anyone who’ll subscribe to dinamak during elections is like a “weak-willed” creature no longer fit in a millennial setting. Besides, our very own Comelec Commissioner, the feisty Atty. Rowena Guanzon, has a potent reminder to all of us Filipinos: “Let this crisis (pandemic) be a lesson and reminder that voters should elect leaders who have the people’s interest at heart and not their interest and pockets.”
So, beware of any politico who, as early as now, shows his/her true color by subscribing to dinamak acts.
So, stay awake and alert, Bacolod!/PN
