They should have made it 13

The report that the office of the mayor in Silay was found to have been vandalized when Oti Montelibano entered it on his first day of office was appalling, but it did not shock me. I remember that when the new administration of Bacolod City also took over in 2004, it also found the mayor's office in the same state of disarray. Equipment could not be found, they had reportedly been farmed out to favored barangay captains, and a STAR reporter said that when they tried to use a telephone to call the office, they found out that the phones had been yanked out from their connections. That's the way sore losers and their cohorts "get even".

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The family and supporters of the 12th Man in the Senate were all primed up yesterday because the Commission on Election had announced that it would proclamation day. And then, suddenly, the Comelec said, not yet, because the Supreme Court was still asking questions. And so there will still be a hearing Friday, after which we don't know yet what other legal processes will take place. In the meantime, Koko Pimentel and Miguel Zubiri can go biting their fingernails.

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I sympathize with Zubiri. Even if gets declared the winner and is proclaimed, he will always be hounded by the perception that his was not a clear victory, and that, but for Maguindanao and people like Lintang Bedol, he may not have made it all. Also, I don't think the younger Pimentel will suddenly concede and say that the better man had won. I have the feeling that this is going to go on and on and on for a long time. Perhaps there was wisdom in the suggestion of now Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim, that 13 senators should be proclaimed because he had left a vacancy in the Senate when he decided to choose Manila instead. Everybody would have been happy that way.

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There are, indeed, signs that the world is going through some strange changes. Yesterday it was reported that, after almost 90 years, snow suddenly fell on Buenos Aires, in Argentina. The last time this happened there, was in 1918 yet. While the snowfall was not as thick as in the U.S. and other countries, it was enough to bring piercingly cold winds that have already caused some deaths due to exposure. People were not prepared for the cold, you see. They didn't have appropriate clothing or shelter.

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Knowing about this should make us pray and hope that we do not go through it ourselves. Just imagine how our people in the hinterlands, living in exposed areas, and in nipa huts with bamboo floors, could cope. Thousands will probably die in the first few hours. And if the snow covers the land, as it does in Europe and the Americas, how are our people to grow food, or even fish? Even those of us living in urban areas will surely be unprepared to survive it.

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Yesterday there was again a news item in a national daily about a young couple who met an accident while riding in tandem on a motorcycle. The wife, who was only 27 years old, died on the spot, while the husband was in very serious condition and given little chance of surviving. The report said both were wearing helmets, but these did not protect them. Were they regulation ones? Sometimes we see motorcyclists with so-called protective helmets, but they look flimsy and are probably only being worn to fool the government agents looking out for violators. Note that the number of motorcycles in the city continues to increase day by day.

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By the way, some readers have been asking about the "Ten Commandments for Drivers" issued recently by the Vatican. It seems they have traffic problems there, too. I thought, however, that the "commandments" were too tame for the Pinoy driver. Anyway, for those who are asking, I looked for a copy, and here they are, for our readers to clip and, hopefully, live by: 1. You shall not kill. 2. The road shall be for you a means of communion between people and not of mortal harm. 3. Courtesy, uprightness and prudence will help you deal with unforeseen events. 4. Be charitable and help your neighbor in need, especially victims of accidents. 5. Cars shall not be for you an expression of power and domination, and an occasion of sin. 6. Charitably convince the young not to drive when they are not in a fitting condition to do so. 7. Support the families of accident victims. 8. Bring guilty motorists and their victims together, at the appropriate time, so that they can undergo the liberating experience of forgiveness. 9. On the road, protect the more vulnerable party. 10. Feel responsible toward others.*

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