Playing with the Ilonggos’ emotions again

By Alex P. Vidal

“Political promises are much like marriage vows. They are made at the beginning of the relationship between candidate and voter, but are quickly forgotten.”—Dick Gregory

FRESH from being reelected, Iloilo first district Rep. Janette Loreto-Garin’s first publicity stunt was to rekindle the bad memory that gave the Ilonggos, especially the Guimarasnons, a nightmare and so much emotional pain.

She reportedly assured them that presumptive President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has “committed” to push through with the over-sensationalized, over-advertised, and over-promised Panay-Guimaras bridge project, aborted numerous times in the past three administrations.

Another one bites the dust. Here we go again.

According to the lady solon, Mr. Marcos Jr. “will prioritize” the construction of the controversial bridge first conceptualized during the term of President Fidel V. Ramos in 1992 and last dangled to the Ilonggos by the outgoing Duterte administration.

It’s too early in the game for someone with a political clout like Loreto-Garin to act as spokesperson for political promises that mostly are only made to be broken.

Loreto-Garin’s grandstanding came after the national government was able to reportedly secure about P2.96-billion loan from South Korea to finance preliminary studies on the Panay-Guimaras-Negros bridges.

The Philippines and South Korea reportedly exchanged their copies of the agreement for the loan extended by the Export Import Bank of Korea-Economic Development Cooperation Fund (KEXIM-EDCF) on May 4, or five days before the presidential election.

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Because of the dishonesty and insincerity of politicians who served under the outgoing Duterte administration tasked to handle the ambitious bridge project, the words “push through” and “prioritize” don’t anymore tantalize the Ilonggos; the words have totally lost their substance, impact and magic.

Ever since the project, supposed to be lined-up in the so-called “build, build, build” program of the outgoing administration, nosedived, many Iloilo residents and Guimarasnons weren’t anymore impressed and excited every time government officials brought up the subject matter.

In their minds they grumbled, “Please stop giving us false hopes. We have had enough. Just do it or shut up.”

In February this year, Marcos reportedly vowed to include the Panay-Guimaras-Negros bridges as among his priority projects if he wins the presidential race during his campaign rally in Iloilo.

He reportedly declared: “Kailangan po nating ipagpatuloy ang sinimulan ni Pangulong Duterte na ‘Build, Build, Build’ program sa imprastraktura. Pinag-uusapan nga namin kanina kung papaano ang gagawin para matuloy na ‘yung tulay na manggagaling sa Iloilo hanggang Guimaras hanggang sa Negros.”

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I was serious about the book, The Republic, written by Plato more than two thousand years ago (even before the Roman Empire was established), that I first promoted it when actor Erap Estrada was elected president in 1998.

When several clowns, drug addicts, thieves were elected in the Senate and the House of Representatives thereafter, I again promoted Plato’s marvelous book not because I could gain from it financially, but because I wanted my friends and readers to understand why we kept on electing these incredible characters in our society into these very important government offices.

After Robin Padilla was elected as the No. 1 senator and more ruffians and scalawags have joined the government through the scandalous partylist system, I again promoted Plato’s The Republic.

I won’t stop promoting the book in the future Philippine elections even if my crusade will be dismissed as only an exercise in futility because many Filipinos, especially registered voters, are non-readers.

To compound the matter, most Filipinos—registered voters particularly—no longer read the newspapers and are hooked on the social media where they swallow hook, line, and sinker all the lies being peddled by insidious Tiktokers and paid hacks masquerading as “political analysts” and “media vloggers.”

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Zinc improves mood in women. Oysters (talaba) are a great source of zinc. According to London-based Dr. John Biriffa, there is some evidence that links zinc deficiency with an enhanced risk of depression. Treatment with zinc improved mood to some extent, he said.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo.—Ed)