Shooter's Bounce April

Yung gusto kong gawing post ay hindi pa napapanahon... sapagkat maaga pa. di pa hinog kumbaga. makakapaghintay pa yun ng ilang araw... para matamis. haha.

Tutal hindi ko naman kayo ka-iskulmates lahat e naisipan kong ibahagi na lamang ang aking column para sa April issue ng aming skulpaper na, ironically, sa May lalabas. Sa May pa lalabas dahil may mga salik na hindi maiiwasan lalo na't skulpaper lang kami at walang sariling pondo kung tutuusin...kaya minsan ay nagigipit naooverride upang maiwasan ang conflict.

Special offer ito dahil hindi pa narerelease ang dyaryo. Dito nyo lang unang makikita. Mauuna pa kayo sa iba. Ayun... Eto na.
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Immiscibility

“Democracy consists of choosing your dictators after they’ve told you what they think you want to hear.” –Alan Coren

Once again, crime rates are down in the whole country as Manny Pacquiao traded blows in a ring thousands of miles away from home. It seemed that for a while, people were glued to their seats watching delayed telecasts, some knowing what already happened at the eighth round while others still clueless to whether Pacquiao won or lost. Crime rates were down because people were too busy watching boxing to do anything else.

Oil and water do not really mix, but if you shake the mixture hard enough, they seem to do so for a while. To have such influence to unite a country divided by opposing political views is a feat often denied to most athletes. Athletes walk to their respective arenas bringing with them a sense of identity about where they came from, but only a few of them get noticed that much. If these athletes lost in their games, we will not even give them half a mind.

I remember Lito Sisnorio, who would have been another unknown athlete who lost if he did not die in Thailand. I remember a sports commentator saying that it’s time we realize that Pacquiao is not the only athlete in the Philippines, and start supporting other Filipino athletes who bear our country’s flag with every fight.

I think he is right. We need not wait for another athlete to die just to open our eyes to a problem that is staring right at our faces. We also need to realize that student athletes carry their school’s flag with them in every game as well. Our support to them is just as needed.

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I could never get used to the political advertisements that are currently frequenting our television airtimes. I could barely watch television, with school being as hectic as it usually is and the summer vacation barely fit to be called one because of its brevity, that it is torture to waste my time watching their gimmicks again and again. If I had to watch these political ads forever (knocks on wood), I will die of intense boredom and severe depression every single time, no matter how many lives you give me.

For me, most politicians look 80% more pretentious and 95% more foolish in those television commercials than they would have been, if they just placed posters and stickers on the walls. I wonder if those dance steps, dramatic confessions, obnoxious jingles, loathsome catchphrases and obviously impossible promises ever convince anyone that they are better politicians or that they should be voted for in the upcoming elections. If they were endorsing products and not themselves, I will never buy any of the products they were endorsing, thank you very much.

All I have noticed with these commercials is that these politicians have a lot of money. A television commercial is not cheap; one primetime TV commercial costs enough money to pay for one Mapuan’s tuition for not less than three years.

Someday, if I ever get rich enough, I’ll buy myself a television network or even establish one. I think I’ll get richer either way without even needing to become a politician. Such is the predicament our country faces. To win an election, a politician does not need to be competent, he needs to be famous. If he is not a famous person, he needs a lot of money to make himself one.

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Do not get me wrong, I am not against all politicians who are famous or who have a lot of money, considering that some of them can turn out to be good politicians, if they only so desired. I just believe that fame and money should neither be prerequisites to competence nor be prerequisites in order to become public servants.

I believe Manny Pacquiao is a great athlete. I can even say that he is undeniably one of our best athletes today. But being a good athlete does not really make one a good congressman, because like oil and water, sports and politics generally do not mix. Sports and politics exhibit immiscibility. I am not underestimating Pacquiao’s abilities but I am questioning his reasons.

If he really wants to help people, he can do so without the need to become a congressman. If he really wants to become a politician, he needs experience. He should have run for a lower office first. You cannot just decide to become a congressman without really understanding what you will do once you get elected. Sure, anyone can learn, but it will be better for all of us if the candidates already know beforehand what they will do in their respected positions once they win.

We may not be able to dissuade the candidates but we can decide who gets to be elected. We can choose our own officials. In the coming elections, let us evaluate these candidates and make sure that they are fit for their positions. We should not vote for people who run because they can win, but instead vote for people who run because they can do something once they win. Please. We already have enough incompetent politicians to last us a lifetime.

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The Mapúa Track and Field team has won another championship trophy this year. It is our fifth trophy in seven years and our 26th trophy in the seniors division since 1953. We are still the team to beat in the Track and Field scene. Sure, we let other schools have the trophy once in a while, but we always make sure we take it back away from them.

Congratulations to our athletes who did a great job and made us proud again. Applause should also be given to the Athletics Department, especially to Tracksters head coach Joseph Sy for honing our athletes to be at their best during the competitions. Hopefully, all our athletes will receive the support they need and the just compensation that they rightly deserve.

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For comments, suggestions, reactions and the like, you can email me at feddie_perez@yahoo.com. Vote responsibly. You owe our country that much.