The worst and best

The recent elections brought out the worst and the best in our land. The scene of the burned corpses of Nellie Banaag and Leticia Ramos being brought out of the elementary school of Barangay Pinagbayanan, Taysan, Batangas makes one ask how many election-related deaths or violent incidents are needed before we will no longer be able to claim that the elections were "generally peaceful". As of yesterday, the Inquirer's count was at 147 lives lost due to the elections.

The manual counting of the results of the elections is the classic example of no application of the available appropriate technology due to a scandalous contract declared to have no one accountable nor responsible by the Ombudsman. Consequently, we need to give the COMELEC 10 days to officially tabulate the national results of the election. It is in this period of waiting that interesting stories are made, imaginatively or otherwise, on how the election results were finalized. It is also during this time that the Comelec hopefully find the missing accountable forms diligently accomplished.

The initial results of the elections for Senators as revealed unofficially through quick counts and exit polls were adverse to Team Unity but in my opinion seemed to represent the hopes and aspirations of the majority. That the allegations of TU that the media institutions were possibly engaged in trending and creating a mind set contrary to what they want us to think, makes it clear that what is happening is not suppose to happen from their perspective. As the tabulation continues the slogan of a media network to patrol i.e., keep watch over our votes is very sound advice.

We could not have exercised our citizen's right of suffrage without the thousands of teachers sacrificing their time and resources to serve in the polls. To them we are grateful. Windows of goodness and opportunities have opened with Ang Kapatiran establishing a minority in the voting population. A light shines over Pampanga as Eddie Panlilio leads the gubernatorial race over Lilia Pineda and Mark Lapid and we hope that he becomes Governor to usher in a new era of politics. Let us close with an anecdote that can illustrate how different the current politics of Eddie Panlilio is to his opponents. An elderly woman had just returned to her home from an evening of religious service when an intruder startled her. As she caught the man in the act of robbing her home of its valuables, she yelled, "Stop - Acts 2:38!" (..turn from your sin...) The burglar stopped dead in his tracks. The woman calmly called the police and explained what she had done. As the officer cuffed the man to take him in, he asked the burglar, "Why did you just stand there? All the old lady did was yell a scripture to you." "Scripture?" asked the burglar, "She said she had an AXE and two 38's!*