Good news for poll riggers

Is it “Right to Reply” or “Right of Reply”? I’m concerned about this bill as it involves my freedom as a journalist. And this early it’s got my head spinning silly. Some columnists here and in Manila say it’s Right to Reply, others say it’s Right of Reply. Which is which?

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In this connection, let me recall what the venerable journalist Doroy Valencia once said: “Never answer a columnist’s criticism against you in his column. You’ll never have the last say.”

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Senator Richard Gordon has called Senator Alan Peter Cayetano an “askal” (a term used by Tagalogs for stray dog or aso sa kalye). Naturally, Cayetano is mad. He has never been known to bark at the wrong tree, his fans say.

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Comelec Chairman Jose Melo says if the 2010 elections won’t be automated, the “scandal-ridden” polls of 2004 could occur again. This is good news for people who make a living out of rigging poll results.

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A news item says “the war veterans are rushing to get their $9,000 benefit each.” Naturally, they have to rush, especially those who are now in very bad shape and are in the “last two minutes” of their life.

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Good thing the US Embassy has thought of not anymore requiring the personal appearance of war veterans in applying for their benefits. Embassy reps must have seen how heart-tugging it is to see very old and very sick veterans presenting themselves to be able to get their very long delayed “prize” from America. There are those who could no longer walk and had to be carried bodily by their grandchildren. And some on wheelchairs are seen gasping for breath.

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Remark from one Rodman in his e-mail: “Kon napasar pa lang unta ang Veterans Equity Bill panahon ni Bush, di pa unta ingon aron ka luya sa atong mga tiguwang beterano. Mahay lang ko nga si Ate Gloria wa gyud ka kombinser ni Bush nga kasagabay man kaha ni niya.”

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It says here that there are some 10 million Pinoy males suffering from erectile dysfunction. How did they know? Oh, well, anyway, these are men who, my friend Benjamin says, can offer not anymore hot dog but marshmallow. Hehe.

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Thousands of Filipinos are flocking to the Department of Foreign Affairs daily to apply for passports. Most of them want the passport as part of their plan to leave this country and seek a better life in other countries, not necessarily America. One passport applicant said: “I’m even willing to go to Timbuktu if there’s a job waiting for me there.” Then he asked me: “Asa man nang Timbuktu, Sir?”

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My friend Kenji Ito, a Japanese trade journal writer, told me that in Japan and in most other countries in the free world, most men, women and even children have passports even if they don’t have immediate plans to travel. “If they’re not yet travelling, they use the passports as personal ID which is the most honored identification document by any government,” Kenji said.

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Let me share with you this very inspiring message I got from my friend Sir Bhoy: “Always remember life is never without a problem, never without a hurting moment . . . But never without God to lean on!”

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