Is Manny Pacquiao the best face the GMA regime can offer?

Nothing best demonstrates the bankruptcy of the Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (GMA) regime than the recent induction into KAMPI of boxer Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao.

No less than KAMPI party chief, Herr Ronnie Puno (who had previously showed similarities with the late unlamented Nazi Interior Minister, Herr Heinrich Himmler, during the storming of the Iloilo Capitol, the Makati City Hall and the Peninsula Hotel), oozed with pride at bringing the champion boxer into their party. Herr Puno even mentioned that if Pacquiao were within the age requirement — he would have won hands down as Senator.

Because Cotabato incumbent representative Darlene Antonino is serving her third term, the KAMPI political gods now feel confident that Pacquiao will win the otherwise Opposition seat.

The thinking reeks of the worst aspects of Niccolo Machiavelli’s dictum of the ends justifying the means. The thinking is devoid of any patriotism or love of country.

It matters not if the boxer has no academic preparation or track record to inspire confidence that he knows the most basic tasks of representing a congressional district. It matters not if the boxer does not even possess a formal degree — equipped only with one of those convenient Department of Education certificates that are passed off as High School diplomas.

Not only that, but the thinking reflects the sheer lack of qualified material for elective positions of the GMA regime so that it must now resort to fielding the most popular but highly questionable candidates for one of the most sensitive positions in government.

A lot of things were said about the Ferdinand Marcos regime. But the Marcos regime, for the most part, set a high bar for the selection of appointed and elected public officials.

To this day, few cabinets can even hope to match up against the Marcos cabinet, especially the one with Rafael Salas, Bong Tanco, Cesar Virata, Jess Tanchang-co, Joe Aspiras et al. If those men were 5-star in caliber, GMA’s cabinet members hardly even merit half a star. Just glance at our democracy, our economy and our society under GMA and it is easy to conclude that!

Little do the regime gods realize that choices like Manny Pacquiao reveal their inclination to practice what I call Harlot Politics. Harlot Politics to me is the most appropriate term for the cause and flesh trading that we witness regularly under this sorry dispensation.

Harlots will do anything just to earn the filthy lucre. They will spread their legs for the filthy lucre in much the same way that this regime is suspected of giving away our natural resources to China and the US supported BJE. They will trade the purity of our democratic process for their lust to remain in power. Instead of leading by good example, the Harlots of our politics are the very promoters of high level corruption — that which has been classified under the euphemism transactional politics.

Many ask: What has happened to our country? Well, what happened is that the country has been transformed into one huge brothel. There is a Madame in charge (as with other brothels) and several pimps who go around peddling the tradable assets of the Filipino people like its minerals, oil fields and so forth.

As in many other brothels in the world, hardly anyone tells the truth! Lying — whether uttering falsehood or lying in bed to render pleasure — are what the Harlots do. Many Filipinos feel screwed. And that is not surprising at all considering what the Harlots did to the country.

To match the gall and the temerity of Herr Ronnie Puno in taking pride that he inducted Manny Pacquiao into KAMPI, there is the Labor Secretary, Marianito Roque, who was just as boastful that there will be over 200,000 jobs overseas next year for Filipinos.

From where I sit, wrecking another chair, I cannot fathom if Puno and Roque are applying the “best defense is a good offense” strategy. It is either that or they have really been infected with intellectual dwarfism of the worst type.

How can any self-respecting Labor Secretary brag about opening 200,000 jobs overseas for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs)? Does he realize that for a Labor Secretary to talk about overseas jobs is to call attention to one’s failure to provide ample employment here? It’s like bragging that he found his wife and daughter lucrative employment in the friendly neighborhood brothel!

Is this Labor Secretary even aware that this OFW phenomenon has created more problems for our society than what the OFW remittances contribute to the economy? There is the social cost that we have to live with — the broken families, the inclination of insecure kids to fall into the drug abuse habit, the tendency of the mate left at home to find a substitute wife or husband, the sufferings of the OFWs themselves who have to bear the separation from their loved ones.

I am led to ask if this Labor Secretary has any brains and a heart at all to have bragged that way about 200,000 overseas jobs.

I do not know Labor Secretary Roque at all so I have to be open to the possibility that indeed he may be suffering from intellectual dwarfism. But Herr Puno is anything but stupid. I know many people who call Herr Puno many unflattering things which do not have to be written in this space. Herr Puno’s track record speaks for itself.

It has been openly discussed that Herr Puno has a moist eye for the presidency in 2010 — that Herr Ronnie is positioning to be GMA’s bet for the 2010 presidential election in the event that Charter change or Cha cha does not take off. A so-called political analyst mentioned this a few months ago during a 2010 sneak preview.

Personally, I think Herr Ronnie Puno has better chances of putting up an ice skating rink in hell than winning in a clean, honest presidential election. If ever he manages to pull a surprise win, just look for Garci and the remnants of Herr Puno’s Sulo Hotel Operations that my friend, the late Teddy Benigno, exposed in 1992 here in The STAR.

I was just thinking that for such a big objective, it makes sense for Herr Puno to enlist the popular Manny Pacquiao. Herr Puno needs to provide a semblance of reason how he ever won a presidential election with his reputation.

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Chair Wrecker e-mail and website: [email protected] and www.chairwrecker.com