GAME!

I can never get these images to come out right! Click here.

PUT YOUR FOOT DOWN ALREADY!

I watched yet another forum for presidential candidates just the other day and right in the middle of the panel was Erap. Who, what, where, how and why? These were just some of the questions that poked and provoked.

Why even invite him? Does anybody remember People Power 2 and why it happened?! I listened to him spouting nonsense, answering questions about corruption, as if it weren't his most intimate buddy. What was this person doing there? Why were we even giving him the time of day? That he thinks that after stealing (and killing)and spending time in jail, he can still run for the highest position in the land which he already botched big time, is reason enough to have him committed; that he was in the forum is reason to have all of us committed.

We all need to lift our feet and put them solidly back on the ground. Foot down. Millions of Pinoy feet. Down. Tama na lahat ng magnanakaw na pumapapel na hindi nagnanakaw! Tama na si Imelda, for example. Bakit binigyan ng parangal sa CCP? That she built it and was a kind of patroness of the arts is one thing, but it's one thing that doesn't wipe out everything else she did. There is no such thing as a clean slate unless people face the consequences of their criminality. There can be no forgiveness if people refuse to stand up for their mistakes and say, "I did it. I'm sorry. I will face what I need to face." They also need to spell out what they did so that everyone sees exactly what they are forgiving. It will show us that they are fully aware of every transgression. It's the only hope that maybe, it won't happen again. Maybe. But for as long as there is no admission, and every criminal keeps pretending they are innocent when the facts and proof are practical universe-size monuments, there should be no place for them in our society. None. Not on a podium anywhere, not on any space that honors them.

This is our fault, too. I couldn't stand watching Erap. I couldn't stand what he represented and how his presence speaks volumes about our collective weakness as a people. All I could do was walk away from the TV. But maybe that's enough for now. If we just stopped participating in every appearance of every criminal-in-denial, perhaps that's already something. You see them, you walk away. Make them completely invisible. They don't exist, therefore, they cannot run for office or have a voice in society. They can't. They're not there.

I was going to put a great image of ERAP to accompany this piece, but I couldn't find the source. But maybe it all works out. Why even put his face here.

Foot down.