LETTERS FROM THE AGNO

My idol Bedol for president in 2010
March L. Fianza

If there is any position even higher than the president of this country, the only man qualified to occupy that post is Maguindanao provincial Comelec head Lintang Bedol. I idolize him for his talents but pity him at the same time. You see, former Comelec commissioner Garci’s antics are nothing compared to Bedol’s. Garci simply talked to GMA who was then a candidate for president in 2004.

Only a handful of our lawyer-congressmen say that what Garci did was “a violation of election rules.” But there were more who said otherwise. And in Philippine “democracy,” the majority wins – even when they know they are wrong.

Bedol can do more than what fallen star Garci did. Like a magician, he can make important election material disappear and reappear, then disappear and reappear again. He could be adjudged the best performing magician in modern history as he has amazed more than 80 million Filipinos. Yet, with such an unsurpassed talent, we do not hear any word if he is going to be promoted. What a pity.

Instead, what we hear is that Bedol might be sued by his bosses. If the court finds him guilty of violations, my talented idol Bedol will permanently be sacked from the list of government employees and will surely serve a jail sentence. That will leave his family to survive on their own because they will no longer have him as breadwinner.

I am quite sure my idol will leave his family no earnings or savings because Comelec officials do not earn much for counting our votes correctly. Also, they do not have secondary jobs called sidelines, especially in Mindanao. Anyway, they do not need one as many moneyed candidates offer them fortunes in exchange for very good results after an election and counting that never happened.

Let us just pray that the cases to be filed against him will not be trumped-up issues and that he will be treated justly. He does not deserve unfair treatment because the lost-and-found election documents from whence this problem arose are genuine. Why, even the fingerprints of the voters or the handwritings on the Comelec papers were not identical – meaning, these were not prepared by one and the same person.

Earlier, there were summons, though half-hearted, for the Maguindanao Comelec officials to bring the election documents to Manila. Half-hearted summons draw half-hearted responses and so no personnel from Mindanao arrived. By the way, who would dare accept an invitation to one’s own hanging? I saw it that way. The invitation scenario was played like: “I am inviting you but please do not come until I see that my candidate is safe in the winning.”

I do not know Bedol personally though he has been interviewed on TV a few times. My assessment of him is that he is an honest man. He does not seem to be telling lies to the newsmen who interview him. I think he is as innocent as the documents that were said to be allegedly fabricated, misplaced, stolen or deliberately lost.

One more thing, Bedol did not hide nor did he run away from the Comelec proceedings in Maguindanao. Truth is, while the commissioners were trying to come up with solutions to the Maguindanao impasse in the second floor of the Comelec building, Bedol was just treading back and forth in the floor below.

It was as if he wanted to reveal everything but apparently, he was not asked to come to the second floor for fear that his tongue might slip. Maybe Bedol is not only honest; he is also very respectable and did not want to barge into the commissioners’ meeting. Maybe that is one factor why the Comelec is so efficient – they mind their own business. They just close their eyes to things that happen in their offices, which is good so that they can concentrate on what they are doing. I wish the other government agencies could work that way.

Well, by now maybe there is no longer any need for Bedol to be arrested. For whatever intent and purpose his supposed testimony may have served, that may have been moot and academic because the commissioners knew by then that a 12th senator has already won or even proclaimed.

The scenario makes me think why well-prepared delicious Chinese food is called "lutong macao" in Manila but sometimes, it is also called "moro-moro." Is it because things really happen that way in the Land of the Moros and this government can not do anything to change that -- even with the most modern electoral reforms?

For Idol Bedol and the rest of the cast, all is well that ends well. The moro-moro has been successful. Sherlock Holmes calls it “calculated planning” – something well thought-out by no other than the “honest” Garcis and Bedols in our midst. – marchfianza777@yahoo.com