I have nothing against weirdos. In fact, ask even my closest friends, and they will tell you that I have a peculiar fondness for weirdos. To me, eccentricity is not a fault, it is an asset. Calling anyone “weird” is, to me, one of the highest forms of compliment for an individual. Eccentricity denotes an audacity to be different, a boldness to stand apart, to think out of the box, to see things beyond convention. Being weird means one has the capacity to embrace ideals that are generally unacceptable, to dream beyond what is probable, an ability to stand apart from a crowd and adamantly insist on an identity, to tell oneself and the rest of the world, “I am not weird! You are!”
So when the newspapers and Facebook discussion groups circulated the word that presidential aspirant Noynoy Aquino is weird, and that his detractors must have had bad vibes about eccentricity in general prompting them to expose the faintness of his personality and his psyche, I was infuriated and even mortified. Oh please, Mr. Aquino is NOT weird. He is NOT crazy. He is NOT geeky. He is simply a politician, burdened by a legacy of a family name, thrust into the limelight which he can’t handle.
If Mr. Aquino had been truly weird, truly eccentric, as most people describe him to be, he would have passed a number of bills that would make the lives of the weaker and less privileged members of society better. After all, that’s what weirdness is all about, right? Weirdness is about being rebellious enough to speak out for those who have no voice.If he had been truly eccentric, he would have spoken out for the many farmers and workers out there who barely feed themselves at the end of the day because of unjust compensation despite inhuman labor and agrarian conditions. If he was weird enough, he would have gone against his family’s wishes - he would have broken those so-called laws and corporate rules so that the farmers working in Hacienda Luisita would earn more than P9.50 per day and eventually get that patch of land that they so rightly deserve. If he was crazy enough, he would have spoken up, debated and argued against, fought tooth and nail against the strong and apparently undefeatable forces of evil and corruption in the government while he had the chance. Six years in the senate, more years in the congress and even more years in local government service would have afforded him enough chance to do something – had he been weird enough.
Is this really weird? Or is he just another TraPo-on-the-run?
I am appealing to the media, or even to Mr. Aquino’s detractors. Please don’t call him “weird” or “geek” or “eccentric” or “crazy”. Oh please, let’s give the real weirdos and eccentrics of this world enough justice. The weirdos are the ones that stand out, they are the ones who speak out, they are the ones who make loud, convention-defying statements even with their silence. The crazy ones are the ones who dream the most outrageous of dreams, and who live their lives in pursuit of these dreams. As that Apple commercial once said, the crazy ones are the misfits, the rebels, the round pegs in the square holes who dream of changing the world, and who actually do!
Mr. Aquino is not weird. He is not eccentric. He may appear slow, weak and scrawny-looking, but so did Abraham Lincoln. He may have done poorly in his schools, but so did Albert Einstein. He may just be a rich, bourgeoisie kid raised by affluent parents with a silver spoon in his mouth when he was born, but so was Mahatma Gandhi. He may have been an unruly kid while he was growing up, but Nelson Mandela grew up that way too. He may be sick in the mind and psychiatrically incapable of being President of a republic, but so were several of our past presidents (Or so I declare).
You see, being eccentric doesn’t disqualify anyone from a claim to a presidency.In fact, eccentricity IS the ticket to rule a nation. “Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do…”
So please, Mr. Aquino is NOT eccentric. He is NOT a geek. And most definitely, he is NOT weird. He may be battling a psychiatric illness as a lot of people claim, but nah, I just don’t think he’s crazy enough. Otherwise, I would have been campaigning for him.
With the national elections just around the corner, the country is afflicted by some sort of election fever, an excitement bordering on panic or even despair. Some people fear May 10 will be fraught with violence and deceit, some have resigned to the uselessness of the exercise, some are hopeful that the electorate's choice will eventually turn things around for the better.
I am one of those irresponsible Filipinos who failed to register themselves as legitimate voters whose choices will matter in deciding the eventual course of the country. Perhaps I don't believe in the power of one (my own) vote, or perhaps I really didn't have enough time as I often declare, or perhaps I never really believed that any change in leadership can create any substantial improvement in the plight of our country. Whatever my reasons were, I plead guilty to the charges of apathy. I will never have the right to demand for a clean and honest government, nor to curse our corrupt politicians for their ineptitude and their scheming, selfish designs.
But I can't keep my mouth shut, I know. I need to get my thoughts out.
If I can vote this May 10, I'm voting for Dick Gordon.
Here are the words of an old friend, written in our high school email group,...
_____, thank you for the email below--trying to take away a vote for Dick Gordon the only thing you could say about him was that, he's a cry baby? I dont know the relevance of this, and if my memory serves me well, the guy shed a tear when he appealed to the Abu Sayyaf to not behead the 3 Red Cross workers they held hostage.
As Red Cross chairman, Gordon was being pressured by the international Red Cros community to make sure the 3 hostages were released alive and at that time he was frustrated with the lack of cooperation of the DND (yes--the same DND headed by Gilbert Teodoro, Jr. but he wasnt Gibo then, just plain Gilbert. Talk about switching identities for the sake of projecting an image). In his trademark fiery speeches, Gordon has been known to become emotional, and rather than detracting from his personality I think it shows instead how transparent and real he is.
Yes, I am campaigning for Dick Gordon. I am also voting for him. Friends, pls allow me a few minutes of your time so I can share with you my deepest respect for the guy and why I believe a vote for him is a VOTE FOR THE BEST INTEREST OF THE COUNTRY.
Dick Gordon was the Mayor of Olongapo who transformed the “sin city” into a model city.When Olongapo was covered in lahar and the ash of Pinatubo, he helped his people rebuild what was left.
As founding Chair of Subic, he inspired an army of 8,000 volunteers who preserved the $8 Billion facility and transformed it into the country’s 1st freeport, bringing in billions in investments from Fedex, Acer, etc and creating over 200,000 jobs. Didnt you feel a tinge of pride when Subic hosted the APEC Leaders Summit in 1996? Within 3 years from the creation of SBMA, it no longer needed to ask for a budget from the national government and sustained itself through its freeport locators.
As Secretary of Tourism his brainchild “WOW Philippines” overcame the threat of kidnappings, Oakwood and SARS. It created thousands of jobs and brought progress to the countryside, e.g. Donsol from a 5th class to a 1st class municipality.
In the Senate where I worked with him since 2007, he authored landmark laws. We have automated elections for the 1st time because of Republic Act 9369 which he sponsored; the tourism law; free patent Law; SSS condonation law; food donation law; International Humanitarian Law; amongst 180 others.
So much for the curriculum vitae of Gordon. It is election season, and everyone fancies herself a political analyst. They say that Filipinos dont care for track record and would rather vote with their gut, thus I would like to address recurring themes in conversations- -
Two key concepts are being shoved down our throats:
It is a “Good vs Evil” election – “The choice is between life and death. The choice is between the vista of hell and the glimpse of heaven. The choice is between Aquino and Villaroyo. [...] The choice is between Good and Evil.” (Conrado de Quiros, Inquirer, 09 Feb 2010)
It is about winnability and the lowest common denominator is the “lesser evil”; therefore vote for Noynoy Aquino, the “stupid [but] honest” choice, presumably. That’s Filipino Logic 101.
It’s interesting, though, how the way one’s mind works depends so much on which side of the fence one finds himself situated in at a given time. Blogger Benigno found this Conrado de Quiros gem vintage 2004 courtesy of commentor “boombox” in a recent comment and PinoyExchange. com denizens:
"I don’t buy the concept of the “wasted vote.” The only wasted vote as far as I can see is the one you give to a candidate you do not believe in simply because you think he or she has a chance to win...To this day, I do not regret not having voted for Erap in 1998...If there was any “wasted vote,” it was the one that went to Erap. That is so not just because he never got to finish his term but because people voted for him simply because “he was going to win anyway” whatever they did.
Indeed, just as de Quiros back when he was using his head stated categorically that his vote against popular presidential candidate Joseph Estrada in 1998 (despite the odds of his candidate at the time winning) was not a wasted vote, a vote against Noynoy Aquino today is not a wasted one as well. Noynoy Aquino, as I recall writing, is the modern-day Erap — immensely popular, possessing of a cultural mystique, yet utterly visionless as far as a regard for the future goes."
For Noynoy and Gilbert--may I ask, "How is Tarlac?" Is it booming? Have the plight of the farmers in the still primarily agricultural province improved with the Aquinos and Cojuangcos at the helm? Sadly, Hacienda Luisita remains a family enterprise despite the CARP. Again, this despite 100 years of government posts held by the Cojuangco family from the time...
-Servillano Aquino served as mayor of Murcia, Tarlac;
-Benigno Aquino Sr. served as vice-president under the Laurel puppet regime (yes, he was a collaborator with the Japanese along with the Roxases and Laurels);
-Ninoy served as mayor and senator and became a national hero;
-Cory served 6 years as president;
-Butch Aquino served as senator, congressman of makati and now running again for reelection;
-Tessie Aquino Oreta served as senator;
-Herminio Aquino served as congressman;
-Peping Cojuangco served as governor, succeeded by his wife Tingting;
-Gilbert Teodoro, Jr. served as congressman, succeeded by wife Nikki Prieto-Teodoro;
-Noynoy served 9 years as congressman, and now 3 years as a senator.
"Kung walang corrupt, walang mahirap." What have their five generations of politicians done to fight corruption? The Philippines is still poor. Where have they taken Tarlac, and where have they taken the country?
In his 12 years as a "legislator" , Noynoy never filed a single resolution or House Bill, and passed a measly 2 bills creating legislative districts. He never debated on issues and never blew the whistle.
On the other hand, our handsome, smart-talking Harvard alumnus proudly claims "Galing at Talino" hoping we can forget that in his time as DND secretary, government munitions proliferated in Maguindanao leading to the Ampatuan massacre, and he even attempted to convince Mangudadatu not to challenge Ampatuan as governor of the province.
Need I talk about Villar? Let me share an email from former HUDCC chair Tony Hidalgo--
True, Villar built many thousands of low-cost houses over more than a decade under the Unified Home Lending Scheme (UHLP)...But he did this to rake in billions in profits at the expense of the government, not out of a concern for the homeless poor.
Billions were taken annually from the SSS, GSIS, and Pag-Ibig and given to the NHMFC to disburse. The owners of the funds lost all control over how they were lent out. But this control was not given to the NHMFC, which just allocated mortgage quotas to developers (the Villar companies had the biggest quotas) from the annual funds of the lenders and automatically released the face amount of mortgages to the lenders upon submission of the mortgage papers. No one checked the creditworthiness of the home buyers...
The funders (SSS, GSIS, Pag-Ibig) were stuck with billions in bad home mortgages covering Villar's houses. Eventually, these bad mortgages had to be covered by the national government using its tax revenues (including your taxes and mine) because the funders were covered by a sovereign guarantee.
This diabolical system..resulted in default rates of more than 70% in the mortgages and nearly caused a Philippine economic crisis. It required the coordinated intervention of HUDCC, the Dept. of Finance, SSS, GSIS, Pag-Ibig, and HIGC to prevent a financial collapse. This was a very real danger then: we need only look at the recent US financial crisis to see how bad home mortgages can drive even the world's largest economy to its knees."
Lester, thank you for conceding that Gordon is a good choice! I admire you for fighting for Roco in 2004, we know he had vision and integrity but sadly he did not have a stellar track record in executive work, and could not even transform his own backyard that was Camarines Sur.
But you say you want to be realistic, and you say sadly Gordon won't win so you would rather look the other way.
My take is, if we cannot stand by a principled choice come May 10, we have no business demanding for principled leadership. No business harping about red tape in govt, kickbacks in infra projects, dirty sidewalks, undisciplined drivers, kotong cops, the deteriorating quality of education, and the sickening poverty and lack of jobs that have forced many of us to seek a better life abroad. A politician buys you literally or figuratively, and you are his for the robbing.
Your vote doesnt have to be for Gordon, as long as you have examined the candidates' qualifications and character, listened to their platform and analyzed if they are truly effective leaders. Look beyond the superficial and the billions worth of advertising and artista endorsements so you can finally decide who most deserves that sacred vote that everyone--rich or poor--has an equal chance of casting.
Paraphrasing my friend Paul:
I won't let surveys decide my future for me and you shouldn't too. Our future and the future of your children are way too important.
I believe it is our votes and our voices that will ultimately determine the outcome of the elections in 2010.
It is the strength of our beliefs, the fierceness of our passion, and our patience to put in a bit of our time to speak about the most competent candidate with the proven track record--that will determine who this country's next President will be.
If we want CHANGE, it is up to US.
If I could vote, I'm voting for Dick Gordon too.
(such a pathetic longing from an irresponsible citizen, huh?)
Time and time again, I am reminded of the futility of my profession and how, despite my efforts at self-improvement and compassion, I and all of my peers in Medicine are just skimming the surface, smoothing out little dents in the giant, deeply rooted evil of inequity and poverty.
Yesterday's Hemodynamics Conference brought to mind certain painful truths, how vain all our efforts are, how superficial our state of existence is, and yet, the possibility of being able to do something, even just an iota of a good thing, is so promising and so enthralling, that it erases whatever cynicism and fear of disappointment there is.
While most of us can afford to visit the classiest of hospitals and the most expensive of specialists at the smallest bodily ache, and even splurge on unnecessary cosmetic surgery or food and vitamin supplements, more than 75% of our population is still wallowing in the mire of neglect and poverty, with half of them dying without having seen a real doctor during their entire lives. Some of them will even suffer the most unimaginable of illnesses quietly and stoically, simply because they have nothing to spend for themselves.
Take this case, for example.
YS is a 28 year old male who used to work as a water delivery boy. He has a wife and a child, but he lives with his mother, being the eldest of 6 siblings. His mother is a laundrywoman, his two other brothers drive rented tricycles for a living. At the end of the day, they pool their income and somehow end up with P500 to spend for 8 people in the family. He smokes occasionally and drinks during special occasions, just like an ordinary 28 year old. He wasn't dirt-poor, but he was barely surviving.
One day, his legs suddenly became painful after his usual walk to his workplace. Gradually, he can no longer tolerate walking due to the pain. He also developed an ulcer on his left leg that slowly festered and grew in size.
Because the pain was so severe, bad enough to keep him from working, he consulted the country's biggest government hospital. The doctors were smart and kind. They treated him well, and studied his case carefully. He was seen by the best specialists from the country's premiere medical institution. Extensive work-up was planned: P2000 for an ultrasound of his legs, P750 for an ultrasound of his heart, P3000 for various lab tests that would screen for a possible autoimmune problem, P8500 for a kidney biopsy. He could not afford any of them.
His mom and his siblings begged from PCSO and politicians from all over Manila. His doctors were kind enough to sponsor some of his tests from their own charitable foundations, some even shelled out their own dough to help him. Because of their generosity, a logical, though still indefinite, working impression was obtained. YS underwent a vascular surgery which removed blood clots from his legs, spending only about P6000 for OR fees, anesthesia, and medications - an amount he and his family had to borrow from neighbors and the local money lender.
After a few days in the hospital, YS was walking again. He was well enough to be sent home. Due to the complexity of his illness, he had to be placed on a number of medications: blood thinners (P50/day), heart medicines (P60/day), steroids (P30/day) and he was advised close follow-up with his doctors. The medical residents managing him were even kind enough to give some of their drug samples so he can have a week's supply of medicines for free.
YS was back with his family, and he was walking again. He took his medicines religiously. But when the drug samples ran out, he had no more money to spend for his prescriptions. He also had no money for his commute to the hospital for his follow-up consults.
Two weeks later, the pains came back. His legs were again blue and cold. The pain was so severe he can no longer sleep and he was very weak. He could not eat even if he forced himself. He was begging his mother to take him to the hospital but his mom could not find people who would lend them money for the fare.
Few days later, his left leg again developed an ulcer. This time, it rapidly grew in size. His toes started to turn black and eventually dried out. The foot started to ooze a grimy, foul-smelling fluid that looks like garbage juice. In a week's time, the smell of the foot was so terrible and unbearable it was enough to make YS himself nauseous. One morning, he noticed that maggots have started to breed and feed on the necrotic debris of what used to be his foot.
But he had no money to go to the hospital. And he knew that even if he sees the best doctors, he has no money to spend for his medicines.
He was already prepared to die. And so he covered his dead leg with rags, to hide the ugliness and to reduce the stench. Lying on his bed, he wished that every day would be his last. But Fate played a wicked, absurd and painful trick on him. He was bestowed a slow and smoldering death - despite his festering leg, he continued to exist, all lucid and bitter, suffering his hideously pathetic and despicable state.
Three months later, he was still alive. A carcass breathing, a corpse still in pain, gradually and inevitably wasting away. After 3 months of scraping the barrel, his mother was able to save enough cash to take him back to the hospital and salvage whatever can be saved.
When we received him, his left leg looked like this...
How can any human being endure this? How can suffering and disease be tolerated this long? What type of person can still have a single shred of respect for himself after going through all this pain and ugliness?
How can anyone with a molecule of soul and a particle of compassion in his being not be moved?
But what can a doctor do? When you and your teachers, who do not lack the knowledge nor the compassion, are faced with the certainty of the futility of your efforts because you know that the disease is more deeply rooted than what appears on the surface? You cut the leg. Fine. What about the entire body beyond that leg? What about the person with the body? You barrage him with all the free medications you can scavenge now, but what about next month? How could you send him back to a wretched existence, to a home that reeks of abject poverty, to a country that neglects the basic needs of its constituents?
P100,000 - a trip to Europe. P40,000 - the latest iPhone. P20,000 - a tour around Thailand. P5000 - new running shoes. P3000 - front seat tickets to a concert. P500 - dinner in a mall restaurant. P150 - a cup of coffee. But for some people, it could be a leg, a heart, a life.
Tell me, what can I do? What can you do?
What will you do?
(This is not a fictional character. The pictures are real and unedited. Special thanks to Dr. Kristine Tumabiene and Dr. Neil Bacaltos for the photos.)
Is this really weird? Or is he just another TraPo-on-the-run?
