Unctuous ululations

“E KAMI memirait anyang pengampanya at binoto mi ya y Among Ed (We did not cheat when we campaigned and voted for Panlilio). We didn’t have the means to do that.”
So cried one Virginia Manuguid of Betis, Guagua town.
“We didn’t have guns, goons and gold. How can we cheat?”
So asked one Adriano David.
“Di ko hahayaang sabihin, kahit pa ng Korte Suprema, na ang sagrado kong balota noong 2007 para kay Among Ed ay nabili, nandaya at kailangan usisain uli. Hindi para dito ang luha ko para kay Cory. Laban Pampanga! (I will not allow – even the Supreme Court – to say that my ballot for Panlilio in 2007 was bought, a cheat and needed to be restudied. The tears I shed for Cory are not for this. Fight Pampanga!)”
So ululated one Fr. Raul de los Santos.
“Cory Aquino stands for democracy. People behind the recount are for pera (money)-cracy.”
So punned one Fr. Marius Roque.
“I forgive them all for their abject ignorance.”
So remarked – in his characteristic cool and casual manner – my seminary elder Don Luisito on the various reactions to the 2007 gubernatorial vote recount quoted in the story here yesterday of intrepid journalist Tonette Orejas.
That’s a harsh judgment, especially on the reverend fathers, I told my elder over cups of latte at Starbucks SM City Pampanga.
“That’s the truth, harsh as it is, and therefore hurts. Although I believe in what they’re saying.”
Contradictions there, you believe what they are saying – that they, the Panlilio camp for that matter, did not cheat in the elections. And yet, you call them ignorant. How’s that?
“Yes, your compadre did not have the capability, much less the guts, to cheat in the elections. But that did not mean that there was no cheating in the 2007 elections.”
Now I am completely befuddled, please enlighten me.
“I don’t know why a lot of people take you for an astute political analyst when you are as ignorant as these people we’re talking about.”
Stop the insulting intro, go to the brass tacks.
“In all probability, Panlilio is an indirect beneficiary of dagdag-bawas (vote shaving).”
An improbability, I see clearly. As the moral alternative, Panlilio can’t be a party to any immoral act!
“Bobo! Panlilio, and his ululating – to use your word – minions, are completely ignorant of this. It is another party that could have fomented the cheating.”
The Pineda camp cheated to lose?
“Mal gran bobo! Board Member Lilia Pineda is the victim here. Votes in her favor could have been taken from her – that’s the bawas part – and credited to another – that’s the dagdag part. While the votes shaved from her tally and given to the beneficiary were not enough for the latter to win, they were more than enough to reduce her lead over, and be overtaken by the votes of Panlilio, untouched as they were.”
Wow. Such novelty!
“Nothing new there really. In the ‘70s, it was done in the province with the same results as maybe in 2007. The front-running candidate at that time, also nicknamed Baby, suddenly lost – by a small margin too – to an unknown political upstart who made megabucks from the forests of Indonesia. And yes, the incumbent was a poor third too.”
Swell, but a successful dagdag-bawas requires expertise and practice, much practice.
“So what do you make of the quarry collections at the Capitol before Panlilio? There is where your practice of dagdag-bawas came to perfection.”
Aaaagh!