YESTERDAY we read in one of the posts on Facebook by former actress Gretchen Barretto apparently sowing intrigue on Sen. Bato dela Rosa’s wearing a P80-thousand worth Tag Huer watch. She was sort of saying the senator from Davao cannot afford to buy it out of his monthly salary as lawmaker.
We really do not know why the former actress seemed upset with the lawmaker’s acquisition of a somewhat expensive watch when in fact it is not even comparable in terms of luxury to what Barretto had been wearing from down there up to the top of her head courtesy of whoever.
The controversial former actress was like working on the principle of a nail driven on a piece of wood. She was apparently trying to hide whatever her reason was, but at the same time exposing it just the same.
Why are we saying this? Note that only recently the Senate started its investigation on the disappearance of some 30 cockfighting enthusiasts after they were alleged to have connections with some E-sabong operators and their “fixing” of the new gambling craze which is earning billions of revenues for those who are the ones running it on-line.
Immediately, one very prominent person in the gambling community was called to the Senate hearing to serve as resource person. The hearing was initiated by the committee under the chairmanship of Senator Bato.
Of late the well-known personality was in the limelight when talks in the gossip world created a gossipy link between him and the former actress. True or not we think it’s none of our business. But what awakens our interest is the woman’s post on Bato’s watch.
Yes, if one is discerning enough to draw to the surface the possible reason, we can be certain that the controversial former actress had some inkling of the senator’s possible benefactor. That is, whether the senator bought his watch himself, or acquired through personal “reward” in appreciation of previous favors or in the hope of getting one.
In that sense Barretto could have some basis to suspect who Bato’s most likely “benefactor” is. The latter might have reduced by P80 thousand (equivalent to the cost of the Tag Huer watch) his “donation” to other regular beneficiaries. And this scheme of things might have come to the knowledge of Ms. Barretto.
Now, will the senator stoop to the level of the former actress? Well, for us, his answer that he is just gifting himself a little bit of luxury in personal possession after working for so many years in government and earning his keeps therefrom should be enough. Bato will only have everything to lose and gains nothing if he’ll engage Ms. Barretto in a territory she has been accustomed to and dominion over.
After all, the senator’s P80-thousand time piece may not even be .5 percent of the cost of one of Ms. Barretto’s earrings, again courtesy of someone almost if not all Filipinos know who quite well.
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Yesterday we wrote about how we noticed the bias of the organizers’ SMNI’s “The Deep Probe: the Presidential Interview” towards the candidacy of Bongbong Marcos Jr. Of course that was our personal observation which may or may not have been seen and shared by others. But we must have to admit that Marcos Jr. answered to the satisfaction of not just the last interviewer in UP Prof. Clarita Carlos but also to the millions who witnessed the program all over the country through the various media platforms. And we are on the assumption that the organizing network was really true to its words of “No Advance Question” or even a hint about them.
It was when Marcos Jr. answered astutely the question of Carlos on whether he is an optimist, a high risk taker, and a Machiavillian sort of person. The question was premised on the professor’s intention to have an advance peek on the kind of leader Marcos Jr. will be if he wins the Presidency in the May 9 election.
After the interview we buried our head into many research books and dictionaries just to be able to find what Machiavillian philosophy is and how it evolved over the centuries and being used to describe a particular person specifically those aspiring to become leaders of their nations or even business conglomerates.
We found three terms that we believe capture everything about what a Machiavillian person is: that he or she is willing to do things that can make him “hated,” “loved,” and “respected” just to attain a particular goal.
In all of these we can say without fear of contradictions, that President Rodrigo R. Duterte is the epitome of a Machiavillian leader. Remember that with what Duterte had been doing and having achieved in his almost six years of administration, the President appears to be most hated, even feared. But his trust ratings in all surveys even until these dying days of his term remain very high. If these are not clear indications that he is loved by the people, then what is? That so many still wish they have more of a Duterte style of governance could not be interpreted other than the people treat him with utmost respect.
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