the latebloomer

The elections fever is still on and I was supposed to blog last Sunday to say something about this year’s elections, and about how everyone should exercise their right to vote and vote wisely, meaning vote based on conscience not entirely on popularity, and blah blah blah, but i got busy with other things (sleeping) so i just thought it wouldn’t matter. Most probably everyone in my network who voted last Monday already made up their minds weeks or even months ago about whom they vote.

COMELEC as expected is just beginning to count the votes (on its third day of official canvassing) and I was surprised that John Osmeña is 10th in its initial count (though its still less than 1% of official number of precints). It was still a surprise since Osmeña was nowhere near the winner’s circle in all surveys and exit polls, and only ranked no higher than #17 or #18 in NAMFREL and in the media quick counts.

But more surprising than this, though a pleasant one, is the fact that Trillanes is consistently in the Magic 12, if the NAMFREL and the media quick counts are to be believed. COMELEC tallies the rebel soldier at around 18th place (the same place Osmeña should have been). but i don’t think there had been a switch of votes here since they are both from the opposition and are ardent GMA critics. the difference just is Trillanes is "genuine opposition" while Osmeña is an opportunist who has remained loyal to Erap simply because he grabbed a slot in the G.O. coalition and Sotto and Oreta did not.

Speaking of the two turncoats, i’m so glad they’re nowhere near the winner’s circle, though Sotto might inch closer in the days ahead. but definitely for Oreta her supposed advocacies on early childhood education must be passed on to other senators instead, maybe Pia Cayetano might take that up in the last half of her term.

Nevertheless, i’m glad G.O. is leading Team Unity across all tallies. I expect it would be a 6-4-2 in favor of G.O., though i’m hoping it would be a 7-4-1 that would include Trillanes. hopefully Honasan won’t be elected because he has been a political turncoat himself, you cannot be sure about where he stands on issues and he tends to use his charm everytime he is cornered in a situation. definitely not the kind of leader i want.

Recto on the other hand seems to know where he stands, but i don’t want him elected again simply because he’s the author of the VAT law. but i don’t see him losing in this elections.

I think Recto and Zubiri will join Angara and Arroyo on the Senate slate, with Pangilinan and Honasan joining, and Legarda, Escudero, Lacson, Cayetano, Aquino and Villar taking the majority for the opposition. I think Pimentel will finish 13th and Trillanes 14th, with Defensor, Roco, Pichay and Sotto following suit in that order.

just my take. again, im hoping against hope Trillanes gets in. 

The Alangan Mangyans who live around Mt.Halcon in the island province of Mindoro believe that a person has two souls. An "abiyari" or a good soul and a "bukad" or a bad soul. Sort of like yin and yang, this piece of data from the NCIP got me interested.

What if the Mangyans were right? Imagine having Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde emanate from your body once you die, one going towards angels trumpeting the glory of God and the other one going down to the pits of hell, while jealous demons hit you with their forks.

Having two souls seem implausible for one raised in the tenets of the Roman Catholic church. But blame it on pop culture for us to have images of an angel and a devil on each of our shoulders whenever we have to make a decision, or are tempted by something. Though one can say this is a different thing since it refers to conscience, or the absence or presence of one, or the decision of whether to heed the angel’s call or the demon’s taunting, still it implies how everyone is vulnerable to both the good and the dark side.

More than this, i believe in the theory of tabularasa (i forgot the philosopher who said that), wherein basically every person is born with a blank mind and a conscience like a blank sheet of paper. It depends on how the person is raised and what environment he or she has grown up with that decides which way he will go.

No person can be purely and totally good, or purely and totally evil. The female lead character in Gulong ng Palad is simply a figment of imagination, an ideal imposed  on female viewers since no one can be that kind enough to forgive an equally unrealistic wicked person. (Interestingly, Kristine Hermosa fit well in that role in the ABS-CBN adaptation last year, since her mind seems to be a figment of imagination as well)

Going back to the Mangyan belief, it makes some sense to me. The soul is not something fixed you were born with, its something that develops from your actions. Its your essence that grows with you and changes color whenever you change.

So does this mean babies don’t have souls? For me they have souls that don’t die if ever their physical presence on earth is cut short. Babies, aborted, killed or died from illness, goes back to heaven only to be send again by God to another set of parents. I think there’s a Native American belief on that, that there is a place of silence somewhere in heaven where the spirits of babies unborn or persecuted by man or nature lie in the meantime until the next moment when his or her real mother will take him or her back to earth.

and when the person grows up, he or she has the the capacity to do both good and evil. again it depends on his or her upbringing.

and when the person dies, the soul goes to where the person’s actions qualify it for - heaven, hell or purgatory.

But if I were an Alangan Mangyan, then my two souls would be split, one would go to heaven and the other one would go to hell, since i’ve done both good and bad things in my life. I wonder how God would manage that.