Most political analysts have already started to dissect the just-concluded Philippine 2013 elections—many of them focusing on the fate of individual senatorial candidates. Understandably, they pose such questions as why Grace Poe took the top spot, why Nancy Binay remained on 5th as predicted (despite the many brickbats thrown her way), or why Risa Hontiveros or Teddy Casino for that matter failed to land into the Magic 12 despite the all-out efforts and formidable strengths of their respective camps.
Looking at the election results, I slept on the probable composition of the incoming Senate, and dreamt about a typical policy debate among the senators. Fragments of my dream went like this:
Sonny Angara: My father wanted me to re-file this bill about…
Alan Cayetano: No, you can’t do that. Over my dead father’s body…
Eto posporo, sindihan mo na yan is a friendly taunt commonly traded among Metro Manila jeepney drivers when they pass by a stalled vehicle, most often (but not always) another dilapidated jeepney. The English translation cannot capture the accompanying smirk and mocking tone that’s typical of the jeepney driver, who has long adopted a fatalistic sense of humor to survive the metropolitan jungle. Image courtesy of thumbs.dreamstime.com
It’s Election Day in the Philippines today. My ears are glued to the wall-to-wall radio coverage of the proceedings, while my Twitter feed is focused on the #vote2013 and #halalan2013 hashtags. Occasionally I check the KontraDaya site for updates.
Voters and BEIs are getting frustrated about PCOS machines that don’t work, CF cards that can’t be read, ballots rejected because they are too wide or smeared easily by ink, paraphernalia sent to the wrong precincts, and so on and so forth. This is not to mention the older methods of electoral cheating—some subtler, some more brazen, which have long existed and have merely adjusted to the new AES environment.
