The pretenders

The 20th millennial generation will remember the song, “The Great Pretender”. Let’s borrow some lines from it.

“Oh yes, I’m a great pretender, pretending that I am doing well. My need is such I pretend too much.”

Daily we are faced with news of the great pretenders not so much to enlighten us but feed their needs, political needs, that is because money-wise they got plenty enough for two lifetimes.

We have Senator Alan Cayetano pretending he is so clean he can sit as an unbiased, fair and sharp and incorrupt prosecutor against the Binays in the Senate probe. He wants to validate the charges that Vice President Jejomar Binay amassed millions of public funds.

He pretends he has no presidential ambition (but never denied it) yet he takes out television ads projecting the image he is clean. He pretends he has not received millions from the Disbursement Acceleration Program to convict former Chief Justice Renato Corona. He has not denied he got the moolah.

Another pretender is Senator Antonio Trillanes. He pretends he is an inquisitor who scolds and threatens witnesses who do not say what he wants to hear to get after the neck of the Vice President. On the other hand, he pretends he is a lawyer leading and coaching his witnesses so they can ferret out the “facts” he wants to dish out to the public but not asking deep vital questions enough to determine whether what the witness was saying was true or not.

He pretends he wants only to bring out the truth but holds back his questioning when a profoundly searching follow-up could have clarified the ambiguous and generalized allegations.

Senator Koko Pimentel pretends he does not hear and has nothing much to ask when follow-through queries could have discovered more facts even if these do not fit his kind of facts but which the public would like to know to arrive at an intelligent conclusion. Have the reported millions from DAP that he allegedly received warped his once eloquence as a lawyer?

As for Vice President Binay, he seems to sing part of the other version of “Pretender” which runs this line: “Pretend you’re happy when you’re blue. It isn’t very hard to do.

The Vice President has taken this pretender’s position. He refuses to attend the Senate investigation and keeps a distance as if the allegations running around will just go away in due time. Well, the three pretenders in the Senate are not about to let up because, if they did, they might be ignored in the news and they need every inch or second of exposure till Election Day – free of charge, to the networks and newspapers, but not to the taxpayers.

They pretend their inquisition does not cost precious currency at the time when the government cannot provide a nurse in the barangy health clinic while thousands of nurses are unemployed. Nurses are even turning policewomen for lack of work.

Malacañang is playing pretender. It insists it has nothing to do with the investigation, in fact it claims it does not know about the operation demolish Nognog, though people know that Malacañang has plenty of spies in its payroll and in the payroll of dozens of government agencies. There are billions called “intelligence fund.” If Malacañang does not know, what are these minions doing aside from digging up the dirt in their opponents yard and covering those of their party color?

Of course Mar Roxas is also singing the pretender’s song. He billows to Vice President Binay, “The world is mine, it can be yours, my friend, so why don’t you pretend?” Yes, indeed, why can’t Binay just pretend and leave the field to the chosen successor of President Aquino who pretends he is the friend of the Binays?

The Vice President, however should listen closely to the song of Mar in the silence of his heart, “I’m lonely, but no one can tell.”

Of course Binay can retort, “Remember anyone can dream!”

The most recent pretender is the Department of Health. While countries with advance medical training and facilities are avoiding the ebola-plague places, DOH plans to volunteer Filipinos to go there like knights in white armor to save Africa. Their offer is pure “bola” that can lead to “bolabog” when the volunteers that might be infected are sent back home and spread the disease.

The DOH secretary should lead this pretender team but they must sign a waiver that if anyone is infected, they stay there.*

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