The Pinoys in Nigeria

What an irony it must be to the family of former Batangas governor Antonio Leviste. While his former, well, estranged wife, Loren Legarda, is hitting the top of the Senate wannabe list, confirming her undiminished popularity, the ex-governor himself is down in the dumps, not only because he has been charged with murder, but has also been arrested and sent to jail. Loren herself seems unperturbed, but one wonders how her children with him are faring. Despite everything, he is still their father.

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What is interesting about the current rush to the Comelec for the filing of certificates of candidacies, now that the deadline is nearing, is that the chances are quite great that we will see three balikbayan lady senators after the May 2007 elections. Aside from Loren who is a shoo-in, former senator Nikki Coseteng is also back in the race, as is the dancing lady, Tessie Aquino Oreta. The latter has moved away from the opposition group because she does not want to give way to her nephew, the namesake of her brother Ninoy, who is also running for senator.

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As I understand it from recent reports, there is some problem involving names where Noynoy and Tessie are concerned. They say that votes for senators which carry only the name AQUINO will be invalidated as it could mean either Tessie or Noynoy (Benigno Jr.). but can the Comelec not resolve this? After all, Tessie already carries the name of her husband, Oreta, while Noynoy will be an Aquino as long as he lives. So it is to him that "Aquino" votes should be credited.

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Aside from the latest Pulse Asia survey, employees of the Senate also held a mock poll among themselves and guess who got the top places again? Chiz Escudero, Ping Lacson, Allan Peter Cayetano and Manny Villar. If Loren is not there, it could be because she is not an incumbent senator. As for the other incumbents who are due for reelection, I see they are back to their old games and I hope people will not ask them "Where have you been?" The latest I heard last night was that JV Ejercito, son of Erap with Guia Gomez, has announced that he is dropping his Senate bid. He probably decided he could do more for San Juan that he has served for only one term. Does that mean that Loi is coming back?

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I doubt, though, if JV's change of heart was affected by the bizarre announcement of security adviser Norberto Gonzales that they have picked up information about a plot to assassinate former President Joseph Estrada and some members of his family. Erap spokesman Rufus Rodriguez was right to laugh it off as "far-fetched" and "a figment of his (Gonzales') imagination." I don't know if I just imagined it, but was Gonzales' nose twitching when he announced it?

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The subsequent reports about limiting the movements and the visitors of the detained former president seem to confirm suspicions that Erap's accessibility to other politicians and to the media are not doing any good to other candidates. Saying his life is in danger would be the perfect way to keep him grounded - for his own safety, you know. Gonzales should think up something more believable, people are not longer as gullible as before.

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Last night I chanced upon an item on CNN from a reporter it had sent into the Niger Delta, that isolated place in Nigeria where the 24 Filipinos who had been abducted are being kept by the rebel group called the Movement for the Liberation of the Niger Delta, or MLND. Shades of our own MNLF! Anyway, the feature showed the terrible conditions in which our men are in. they are surrounded by hooded men in all-black outfits who danced menacingly around them with guns pointed at them.

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The CNN guy was able to interview someone unidentified and also heavily masked, but only on a speedboat rushing through the middle of the lake. The spokesman said they are fighting with anybody conspiring with Nigeria and are demanding that all expatriates leave the country. To the credit of our poor Pinoys, they all looked stoic, and only expressed a longing to be home, or communicate with their folks, but they did not look harmed. As for the rebels, they have modern facilities, in fact, they e-mailed the CNN reporter after he left to stress that the Pinoys had "not been kidnapped."*

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