May tricks

If there is one thing this latest sensationalized Palace conspiracy theory proves, it is that someone in there truly likes the word Matrix.

Conventionally understood, a Matrix is the background or environment in which a subject develops. But there are more than one connotation of the word. For this peculiar Panelo purpose, the definition clearly used is: “an organizational structure in which two or more lines of command, responsibility, or communication may run through the same individual (oxford online)”. This is the same as in its previous uses by Malacanang – in the Illegal Drugs Matrix and also the Corruption Matrix. 

Retrieving these different meanings, I am reminded of this excellent historical novel by Simon Winchester, The Surgeon of Crowthorne. It documents the genesis of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED). The book detailed the immense logistical problem of capturing and cataloguing the millions of known words used in the English language from history. It would have taken armies of people reading through volumes of all known published works to produce even an initial workable listing before tracing historical development and the different uses of each word. Providing the quotations for context follows later. 

Lexicography. In a pre-computer age, in 1857, this impossible task was made possible by a call for volunteers from the public. Help would come via mailed in quotation slips on the use of different words. This was the “matrix” of the OED, in its primary meaning. Interestingly, today you’d call that crowdsourcing. The most prolific of their sources was one W.C. Minor who they discovered long after to be an inmate at Broadmoor Asylum. A medical doctor driven by his schizophrenic impulses to murder an innocent man. 

The paternity of this latest “Oust Matrix” has been questioned even by our Senators. Salvador Panelo concedes that he is clueless about the source. Which means to say it could have come from just anyone, lunatics included. Olympic heroine Hidilyn Diaz and star volleyball player Gretchen Ho are in it for no other reason than their social media accounts being “followed” by one of the suspects. On this link alone, their names and reputations were dragged as being persons of interest in this coup d’ etat. Whether smeared or elevated, that’s up to them. But it was irresponsible as it was incredible that the administration premiere this list as it did, and right before elections. 

Mayor Sara would not dignify it. The Senate President thinks it a list only of those who don’t like the President. What it is is a waste of the people’s money that was used and further proof that the administration has not transcended the oxymoronic character of its intelligence gathering.

Ready for his closeup. Even for one used to the spotlight’s glare, this latest turn of events in Eduardo Manzano’s citizenship would be enough to make one blink. Do dirty tricks come with the territory? I remember a particularly vicious diatribe thrown against Senator Juan Ponce Enrile during plenary debates at the Senate session hall in the late 1980s. JPE took it in stride and responded to the question, not to the insult. 

Asked how he could bear the offence, JPE dismissed them as being part of the game and his forbearance he deemed the measure of being a gentleman. Sec. Panelo, by the way, should actually learn from these lessons and take these memes on his endorsing the opposition slate in stride. No one believes that he would do that. Even if he did, is there seriously any strength to his endorsement?

Am sure that, deep inside, Edu himself, being a former Makati Vice Mayor, a LAKAS vice presidential candidate, a senatorial candidate, is treating this latest “disqualification” foisted by a division of the COMELEC as par for the course. If so, bully for him. But there is a far greater wound inflicted here. It’s the injury to stare decisis, one of the foremost institutions of our legal system. The binding value of precedent.

Edu Manzano is a citizen. No less than the Supreme Court decreed that in a previous case where his citizenship was questioned, Mercado v Manzano in 1999. He remains a candidate until his Motion for Reconsideration is resolved with finality. 

Last lap. Candidates for the several elective positions are winding up their campaigns. Expect horrendous traffic jams today from their motorcades. At night, wait for the knocks on your door with last minute entreaties. TV, radio and the internet will be bombarded with volumes of campaign ads, hoping to secure a connection. Even our phones won’t be spared the desperate “don’t forget me” texts. 

The Senate race is the real pintakasi. We have our soft spots for the ideal candidates. For many, voting for first choices is the non negotiable prerogative of the enfranchised, regardless of fighting chances. But for the less romantic, their second choices may have the better prospect at victory and representing their interests. If deciding to limit their short lists to the candidates within striking distance of the magic 12, they may have to consider indicators apart from the basic requirements. 

(1) Can he stay the course? Does this candidate look like he has the conviction and the integrity to stand by his campaign commitments? Or will he be a straw man on gut issues like Federalism, West Philippine Sea, Freedom of Expression, Death Penalty? (2) Can he carry the load? Not just the challenge of being an individual Senator. At times, you might have to carry the burden for your colleagues, too. One or two returning solons prefer to listen rather than speak. We’d be lucky to hear their inputs more than once within a term. 

Having choices is the essence of democracy. The freedom to vote for a representative of your choice coinciding with the privilege to offer yourself up as a choice. But what if there is no one to choose from as in the case of the 547 running unopposed on Monday? Wasted democracy.