If I want to...on Poe, Roxas, Duterte, Binay, Santiago

"Peace of mind comes from not wanting to change others."  
Gerald Jampolsky

By Alex P. Vidal

NEW YORK CITY -- Until our next president is elected in May 2016, we continue to be a divided nation.
The gaping wounds of hostility and conflict will continue to exacerbate and won't heal for a while, because of cascading passion and emotional bickering brought by heated partisan politics.
Some friendships will suffer--or have already suffered--from mortal blows and may never be repaired again. 
Even family members have their own share of hellish moments because they have their respective bets for certain elective positions--the father for Vice President Jejomar Binay because of fraternity ties; the mother for Sec. Mar Roxas because of business attachment; and daughter and son for Grace Poe because of Eat Bulaga and Heart Evangelista.

CHANGE

We can't change the reputation of our leaders and the circumstances that made them famous and infamous--what and where they are now in the periphery of political hierarchy. 
But we can change the way we think, how we behave, and how to deal with these leaders or aspirants for higher public office, if given the opportunity to go along with any of them in a real or imagined world.
For instance, if I saunter in the lairs of the underworld, the beasts and the cannibals, I will ask Rodrigo Duterte to accompany me.
If I want to personally meet showbiz characters, ask autograph of Susan Roces, gyrate on noontime shows with Tito, Vic an Joey, and get to know more about sob stories involving foundlings, I want Grace Poe to be on my side.

FREE

If I want to watch free movies in the country's premier city and enjoy other pelf and privileges, dabble in construction business, corner rich contracts without the benefit of a bidding process, enlist as adult commander in the Boys Scouts of the Philippines, and open more than a dozen savings accounts, I will befriend Jejomar Binay.
If I want to have a "selfie" with Korina Sanchez without having to form a beeline in a Quezon City mansion and learn Economics 101, I will ask Mar Roxas to be my guidance counselor.  
If I want to meet Superman, Spiderman, Bionicman, Batman and Robin, Wonderwoman, join the Star Wars, and to have a Close Encounter with the Third Kind, I will stay beside Miriam Defensor-Santiago.
After all we are in a free world.