There's always a woman

There's always a woman - not only behind the success of a man, but also behind his downfall, or capture, as the case may be. It all started with Adam who was quick to finger-point, saying, "The woman tempted me". Remember Samson, he with the supernatural strength, until he told Delilah that his power was in the hair on his head? And there was Holofernes, smitten with the beauty of the Israeli woman, Judith, whom he tried to seduce, but who left his camp with his head.

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Who can forget what happened to King David after he caught a glimpse of Bathsheba taking her bath? Finding out that she had a husband, an officer of his army, he promptly sent him off on a mission where he was sure to be killed, then pretended to be consoling his widow. In our country, we have just seen two incidents of wanted men who fell after visiting women "friends". The wily former Senator Gringo Honasan was traced to the house of a woman. Then, only a few days ago, the elusive governor of Abra, wanted for questioning in connection with the murder of the congressman from his province, was seen after coming from the house, also of a female friend, a former beauty contestant and Baywalk Body.

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Ironically, in the case of Abra Governor Vicente Valera, it was not for the crime that he and his party was stopped by the cops. It was because he was traveling on an imported vehicle, a Chevrolet van, that bore no plate number. Apparently he thought he was exempt from the "No plate-no travel" policy of the Metro Manila Development Authority. Worse, the simple violation led to the discovery of high-powered firearms, even a grenade in the van, exposing him to the charges of illegal possession of firearms, a violation almost as serious as the crime he is suspected of.

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The family of Congressman Luis "Chito" Bersamin, the murdered solon, must have prayed so hard for the suspect to be nabbed that he fell into the hands of lawmen for a different offense. But one must hand it Governor Valera. The fellow has got chutzpah. Despite being detained on such serious charges, he could still look unconcerned, sure of himself, and, as the kids would say it, poised pa rin. He promptly produced the P310,000 cash bail required, and was last seen on TV smilingly waving his release papers for all to see.

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Meanwhile, so many psychics, seers, fortune tellers and prophets have been featured in the media, you'd think their predictions in the past years had all come true, one hundred percent. Obviously, they do not care that many of their "visions" failed, some of them involving the highly controversial People's Initiative and the subsequent Con-Ass ploy. The famous, or infamous, Madame Auring has recently declared that the next president of the Philippines will be Mark Jimenez.

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If that comes true, then there will be a new trend for political campaigns. This time it will consist of giving out rosaries and prayer books, rushing to calamity-stricken areas and giving millions in donations and give-aways, and distributing chicken, hamburgers and other fastfood stuff. And don't laugh, she scolds, stating that she had also predicted that Fidel Ramos and Gloria Macapagal would become presidents. I guess Jimenez must have rewarded her with more than just hamburgers.

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Unlike last year when the Christmas season was much shorter, we have a longer one this time because the Feast of the Epiphany, or the day of the Three Kings will be on Sunday yet. So you can still ambush your ninongs and ninangs for the forgotten Christmas gifts until then. By the way, a writer commented that things would have been much, much different if it had been three Queens who had gone to see the Child Jesus in the manger. She wrote that the women would not have lost their way or revealed the secret to Herod, and would have brought some practical gifts like food, milk and layettes for the baby, instead of gold, frankincense and myrrh that Mary and Joseph could not use.

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Don't look yet, but the triumphant announcements of a stronger peso has also brought news of hikes in the prices of LPG and gasoline. The rebound of the peso has been attributed to big remittances from abroad, which could go down later since the phenomenon is expected with the coming of the Christmas season. But let's not be killjoys, let's believe those who say that Pinoys have high hopes for 2007. Amen.*

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