No slogans for Fidel

Cuba strongman Fidel Castro, who had ruled his country for 49 years, announced his retirement yesterday. No, nobody rallied to ask him to resign, he was not ousted by people power either. He just knew when it was time to go. And if people expected him to endorse his brother as his successor, he surprised them, by saying that those from the “middle generation” should be considered, too.

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Had Fidel Castro been a Filipino, he probably would have insisted on waiting another year so he could complete 50 years in power. But obviously, he is realistic enough to know that he cannot continue to rule from a sickbed. So it now seems as if Queen Elizabeth of England has outlasted him. And King Bhumibul of Thailand , too. As for Castro, he did it his way, and it is doubtful if he would have stepped down if his people has prodded him with placards saying “Alis dyan (Get out)”, or “Sobra na, tama na, kumilos na (Too much already, enough, get moving)”.

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Speaking of placards, I am sure no other people can be as imaginative as the Pinoy when it comes to crafting them. Among those shown in the national papers yesterday were those saying “We borrow, We benefit, You pay”, and “I need corruption money for political survival”. It was noted that former President Cory Aquino herself was flaunting a pin with words assuring whistleblower Jun Lozada what he was not alone. Our rallyists in this province can also come up with some electrifying ones, just wait and see.

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While we are focused on our own dramatics here, other countries are also facing their own crises, showing that we are not alone, or as the revived slogan says, “Hindi tayo nag-iisa”. Pakistan has just held its election, that had been postponed after the assassination of the popular returnee, Benazir Bhutto. The full results are not out yet, but as of late yesterday, the husband of Benazir, Asif Ali Zandari, seemed to be getting the upper hand on the incumbent, army general Pervez Musharraf. Does that sound familiar to us? Benazir was their Ninoy, Asiz our Cory.

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Another world event is the declaration of independence by the state of Kosovo which has split the big countries as far as support is concerned. Some of them, like the United States , Germany and France , are in favor, but others like Russia and China are not. The problem is how Kosovo, which is quite poor and whose leaders do not seem to have experience in governance, will thrive, or even survive. Let's hope it does not approximate East Timor where, years after separating from Indonesia , it ended up with its leader, Jose Ramos Horta, almost assassinated.

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The results of yesterday's lotto draw came out last night with the winner, a single one, getting a whopping P14,003,726.40! My, that must have stunned the one who had picked the winning combination. By the way, a word of advice to lotto bettors: Be careful with your ticket, or number stub, whatever you call it. Somebody in our office found out one morning that five of his numbers were in the winning combination and he had won P20,000. But he had forgotten where he placed his stub, and after an anguished and exhaustive search, found it all crumpled up, in the garbage can. After trying to smoothen it, he brought it to the outlet where he bought it, only to be told that he could not be paid because the crumpled stub could not be accepted in the computer. Goodbye P20,000!

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A few weeks ago, I mentioned in this column the negligence of the cops and informers posted at the corner of Lizares and Lacson Streets in calling the attention of trisikads who make a terminal of the area just outside the gate of the Lupit Church , facing the wrong direction, and obstructing motorists driving out of the churchyard. For a few days, an enforcer was directing the trisikads to park properly on the other side. A few days later, we found our vehicle scratched, very obviously purposely, and the trisikads back in the wrong area. Yesterday a lot of them were again parked there and this time we pointed it out to the policeman standing on the other side, a certain Guadana. But I will not be surprised if the trisikads are back there again tomorrow, as our cops and enforcers there only do their work when their attention is called, and then forget about it. Why do they seem beholden to trisikad drivers? Do they get threatened? Just asking, and hoping their chief is listening.*

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