This is the second article in my series entitled . . .
Joseph "ERAP" Estrada
Erap comes from a privileged family and, as such, was afforded all the opportunities of an individual of his station. Yet, Erap chose a different path. A self-confessed delinquent since his youth, Erap dropped out of college, had a highly successful acting career and used his popularity in the silver screen to pursue an equally successful political career. He is handsome, charming and thoroughly irresistible to women--our Filipino Casanova, if you will.
Unfortunately, Erap has become the template of many ambitious and equally unqualified actors, actresses, basketball players and the like. Other than paving the way for more mediocre leaders in the Philippines, Erap also happens to be an excellent example of a liar, a thief (a convicted plunderer to be precise) and, most probably, a killer (at the very least, remember Bentain, Corbito and Dacer). Furthermore, if there is anyone who has so completely perverted the intent of democracy, it would be Erap--who has so exploited the ignorance of the uneducated masses, while he leads them into greater depths of poverty and desperation. “Erap para sa mahirap!” (translates to “Erap for the poor!”) is arguably one of the most successful and deceitful political slogans in Philippine political history. Nothing could be further from the truth as his plunder behind closed doors belies his chummy “camera friendly” interaction with the poor.
The death penalty in the Philippines should never have been abolished and Erap should never have been pardoned after he was convicted of plunder--least of all under the transactional political “leadership” of an individual with highly questionable motives at that time. I refer to the former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, GMA for short, whose rise to a full term of Presidency was a result of election fraud. Not surprisingly, she eventually had to expend an extraordinary proportion of her energy and resources (both essentially resources of the Filipino people being wasted) to defend her “legitimacy” throughout her term as President, including placating the likes of the Roman Catholic Church and the sychophants of Erap. Hence, GMA cajoled Congress to abolish the death penalty and, as President, pardoned Erap--in part due to Erap’s commitment not to seek public office (which he obviously had no intentions of fulfilling). If GMA had not tinkered with our death penalty and our executive clemency (i.e., don’t fix it if it ain’t broke), a convicted plunderer would have been sentence to death--period. In short, Erap would have been six feet under many years ago. Yet, he continues to wreak havoc over Philippine politics. His latest pending victim, the City of Manila.
Like Enrile, Erap is also tryng to peddle another one of his offsprings to the Senate. As if one mediocre Erap offspring (Jinggoy, like Tito Sotto, Bong Revilla and Lito Lapid, who serves as an extension mouthpiece of Enrile) at the Senate was not enough. Are we that bereft of senatorial talents? That is what I mean by Erap’s bastardization of our democratic institutions (pun intended).
Considering you’ve been given another lease on life, Erap, why don’t you stick to your commitment, withdraw your rotten brand of politics and enjoy the spoils of your plunder while you’re still ahead? (Erap thinks: “My sons and I--and maybe even my grandsons-- will bleed these ignorant suckers up to their last miserable drop of blood.”)
The above article was written over eight (8) years ago, and, as the Lucky Eight would have it, ERAP appears to be giving Enrile a run for his money. Having recently contracted the COVID virus, ERAP was admitted to the ICU but, unfortunately, appears to be recovering. What a bummer!
Nevertheless, the race is definitely ON! Who will take the second spot in our top-ten list of plunderers and scumbags currently at the pre-departure area destined for hell? Will it be Johnny in his vegetative state or ERAP recovering from the COVID virus? Who knows? Dutae, who is rumored to have suffered a mild heart attack (we should be so lucky if this is true), might even overtake these two scumbags.
In the meantime, let's revisit our top-ten list of plunderers and scumbags currently at the pre-departure area destined for hell and relish the anticipation of their demise:
1. Juan Ponce Enrile, 97
2. Imelda Marcos, 92
3. Estelito Mendoza, 91
4. Danding Cojuangco, 85 and already checked into hell
5. Bobby Ongpin, 84
6. ERAP, 84
7. Binay, 79
8. Dutae, 76
9. First Gentleman, 75
10. GMA, 74
"For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?"
Abangan ang susunod na kabanata.
