Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay is ready to defend his “Makati” infomercial, which critics say is a not so subtle pitch for his presidential bid.
In an Inquirer.net report, Binay is said to have welcomed the petition filed by partylist group Abakada Guro asking the Comelec to investigate the infomercials of perceived presidential aspirants.
Binay already has his excuse — that his TV ad is all about Makati and the benefits its residents are receiving.
I know I wasn’t born yesterday so I’ll just go ahead and call out what the good mayor is doing: “nagpapalusot.”
The same could be said of Senator Mar Roxas and Manny Villar should they also claim later on that their ads have nothing to do with the upcoming elections. Although, unlike Binay, Roxas and Villar will probably have a harder time defending their infomercials as anything other than campaign advertisements. But, who knows, Villar might claim he was just promoting duck-raising as an enterprise while Roxas might say — er. I can’t even think of a flimsy excuse for this one. I guess you’re on your own Mr. Roxas.
In any case, the general public need not hold their breath for a “palusutan” showdown anytime soon. No less than Comelec Chair Jose Melo has said that they cannot act on these ads. Apparently, the relevant laws and rules are cancelling out each other.
So, what’s a Comelec official to do? What else but pass the responsibility of determining if a violation had been committed to the voting public. What a disappointment. It would have been more interesting had he said “bahala na si Batman” (let Batman figure it out).
Levity aside, there’s a surrealistic quality to this whole situation that is worth examining. It’s like when you see a mound of shit and you call it as such because the fact of the matter is it really is a mound of shit. But then here comes someone challenging your belief, telling you it’s not shit but a tasty, delectable cupcake.
Now, I don’t know about you but I don’t plan on eating shit anytime in my near or distant future. I hate pastries as well.
This is why politicians have no credibility, at least to me. I certainly trust them much less than you do (so it’s likely that I’ll be voting against, not for, anybody, as it will probably be a matter of choosing “lesser evils” and potential good guys if any at all). They have become so accustomed to lying to our faces that it doesn’t really matter what they say because ultimately they’ll get away with it.
Here’s the one thing NOBODY ever acknowledges: that GIVING VOICE TO THE LIARS IS GIVING POWER OF INFLUENCE TO THE LIARS. And the media get very easily played by our politicians because they just got to have “both sides of the story,” even if it means broadcasting lies (which in my decades of experience, dumb people believe!). Sometimes, both sides lie. Ugh, so infuriating to think about. Why the hell am I paying my taxes just to watch all these charlatans bicker? I wish I could just bum around and bicker and grandstand and lie and still get paid right out of these politicians’ paychecks.
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