Puno na ang Salop

Several articles have been written (and have been making the rounds via e-mail) about an FPJ/Lacson tandem in 2004. Such news is pretty speculative but the possibility alone scares me a lot.

I'm toying with the idea of not voting in 2004. I have been voting, religiously, since I was 18 (not counting barangay elections, that is) and things haven't changed much. I'm thinking, maybe if I did something different, I'd get a different result. Then again, if you talk about FPJ running, maybe I'll cast my vote for anyone else just to make it more difficult for FPJ to win.

FPJ vs. GMA? That would be a no-brainer. Then again, I'm not too sure of that after I saw the ad for the Philippine Tatler on page G2 of the Lifestyle Section of the Philippine Daily Inquirer today. GMA is on the cover, with some of her cabinet members, and they're all dressed in black suits, complete with dark shades! Should we take these people seriously? Am reminded of a Conrado de Quiros column wherein he says that there's not much difference between FPJ or GMA. You just either have a movie star wanting to be president or a president wanting to be a movie star.

I was in a meeting a few weeks ago and our discussion with our contact turned to whether the relatively low interest rates at present would be sustainable in the long-term. Our contact didn't think so and he said that there are external factors which really just affect how our economy goes. And if there are no negative external factors, "we will self-inflict something." Looking at how history has gone, mukhang may pagka-masochista nga ang Pinoy.

Anyway, I hope for better presidential choices in 2004. We vote FPJ into office and that will be "self-inflicting" of a major kind...