Pardon Me, I’m Just Corrupt

            RANT MODE: Hello contacts! I am a Political Science student and I’ve been planning to become a Foreign Service Officer. It has been the career aspiration I’ve been having for the longest time. But with recent happenings in our government I think I just want to become president, be corrupt to the nth degree and get pardoned after a month or two of being proven guilty. Besides, could there be an easier way of becoming a billionaire than this! Like one poster at Peyups said, our government is one big circus. I can’t begin to disagree.

            REPORT MODE: Former president Estrada, who has been proven guilty for Plunder (or BLUNDER as some pro-Erap KSP people in the streets have been saying, which by the way for them means Pambababae in Filipino) by the Sandiganbayan after a very looooooong trial, has been granted clemency (In short, pardon) by President Gloria Macapagal - Arroyo.

            A lot of people are pissed off and they have the right to be since the money involved is tax-payers’ money, the eternally Political Science 150-ish concept of public funds. If Erap plundered Gloria, which is impossible since Plunder has a unique definition, it would have been okay. Ano bang pakialam natin kung mag Plunder-an silang dalawa? Kung dun sila maligaya e di suportahan. But of course that is not the case. What happens now to the billions (or is it just millions? Whatever, still a very big amount to pocket!) that Erap took home?

            Of course we could link this again to the various scandals plaguing Malacañang. Maybe by giving Erap pardon it could somehow divert the attention of the people? Oh crap so it is politics again, just like Glorietta! The Glorietta bombing was a government destabilization plot! The Glorietta Bombing turns out to be not a bombing incident in the first place. Even if the Glorietta incident was a bombing or not and it was just made political in nature I think this issue is different. There is no question here, there’s obviously politicking involved since unlike the Glorietta “accident” where methane is being blamed as the cause, there simply can’t be any methane or accident involved in this Pardon-Erap decision. It’s not as if PGMA was walking in the Malacañang gardens one night and accidentally pardoned Erap while emitting methane from her ass. Tipong Oh My God I pardoned Erap! It was an accident! Hindi ko sinasadya. Shet!

            It’s simply unjust, this decision. Just when you thought corruption has finally been dealt with in this country you’re forced to think otherwise. I remember Winnie Monsod’s enthusiasm while lecturing on corruption in our Econ class. She said that at last a big fish was caught! There finally was hope for the betterment of our country! Erap has been proven guilty! The justice system still works! Other corrupt officials would soon be caught! And then this.

Now Erap recognizes Gloria as the legitimate president. Now Erap would be coming home to San Juan, may motorcade pa nga ata. I bet the Bilibid inmates are disappointed. Magiging kakosa na sana nila si Erap, napurnada pa. With figures based on recent surveys our country actually has two political leaders as official entries on the top ten most corrupt in the world list. Ferdinand Marcos is second to Suharto while Erap is somewhere between eight and ten. We are also among the most corrupt countries in the world. Do you hate that? You better deal with it because we’re definitely going to stay on that list.