It was the quirky film director Tim Burton who once said that “one person’s craziness is another person’s reality.” Two seemingly unrelated events— the other day’s disaster at the North Avenue terminal of the Metro Rail Transit 3 and a remark made by President Noynoy Aquino while campaigning for his candidates in Cavite yesterday—reminded me of Burton’s trenchant observation.
What happened at the North station? Well, the queues of people lining up for rides on the MRT on Wednesday morning suddenly became crazy—crazy-long.
Not only did they snake down either side of Edsa from the overhead station, as they normally do. They actually reached all the way to the pedestrian overpass on the actual intersection of North and West Avenues and Edsa about 300 meters away, filling the overhead walkway that straddles the considerable width of the main metropolitan highway with people.
The reality of how hard it is to catch an MRT ride turned hyper-real. And, yes, it was crazy.
Yesterday, it was Aquino who turned on the craziness. In a campaign speech for the candidates of the Liberal Party in Dasmariñas, Cavite, Aquino dared his critics to have their heads examined.
“If they’re saying there’s no change [under this administration], they’re free to seek medical attention at the National Center for Mental Health,” Aquino declared. This, from a man whose mental health was questioned when he ran for president in 2010—and whose unreal speeches and behavior since his election have never squelched rumors of his unstable mind.
Of course, since we’re talking about change, the crazy lines at the MRT actually proved Aquino correct. Before Aquino’s election, there were never any lines as long as the ones we see on a daily basis at the MRT or the LRT; traffic in Metro Manila has never been as bad as it is now, as well.
There has been change. But it has not been for the good.
As a compiler of the statements emanating from Aquino and his administration over the past six years, I never suffered from a shortage of crazy things to report about. And if “crazy” is defined as an utter and incurable detachment from reality, then, yes, I am forced to conclude that this is probably the craziest (not the best, as his boosters claim) president we ever had.
And I’m willing to have myself examined by the doctors at the mental hospital in Mandaluyong, if that will make Aquino happy. The question is, is he willing to do the same?
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Mar Roxas, the supposed administration candidate for president in the May elections, was in no mood to be civil about the decision of the Supreme Court to allow Senator Grace Poe to run. For Roxas, the ruling was only an opportunity to challenge those who say they are for him but who are actually for somebody else.
“If there are those who want to transfer [support to Poe], well, thank you very much. It’s better that they openly transfer than hide and stab me in the back,” Roxas said during a campaign sortie in Batangas.
It’s always been a tough battle for Roxas, who has never really gotten into the thick of the presidential race. You’d probably feel the same way if you were Roxas, who has never even gotten to second place in any voter preference survey despite being the purported chosen one of the Aquino administration.
While President Noynoy Aquino keeps declaring that his former favorite Cabinet member and ex-running mate is his one and only candidate, the talk that Poe is also Aquino’s bet has never gone away. And the recent ruling on Poe’s candidacy, which was supposedly delivered upon Aquino’s behest, only added fuel to that long-burning fire.
The Supreme Court ruling and Roxas’ testy reaction to it also reinforced the belief of some that it was the administration candidate who has been backing efforts to disqualify Poe. Never mind if survey after survey has pointed out that some other candidate—not Roxas—would benefit if Poe is taken out of the race.
And with Poe still in the race, no one believes that Roxas will move up in the rankings. No wonder the LP candidate was grouchy.
This, after all, proves the folly of Roxas’ efforts at negative campaigning: he never really becomes the beneficiary, and his rivals only get stronger.
When Roxas and the LP initiated and bankrolled the Senate investigation of Vice President Jejomar Binay (his only rival at the time), he only unwittingly became the midwife of the presidential bids of Poe and Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte. And when he went after Poe, the Supreme Court (and possibly Malacañang) shut him down.
How is Roxas ever going to win this contest? I don’t know, but I’d like to see what other tricks he has up his sleeve, less than two months before Election Day.