Porn Bailout

(This column appears in today's edition of the Leyte-Samar Daily Express)

Hi there! It’s another week and America has inaugurated her new President. Indeed, it’s business time (I mean for U.S. politics). How is that? Before (or during) the election, it was ‘yes, we can!’. Now it’s ‘we are in a crisis. We need to get our acts together'.

Seriously, many people have said many things about the so-called new era in American politics or at least the Presidency. It was what The Freeman said on its headline which I would like to quote, 'twas poetic as it was, well, realistic (read: not much romanticism): “... tracing the arc of history to a day many thought would never come, Barrack Obama was sworn in as America's 44th and 1st black President – and waded into a sea of trouble troubles. Obama's inauguration represents a milestone once unthinkable in a nation that has struggled with racial issues since its founding and where segregation was practiced in many southern state just decades ago. It took place outside the U.S. Capitol, which slaves helped build...”

Martin Luther King in his (1963) “I have a Dream speech” predicted (or is it hoped?) that a black American would make it to the highest office of the land in 25 years. He was two decades short. Just the same, it happened.

And the Obama inaugural speech? No Kennedy like, “... Ask not what your country can do for you, but ask what you can do for your country...' or Roosevelt like, “... We have nothing to fear but fear itself...” Some observers were quick to say there was no rhetoric, other went to the extent of saying “forgettable”. But then it was realistic. It was not a something to inspire, but a call to work. In other words, walang pambobola, something we seldom get from a good number of Filipino politicians. (Oops, me and my mouth, err, my fingers. Smile, it's a weekend.)

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And porn bailout? Times must indeed be hard. I dunnow if I should take this seriously, but surely it made me smile. News had it that the prime movers of America’s porn industry led by Larry Flynt (of the Hustler fame) is set to request the U.S. Congress for a 5-billion-dollar bailout. Whew! They wanted to rejuvenate the sexual appetite of America by citing that when one is depressed or busy with stuff like home mortgage or looking for a job, one doesn’t do sex. (Again, smile, it’s a weekend!)Can we say the same thing about a good number of our Pinoy bros? Nah! We are economically challenged, but I don’t think this made many people sexually depressed, just look at the ballooning population, or the many children especially those who do not have much to do (read: economically challenged)

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Somebody sent a comment on my (blog) report about Mayor Mel Sarmiento's SOCA 2009. It had something to do the AIM award. I thought I wanted to share it with you:“I’m beyond doubt swollen with pride that Calbayog City finished as one of the top performing small cities in the Philippines last PCCRP 2007. I was the researcher / enumerator for Calbayog. It was not a-piece-of-cake conducting the research! I had to frequently visit the respondents. (Other businessmen weren't that cooperative and accommodating). They did not realize that the research was favorable to our dearly loved city. It's depressing just having the thought of it. Nevertheless, what makes me glad and thankful is that there were a number of business managers who straightforwardly responded and answered the questionnaire. I’m looking forward to the next research this 2009. I am optimistic that Calbayog City would make it for a second time!”

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Let me give you something to smile about this weekend. It's what a friend got from a Sunday sermon. We are all familiar with the term: KBL. Nope, it's not the political party. It's the way some of us Catholics are described in the way we carry out our faith: Kasal, Bunyag, Lubong. Let me give you the new term (should I say the English equivalent?) for that: HMD. Hatched, Matched and Dispatched.

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This is it for now. Have a nice weekend everyone!