No closure for Polls 2004?

Will the 2004 election ever have closure? Yesterday, during his appearance before the Commission on Election, Supervisor Lintang (some say it should be "Linting") Bedol, who had been missing and incommunicado for several days, revealed that 22 municipal certificates of canvass, or CoCs from his area are missing! Bedol is the election supervisor for Maguindanao and Sharif Kabungsuan, two of the places that have given so many headaches to volunteer election watchers like the PPCRV and NAMFREL.

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Bedol did not seem to have anything to say, even when he was being dressed down by his boss, Comelec chairman Benjamin Abalos, who looked as if he was relishing the job. Well, it got them, both Abalos and Bedol, a lot of media footage, more so Bedol. If you had been watching the TV coverage of his resurrection, you would have had a strong sense of déjà vu. The way reporters jostled to get at him, and the way he tried to hedge them, was very strongly reminiscent of the actions also of the infamous commissioner Hello Garci Garcillano when he, too, surfaced after leading the entire country in a merry dance searching for him. History repeating?

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Now that Bedol has been accounted for, another Comelec official who was being hunted has also come up and had her own story to tell. Lilian Radam, who is also being fingered for alleged irregularities in the canvassing and voting there, immediately declared upon her reappearance that it was the camp of Koko Pimentel that had been trying to bribe her! As another saying goes: A good offense is the best defense. Perhaps that is what the woman is adopting. I tell you, this election is not going to see closure yet. Maybe after charges upon charges are fired, the Supreme Court will be invoked, and we wait until it is almost time for the next election.

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If we are having another one, that is. If speaker Jose de Venecia manages to hang on to his post, and also manages to push through his obsession of becoming prime minister, then this may be the last time we will be voting directly for our highest leader. But that does not seem likely now, with the Senate composed largely of members who won't pander to him. And with the patriarch from Cebu still sounding as if he is not likely to give up what is also his swansong in politics, being already in his 80s. If you had any doubt that JdV is taking former Cebu Governor Pablo Garcia seriously, the floating of an alleged scam in the GSIS where public money was said to be used for the promotion of Garcia's speakership, is one big confirmation already.

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Perhaps the abduction of Italian priest Fr. Giancarlo Bossi was just a decoy to turn public attention away from the election brouhaha in Mindanao. The good father was on his way to say mass when he was snatched with some companions. The rest were released later, but he has not been heard from up to last night. The police and military have formed what they call Task Force Bossi that is supposed to focus on the abduction. By the way, how many similar special task forces are presently operating throughout the country, and how successfully are they?

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Friends were kidding us yesterday when they saw photos of the STAR staff at playtime in Punta Bulata, Cauayan. Some asked what we thought of the place and whether it is as expensive as reputed. I admit that it is, yes, quite pricey compared to other resorts, but we did have a nice time there, with no hitches. If there was anything to complain about, it was only that we were told by the manager that we could store our provisions in the pantry of the bar and use the area for meals (we could not bring them to our rooms). Nothing was said about rent for the place, so we were surprised to see on our bill an added charge of P2,500 for its use. Despite that, I even recommended the resort to my kin who promptly made computations and compared our bills to what it had cost to go to Boracay earlier.

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Speaking of costs, motorists and vehicle owners again have to bite the bullet with another 50 centavos hike for gasoline and 56 centavos for LPG. Well, there is some consolation. The same announcement about the price increase also promised that there will be no more price hikes - this month.*

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