Big protest vote is the alternative!

Lito Osmeña has announced that the American doctors of Raul Roco has declared the former senator and education secretary fit enough to still be a candidate for next month’s election. But it doesn’t really matter now, if Roco pulled out or continued to run in what looks like a tough uphill battle. His sudden medical leave left a lot of people feeling orphaned. Regaining enough momentum to actually win may be difficult, although not impossible, to achieve now.

They need not feel lost and abandoned, however. In fact, if we are doomed to have either GMA or Da King for the next six years, that’s just our flawed democracy at work. Those of us who want real change and effective reforms must still register a strong protest vote to deliver the message that the trapos did not fool all of the people, this time.

In that sense, if we registered a strong enough vote for Roco to convey a message of protest, that wouldn’t be a wasted vote at all. We wouldn’t have voted for Roco as much as we have voted for ourselves and for our futures. Roco is no longer just a person but a symbol of our response to the collective frustrations we have with the status quo.

A strong protest vote would tell the world and to whoever else ends up in Malacañang, that there is a large enough segment of the population who are not going to stand for monkey business as usual. There are those who might say this is being too idealistic. But I say, if all of us who are worried about our country did the right thing, we could surprise ourselves too.

How many of us really gave Cory Aquino a fighting chance against Marcos? Yet, we didn’t care about the goons of Marcos nor about the questionable mathematics of the dictator’s Comelec. We were determined to register our protest by voting for her. We simply made it clear we, as a news anchor in an old movie once put it, are mad as hell and would not take it anymore. And we prevailed, even if we didn’t expect to.

With less than a month left before we cast our votes, there is absolutely no reason to be optimistic about our future, if we believe the survey numbers. The editorial of TeddyBoy Locsin’s Today sums up the unpleasant situation we all face. The real question, Today observed, is this: Who do we trust to correct the country’s situation after May 10? The one who had the smarts to create the situation? Or another who cannot begin to understand it, let alone start to figure out a way to correct it?

Today continues: "That is the real question that is running through the public mind – and not just among the A, B and C classes, but equally, as the surveys show, among the D and E crowd as well. It is coming down to the devil they know to the angel who strums his lyre, leaving everything to the demons who served earlier devils."

It is not true that we have no choice. We can and we should register our protest, a very strong protest through the ballot box. Because if we fail to protest loud enough, the old trapos will be convinced only a small portion of the population want reform. We will just have more of the same until we can go down no further.

Valedictorian

Being graduation speaker for the high school graduates of UP Integrated School last week, gave me a good boost in my hopes for the future. When the honor graduates were asked to stand, about half the graduates stood up. The perpetual cynic in me wondered if this is a case of grade inflation, a problem that even the American Ivy League universities are facing.

I was assured that this is not the case for this batch of graduates. Their grade point average for four years of high school really qualified them to graduate with honors. They really worked hard to justify the tax money spent on their free secondary education.

More impressive for me is the valedictorian of that graduating high school class, Florina Taladtad. She won 10 other awards in a grand slam that speaks highly of her competitive spirit. Her proud parents just placed on her one medal after another to the applause of her fellow graduates. Wow!

That’s not all. She was also among a handful of her fellow graduates who were good enough to be admitted to the InterMed program, a fast track seven-year medical course at the UP College of Medicine. I can see in her, a world-class doctor in 10 to 15 years from now.

I wonder if she would be a doctor to her people or if she would fly away to a more hospitable environment elsewhere in the globe. Would she feel appreciated enough here to give her an incentive to stay? Hopefully, someone as good as she is, won’t find it necessary to become a nurse as well, to enhance her chances of leaving the country for a more financially rewarding career abroad.

On the other hand, what are we doing even now, by way of supporting all these bright young high school graduates manage their college education in a way that would be useful to them and the country? Is there a good enough follow up program to help the graduates of the Philippine Science High School and other local science high schools to make sure that our initial investment in their education pays off?

We have to nurture these young people who no doubt, brighten our hope in this country’s future. Do we even know what happens to these young scholars after high school? I wonder.

Tourism Industry

Speaking of the need to be competitive, there are things we should be doing to give our tourism industry a fighting chance against the well-organized and well-supported tourism industries in our region. For one thing, there is a bill filed by Rep. Cielo Krisel Lagman Luistro requiring tourism establishments to be accredited by the Department of Tourism.

It is a pity that the bill, already passed on third reading, will have to go to square one again when the new Congress convenes. We need this accreditation badly if we are to encourage the growth of our tourism industry. This is the only way we can assure world class standards and protect tourists from being cheated.

For one thing, such a law will protect tourists from being charged five star rates for two star service, something I suffered from a resort in Bohol. When I complained to Dick Gordon, he told me helplessly that supervising tourism establishments was devolved to local government. Obviously, local government in Bohol didn’t have the means to carry out that important function.

Maybe they can still rush approval of this bill in the Senate when this Congress reconvenes before adjourning for good. We need that law badly.

Have Faith

Now, here’s Dr. Ernie E.

Two women were sitting in the doctor’s waiting room comparing notes on their various disorders.

"I want a baby more than anything in the world," said the first, "but I guess it’s impossible."

"I used to feel just the same way," said the second. "But then everything changed. That’s why I’m here. I’m going to have a baby in three months."

"You must tell me what you did."

"I went to a faith healer."

"But I’ve tried that. My husband and I went to one for nearly a year and it didn’t help a bit."

The other woman smiled and whispered, "Try going alone next time."

Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is [email protected]