February

oh yes. the month of Love, as commercialism dictates. Wikipedia, though, says February came from the Latin word februum, which means purification.

In that sense, i would like to call attention to what we have as a country that we often refer to, grudgingly, as The Government.

In a few months’ time, we’ll be electing a new set of “leaders.” (I’d rather put that honorable word in quotation marks, considering the low quality of majority of the elected “leaders” that we now have.)

Informally, the campaign season has begun, since the filing of candidacies for local and national offices were opened a few weeks back. Please keep in mind, though, that as per the Omnibus Election Code of this so-called country that we have, candidates for local offices are only allowed to spend P3 per voter, while those running for national offices (which, for this year’s elections, are only for the Senate positions) are allowed to spend P5.

As responsible voters, we also must begin a campaign against graft and corruption, against lawless violence, against state-sponsored terrorism. These issues seem cliche, but they are REAL issues, as opposed to issues of whose better between Cueshe and Hale (is there really a comparison?), or between FHM and Maxim (huh? both only aspire to whet your sexual appetite, and thus blind you to the unseeming realities of our banana republic).

The so-called president (uncouth and unseeming, a freak of Pampanga) says she will ensure clean and honest elections. Let us not forget that she had also stated that she would not run for president way, way back.

So, for all the romance and the red roses and the red wine that threaten to overflow this month, let us not forget that this month was meant for purification. And by May, we should have cleansed ourselves from all evil to visit the sacred election booth and register our opposition to the evil that has spread all over the country.

I’m crossing my fingers, though.