* – Following “After the Glory,” by Patricia Evangelista
A year short of a decade, it can aptly be called the Arroyo Era: nine years of a political generation marked by the limbo of right and wrong. Her regime was where the politics of the necessary were validated, confirmed, affirmed, and practiced. Things like cheating, subverting the will of the people, abusing power, and curtailing essential freedoms – among other things like crime, treason, theft, and larceny – were taken as necessities in the affairs of government. It is the way things are: of “evidence” thrown out the window, a proper forum where justice is never realized, and no scandal can rock a government where all the failsafes were put in place to keep her there.
For the past nine years, Gloria Arroyo’s diminutive shadow loomed over the Philippines. In the next two weeks, where the power she hung on to is finally back in the hands of the people, a change of leadership promises light. What about her, though?
His most loyal supporters thrust and harp on the credentials and qualifications that make him who he is: 33 years of executive experience, two terms as Mayor of Olongapo City, 1971 Con-Con delegate, Subic Bay Metropolitan Area Chairman, Secretary of Tourism, 40 years of volunteer work for the Philippine National Red Cross, six years in the Senate, 270 authored bills and resolutions, 13 enacted laws. In one long sentence, that’s Richard Gordon.
A size-36 waistline and a beer belly should be enough reason for anyone – yes, including myself – to take up a sport.