By Alex P. Vidal
“Everything is changing. People are taking their comedians seriously and the politicians as a joke.” —Will Rogers
EVEN if we make multiple bogus social media accounts or mount the loudest microphones and speakers in Calle Real to slam and vilify all those lousy politicians, there’s no way we can vanish them.
Running amuck in the social media is sometimes good for our mental and emotional health if we want to express disgust and wrath against political hooligans like Chiz, Bato, Robin, Loren, Cynthia, Joel, Alan Peter, to name only a few grutnols in the senate, but our social media rages are not darts that can drill holes in their backs.
In the first place, it’s our fault for electing them during the elections; we have the good opportunity to elect the best and most qualified leaders, but we always went for the sikat (famous) who will always make pasikat (show-off), entertainment macho men and nymphets, film stunt men, children of religious cult leaders, carpet baggers, land grabbers, cry babies, etcetera.
In other words, we are partly to blame for the gradual and sweeping ruins of our hollowed institutions and revered public offices like the Upper and Lower chambers of the national legislature.
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IT’S better and healthier politically if Iloilo City Mayor-elect Raisa Treñas-Chu, Iloilo City reelected Rep. Julienne “Jamjam” Baronda and sister, Vice Mayor-elect Love Baronda will meet, sit down, and smoke the proverbial peace pipe even without the presence of their senior citizen parents.
In the first place, the peace pipe here is a misnomer since there was no actual enmity and personal hatred that unraveled between the two camps before, during, and after the May 12, 2025 election.
While the adults were tearing each other apart, the kids hoofed together like Bini dancers.
They must learn to form their own fraternal ties and cooperation in the name of public service without necessarily asking permission from the olds.
The Ilonggo electorate brought them to their offices, not their parents. They are beholden to the public, not to papa and mama.
Now that they have been given the opportunity to chart the future of Iloilo City, they can create their own destiny as Gen Z leaders and upgrade the quality of public service for future generations to enjoy and emulate.
Iloilo City will be in good hands if the trio—Treñas daughter, Baronda ladies—will learn to paddle their own canoes and cultivate their own gardens.
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REAL AND PRESENT SHORTAGES. Immigrants with opportunity to study or acquire a second profession while living in the United States, must go for the healthcare jobs: Home Health Aide (HHA), Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA), (Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN), Registered Nurse (RN), Physical Therapist (PT), Occupational Therapist (OT), Medical Assistant (the best of all is RN).
I personally witnessed and experienced how hospitals, medical centers, nursing centers and rehabilitations, urgent care clinics grapple with shortages of the aforementioned healthcare professionals.
This can explain why my evenings (I am a New York State-licensed CNA, phlebotomist and EKG Tech) are sometimes mornings vice versa (never mind my afternoons because it appears I have none of them now).
Overtime and evening shifts are in demand. If we’re robots or machines with no wear and tear, everyday would be harvest season financially.
Healthcare industry pays incredibly much higher and offers head-turning benefits more than what anyone can imagine.
But we’re humans and (in my case I) don’t have any more illusion to get rich, thus its but logical to accept only shifts and other “responsibilities” in consonance with our endurance, mental, emotional and physical strengths and limitations.
Health and happiness are always more important than the sparkling US dollars.
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FOUR BASIC ANSWERS. Former Obama cabinet secretary Robert Reich said, “I heard four basic answers” as demonstrations against President Donald Trump’s emerging police state are growing, not just in Los Angeles but around the nation.
In New York June 10, demonstrators walked through the streets after assembling in Lower Manhattan near a large government building that houses federal immigration offices and the city’s main immigration court.
Thousands gathered in Chicago, chanting anti-ICE and anti-Trump slogans while marching through the city.
This coming June 14 (Saturday), in response to Mr. Trump’s display of military might in Washington (ostensibly to honor the 250th anniversary of the creation of the U.S. Army but also to honor himself and his own birthday), many pro-democrats will be protesting in “No Kings Day” events across the nation, Reich revealed.
Mr. Trump says anyone who protests during his military parade in Washington will be met with “very big force.”
Reich asked: “All of which raises some basic questions: What is the purpose of our protests, in concrete political terms? What should our strategy now be in the face of Trump’s emerging police state? How do we avoid playing into Trump’s hands? I’ve heard four basic answers: …”
(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor-in-chief of two leading daily newspapers in Iloilo, Philippines.—Ed)
