EDITORIAL - Sanitized from reality

The extreme agitation sweeping through the corridors of power in Manila over privileges enjoyed by ex-governors Antonio Leviste of Batangas and Andal Ampatuan Sr. of Maguindanao while doing time in prison reflects exactly how detached Manila is from realities on the ground.

The great hue and cry seems to be about how the rich and powerful can buy their way out of even their legal binds. If Manila had only been keeping its ear closer to the ground, it would have realized that nothing can be farther from the truth.

Unfortunately, Manila only gets shaken when the scandals hit close to home. Nothing that happens in the provinces can distract the Lords of the Capital from the important things they do, like holding public hearings and having themselves seen and photographed for tonight's news.

The enjoyment of prison perks is not only nothing new, it is erroneous to believe it is enjoyed only by the rich. Perks are available at every level of affordability because everybody has his price in our corrupt bureaucracy.

So, while the rich can buy a whole night of freedom to visit a girlfriend in some swanky condo, the poor can still make do with a few hours of stand-up sex in some flimsy hovel built in some dinky corner of a faraway provincial jail.

Thanks to great governance and political will in Cebu, this has become a thing of the past. But it did happen once. And if it happened once, and in Cebu, how much more for areas that are way below the radar. The safe bet would be that they go on to this day.

And they go on because in this country getting scandalized is a relative matter. It is a mood thing. Sometimes you get scandalized and sometimes you don't. Add to that a notoriety to forget and you have the perfect recipe to thwart reform and never get things done.

So Leviste and Ampatuan have been living it up in prison? Those in the provinces can only laugh at the agitation. Why, they eat such things daily for breakfast. It is nothing. It is pablum. Only those sanitized from reality get indigestion.