Ilonggo politicians: Playboy Bebot who?

“People from the past, have a tendency to walk back into the present, and run over the future.”
-- Anthony Liccione

By Alex P. Vidal

NEW YORK CITY -- Only most recently, some Ilonggo politicians--congressmen and women, governors, mayors--elbowed each other for attention of ousted House speaker, Pantaleon “Playboy Bebot” Alvarez, who was a frequent visitor in Iloilo and Negros.
Many of these Ilonggo politicians were willing to genuflect with Alvarez as long as they got what they wanted: endorsement for certain elective positions for themselves or for their chosen bets in the May 2019 elections.
They thought Alvarez was the Philippine version of Rasputin--indispensable, someone who holds the president in the testicles, imperishable and unsinkable as the fourth highest official of the land.
They played blind, deaf and mute to Alvarez’s moral and political transgressions and tolerated his hubris.
Alvarez got a mind-boggling VIP treatment from these eager-beaver local politicians as if he could bring back to life Lazarus of Bethany.

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In many “mass” oath-taking ceremonies of newly recruited PDP-Laban members, Alvarez was treated like Nebuchadnezzar, eldest son and successor of Nabopolassar, an Assyrian official who rebelled and established himself as king of Babylon in 620 BC.
When Alvarez was trounced by former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for the speakership in a turbulent mutiny hours before President Rodrigo Duterte’s state of the nation address (SONA) on July 23, most ofthese Ilonggo politicians who used to lionize Alvarez were now saying they junked Alvarez in favor of Arroyo.
From hallelujah to good riddance.
All of a sudden, most of these Ilonggo politicians disowned the Davao del Norte representative like a leper and are now queuing to ingratiate themselves with the controversial former president.
They gave credence to the age-old adages that “nobody loves a loser” and “victory has many fathers while defeat is an orphan.”

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We thank Joji Jalandoni, former president of the New York City-based Philippine Independence Day Council, Inc. (PIDCI) for inviting us to grace the Piña-Seda (pineapple and silk cloths from the tropics) Hibla ng Lahing Filipino Traveling Exhibition lecture series, weaving demonstrations and embroidery workshops at the Philippine Consulate in Manhattan on July 24.
The exhibit featured Kalibo, Aklan Piña-Seda weavers and Lumbao, Laguna Piña-Seda embroiderers.
Piña (Spanish for pineapple) cloth is considered the finest and the queen of Philippine textiles.
Seda (Spanish for silk) cloth is undeniably the smoothest woven fabric in the world.
Combined with seda, piña exudes elegance as fined and delicate as pineapple and as smooth and luxurious as silk.
The exhibit, which started on July 24 and will be concluded on September 7, 2018, is being spearheaded by the National Museum (Pambansang Museo) and Office of Senator Loren Legarda.