Senator Jinggoy Estrada was first embroiled in the Jueteng scandal along with his father, former President Erap Estrada, in 2000. Then came the Pork Barrel Scam, which broke in 2013. Now he’s facing another case, the Flood Control Scam. I don’t know if he’s the only politician who still has to learn how to avoid getting caught in scams. Operative words: avoid getting caught. Oops.
People do learn lessons along the long and winding road of hits and misses. But Estrada is like the Energizer Bunny of scams: he keeps going and going and going. The perfect emoji for this: the facepalm.
Even animals learn to avoid traps. Okay, I’m speaking of Jerry, who’s always wiser than Tom.
The Pinoy has to wonder why political candidates are willing to spend millions, even billions, for their campaigns. Where’s the money coming from? How will the winners recoup campaign expenses? How will the losers survive? If the Pinoy has not pondered this yet, it’s time for Tom to build a trap for him. The cheese-less trap. The kind that will enlighten the Pinoy’s brain to the truth, nothing but the truth.
Oh, that reminds me of the late Inday Badiday’s talk show “Nothing But the Truth.” And Sen. Migz Zubiri’s special mention of her in the Senate: “Inday Badiday na ba tayo rito sa Senado? Kaya nga sinasabi nila we’re a circus. I apologize to those who are watching. They think we are a circus because of this type of language that we are pushing in this august chamber. It’s unparliamentary.”
It doesn’t matter what he was reacting to. What matters is he mentioned Inday Badiday, who had nothing to do with the Senate’s troubles, even if the incumbent batch has several showbiz personalities: Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, Sen. Lito Lapid, Sen. Robin Padilla, and Sen. Tito Sotto. Two others are married to showbiz stars: Sen. Kiko Pangilinan to Sharon Cuneta, and Sen. Chiz Escudero to Heart Evangelista.
If you’re keen on percentages, that’s four showbiz senators out of 24, or about 17 percent, and two married-to-showbiz-stars, or 8 percent, for a total of 25 percent with showbiz connections. That’s the fine line between showbiz and politics right there.
“The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach,” as the saying goes. And perhaps the way to politics’ heart is through showbiz. Former President Erap is a good example of how far a showbiz celebrity can go in politics. But then he was impeached due to the Juetengate scandal, which made him morph into Jose Velarde.
Such cases become precedent. Politicians may tend to forgive and forget so they can save themselves in the future if they get involved in scams. So the accused politician is acquitted or pardoned, somehow encouraging him and other politicians to continue stealing from the national treasury, accepting bribes from illegal business owners, accepting bribes in “maletas” for substandard or non-existent flood control projects, and so on. That’s why Sen. Jinggoy is now on his third scandal. Third time’s the charm?
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