Garci and his magic

Magic. That must be it. Somebody who knows magic must be helping former Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano. How else could he disappear into thin air so quickly, defying the efforts (weak as they may have been) of the government's top agencies to find him? Of course he reappeared when he chose to, but then, again, he worked his magic to make any record of his ever having left the country disappear. Even his passport - he could also make it disappear and reappear at will. If that isn't magic, I don't know what else to call it.

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If the opposition is not careful, or if they do not keep a close eye on their records as well as their witnesses, these, too, may soon disappear through the same magic tricks. I will not even be surprised if the voice of the man being addressed as "Garci" by the President - who did admit she was talking to a Comelec official - suddenly changes, or even fades out completely. He has a magical existence, this Garci.

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If Garci continues to deny that he was the one in the tape, however, who, then was the Commission on Election official that the President said she had talked to in that "lapse of judgement"? Was it Chairman Abalos himself, or any of the other commissioners? Which one? Of course there was another commissioner who was appointed by the president together with Garci, a certain Barcelona, who has not been heard from after their appointments were not approved by the Commission on Appointments. Was he the one? This is another puzzle that may again take months to solve.

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Speaking of appointments, the CA has just approved those of sixteen generals. My, that will be 16 more added to the already top-heavy police and military. But it must be imperative for Malacañang to make these two agencies happy. Recalcitrants among them can make the biggest trouble, you see. Even retired ones, like the still feisty retired general Fortunato Abat can still manage to disturb the head that wears the crown, you see.

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But hey, what happened to Abat yesterday? He was "invited" by some agents, and when he demurred, he found himself being carried off in a "citizen's arrest" for allegedly inciting to sedition. Have our government spokespersons lost their sense of humor already? The day before, former President Fidel Ramos - not a spokesperson, of course - was advising everybody not to take Abat seriously. Even the Secretary of Justice was just scoffing at the proclamations of Abat, saying these could be due to his being in his second childhood already. Now they have nabbed poor old Abat, but that is what he was hoping for, maybe.

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What is this? Late TV footages yesterday showed very astonishing scenes in the last moments of discussions among the members of the Consultative Commission. One moment they were shouting at each other, red-faced and about ready to come to blows. In the wink of an eye, one sees them singing "Silent Night", and even swaying to the music, with the younger ones looking amusedly tolerant. These are the people we are entrusting with the drafting of our Constitutional changes? Great God in heaven!

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From what I understood from the bickerings, because it was their deadline already, the commission members could not agree on some provisions and one of these, on which they had to vote, was the scrapping of the 2007 election, and integrating it into the 2010 one. Guess who will be the best advantaged, and will not have to shorten their term then, as otherwise proposed?

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In the meantime, Bacolod residents could get themselves into the proper Christmas mood by taking a look at the amazing exhibit, "A Christmas Village", painstakingly set up in his home by Bamboo Tonogbanua. About ten years ago, it was only small collection of Christmas figures on a single table. Since then, it has grown and grown, with more and more figures and sceneries so exquisitely put together by Bamboo, one cannot help feeling the wondrous effect. The whole display is animated, with Christmas backdrops from various countries. One has to see it to believe that it can be done. Don't miss it - you'll get a better feeling than watching squabbling politicians on your TV screen.*

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