A ho-hum game

Wasn’t it a letdown? I’m sure many others who watched the game between the two NBA teams at the Mall of Asia in Manila felt the same way. After all the hype-up and expectations of a thrilling game between the India Pacers and the Houston Rockets, it turned out that the Pacers were no match for the Rockets and were practically trailing all the way to the end of the game.

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How did the people who paid thousands of pesos to get into the mall arena feel? At least we in the provinces only watched on TV, and for free. Who forked out the P50,000 and more to get the prime seats? I started watching the game at the second quarter and noted that the Pacers never got a chance to lead, despite their efforts. Maybe it was not their lucky day. But I am sure that everybody was expecting a closely contested encounter, which it never was. The game finally ended with 116-96, a clear 20 point lead. Basketball fans must be thinking that they got more thrills from the USLS-UST games.

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Anyway, the coming of the National Basketball Association of the United States meant a lot to our tourism campaign, because the athletes seemed to be unanimous in praising our country and our people for the way they were received here, and they were vocal in expressing this, so their fans abroad must have taken notice and remember the Philippines when they think of visiting Asia. Let’s hope that if the NBA sends another group to play here, it will pick teams that could give a really exciting fight.

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The atmosphere is heating up for the holding of the barangay elections with the filing of certificates of candicacy that starts today. Commission on Election officials are said to be relieved that the election for the Sangguniang Kabataan has been postponed, because it has eased, not only their work, but also the tension of having to supervise two sets of elections. Anyway, a lot of people are even hoping that the postponement will be a prelude to the total scrapping of the SK that has not proven itself beneficial either to the youth or to the community.

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Meanwhile Senator Bongbong Marcos, who had been batting for the survival of the SK that had its beginnings during the administration of his father, has himself expressed dismay over the activities of the present set of SK members. A youth leader who has been batting for the SK even noted that the members have gotten fond of junkets. He noted that, in a recent training in Tagaytay supposed to last for three days, the members only had about four hours of training, with the rest of the time in fun and games. But Bongbong still insists that the SK should follow the format of the Kabataang Barangay, then headed by his sister, now Ilocos Norte Governor Imee Marcos. A foot in the door for the Marcos ways?

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Did it happen? Did China really wave an olive branch at the ASEAN meeting? I thought it was referring to its own problem with the Philippines, Japan and other neighboring countries, but it seems it had to do with the hostage-taking incident in Manila, which Hongkong continues to dig up, and which had caused that incident where Hongkong journalists were banned from covering the APEC sessions. The journalists are making a big fuss over the issue, but we had nothing to do with it, since it was the Indonesian security people who shooed them off.

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Meanwhile, I was quite embarrassed when I got an email from Tony Kho Jr. saying that the present leader of China is XI Jinping and his immediate predecessor was Ju Jintao. This column yesterday said it was XI Jintao. What a jumble of names. Anyway, the error led Tony, who is now based in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, to get in touch. Tony and his family, with his very talented children, are doing very well there. Bacoleños remember him for being the city administrator of Bacolod during Mayor Bing’s first term. Thanks, Tony.

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Why do some people persist in creating dynasties? They could ensure continuity, you know. In Cebu, the mayor of a town was suspended by the DILG because of charges that a project was set up without public bidding. No problem, the suspended mayor said. Her husband happens to be the vice mayor, so he can take over. In Samar, the governor and vice governor are brother and sister, and the congressman is their mother. How many other places in the country have set-ups like that?*

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