A moral alliance

PAUL “CONCON” LAUS, loyal vice to Governor Mark Lapid has been pirated, err, appropriated by the Third Force.
So it seems, from a number of white-ribboned sports utility vehicles plastered with the now too familiar cherubic face along with the beatific visage of Among Ed.
A number of houses along the route of my morning walk in Villa Victoria long posted with photos of the “alternative moral choice” now sported Concon posters too, sans Lapid.
There too are tarpaulins of Concon hanging from the facade of commercial establishments owned by Among Ed die-hard supporters along MacArthur Highway in the business district of Dolores, City of San Fernando.
No, Concon has not abandoned Lapid. Not by any means. He is too good and too faithful to betray his friend and partner. He makes a Damon to Lapid’s Pythias, where their personal relationships are concerned.
Yes, Concon has been “adopted” by the Third Force, albeit unofficially. So claimed someone who bore a striking resemblance to Engineer Marni Castro.
The deadringer for the flood czar of the City of San Fernando and the field marshall of the Third Force went on an exhaustive and exhausting peroration of a “divinely-inspired” alliance between Among Ed and Concon “founded on moral uprightness and grounded on political purity.”
“They indeed answer our call of ‘Yes to good Kapampangan leaders,” he enthused.
Of unquestioned integrity, Concon – he said – served as a deodorizer to Lapid, heavily mucked with the quarry anomalies: “And ineffective at that, given the extent of Lapid’s moral decay.” Alleged, I cautioned him.
He feared “Lapid’s stench may even rub off on Concon and affect his innate innocence.” Careful now, I reminded him.
“By his association with Lapid, the people may think Concon benefited too from the quarry scam, and thus deprive him of their vote.” Definitely a devastating proposition most unfair, grossly unjust to Concon, I concurred.
Hence, Concon had to be “delivered from the clutches of evil to the fold of the good.” Thus, his adoption by the moral legions of Among Ed. A most rational move, I agreed.
I sought out radioman Deng Pangilinan, Concon’s campaign strategist, for some reactions.
He had the smug smile of a Cheshire cat that just ate a canary: “We are bound to Mark in Lakas-CMD. But we cannot prevent people from the other camps, not just Among Ed’s mind you, from carrying Concon’s cause. Are we to tell them to stop putting Concon’s posters on their vehicles, on their fences or on their buildings? That is not only bad politics, that is plainly and simply stupid.”
In Deng’s visualization, the sudden surge of Concon in opinion polls lately – “less than ten percent within striking distance of the incumbent” – was caused in part by the support of the Third Force.
“It matters not who support us. The important thing is for Concon to win. And we are almost there.”
Supreme confidence, yes. Impossible, no. With the depth and expanse of Deng’s vision in things political and otherwise – proven with his quartering of the Boking Morales campaign for unprecedented four terms – Concon winning the vice governorship may not be but a matter of blind faith.