The Harapan Vice-Presidential debates generated a lot of talk and Twitter hashtags, among other things. I was half-expecting Edu Manzano to appear so that Loren Legarda could say, “Atras si Mar ng dalawa, abante ako,” and perhaps see Bayani Fernando do the “Papaya” in his Bob the Builder hat.
Yes, I just had to do that.
Edu no-showed the event, all right, but not without the kind of claptrap, cliché, and cachet expected of someone who, for all intents and purposes, made-Indian an important debate. Then again, one guy was there. One guy was willing to debate. One guy, running for the same position as Edu, Mar Roxas, BF, Loren Legarda, Jejomar Binay, Perfecto Yasay, and Jay Sonza, was ignored. Not because he was pressing flesh with people who probably pawned their radios to pay for food, but because maybe – just maybe – he wasn’t winnable.
His name is Dominador Chipeco, Jr.