Getting excited

I regret that despite the computers and emails, I missed two columns (at least for now) because of our “speed” movements. When one jumps one skips and that is the reason this journey of constant transit is no match for the computer.

Every time I opened my laptop for internet connection my server raised a lot of questions, starting with “we notice you are operating from another different location. Please identify.” I have to prove that I am who I claim to be, “to protect” my account. Whew!

My problem in Spain was that the instructions, etc. are in Spanish with words I did not encounter in high school over 50 years ago nor in college. Fortunately, eventually my server decided on “automatic translation” but it cannot translate all the time and in fact asked “please add to the translation” when it also encountered a Spanish word not in its vocabulary.

Fortunately, by the time I worked from France, the translation was better and really automatic. Many Frenchmen and women have better English than our grade school pupils, though some simply shrugged their shoulder and pout or shake their heads.

The Italians are no better. Fortunately, we sometimes encounter an American also lost in the mass of humanity going here and there.

Fortunately, Fr. Greg Gaston, Rector of the Pontificio Collegio Filippino in Rome had accommodations when I emailed him while we were still in Madrid. That made the stay in Rome  less difficult although we had, as in the other cities to do a lot of walking.  The people in the Collegio speak in various Filipino languages or in English. It is indeed a respite. We felt at home in a foreign land.

But the experience is worthy of the hassle and speaking in kindergarten English. While traveling in a group tour has everything set, group tours do not allow one to see the countryside, meet people at close range, learn the habits of the people of the country and meet other nationalities, especially when we are “booked” in a train coach for hours.

Anyway, the travelogue will come later, or spiced along the way.

Negros and Bácolod are in for an exciting time. The fight for the various provincial posts will be intense, but more so in the city with Monico Puentevella who was rejected by the people last election of 2010 and at the time when he was strongest, being an incumbent.

Now Puentevella will try to again convince the people of Bácolod he is better than Vice Mayor Jude Thaddeus Sayson who has never been rejected by the Bacolod electorate since he came into the political arena.

Sayson’s political base is solid. I don’t know that of Puentevella or that of his chosen vice mayoralty candidate against Greg Gasataya who always landed at the top during the elections and Renecito Novero who has the backing of Atty. Sammy Palanca. Palanca has a stable but narrow constituency that from earlier elections did not prove overwhelming.

Whether Novero can still get this constituency is a question that only the election can determine.

The provincial political combat has never been this intense. We always had ironed-out list of candidates even before the advent of the EDSA revolt. In fact, when one looks at our provincial history, one will notice that the rivalry in the province had not been so exciting because the competition was among the landed gentry.

The choice of Dr. Melvin Ibañez came as a surprise. He was my first choice after Vice Governor Genaro Alvarez decided to want to become governor or, as he had insisted earlier, he was chosen by the party leadership, as if he was a reluctant candidate.

Now it appears he was not that coy after all, like a willing damsel wanting to be seduced but has to show she was not interested.

What is intriguing in this provincial game is that Governor Marañon had opted not to field candidates against several in the Alvarez camp. What gives? If my instincts are right, Alvarez might find something really interesting, like “can he trust the people who are singing hosannas to him or are they just there for the expected money?”

I remember in one previous election when many of those who said they were supporting then presidential candidate Ambassador Eduardo Cojuangco making secret deals with the opposite camp they believed would be the winner.

Elections in the Philippines, after all, have many evidences of double dealings and triple crosses.  Can Alvarez thus trust those with him?

The return of former congressman Kako Lacson in the field to challenge his successor, Rep. Albee Benitez will be worth watching. The campaign slogan of Kako is “gugma o kuarta?” The better combination would be kuarta and gugma. Would kuarta from gambling work?*

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