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Agimat sa saging

IT must have been a sort of banana republic, that which was bruited about as, uh, “STwrong Republic.”

With her lieutenants firmly entrenched in strategic outposts, erstwhile top banana Gloria remains out of harm’s way, untouchable… recent developments indicate that no Truth Commission can hound or haunt her, what a charmed life!

O baka talagang may agimat o anting-anting na galing sa saging—na ayon sa sinaunang kaalaman, talagang isusukob ang may taglay nito upang hindi mabasa kahit sa tindi ng unos o buhos ng baha… hindi pa rin basa ang papel ng Gloria.

Dagdag-kaalaman: katutubong saging ang Gloria, pinaghalo ang lasa ng tundan at saba—at parang pinagsanib din ang anyo ng tundan at saba.

Walang duda, pinakamarikit sa tingin sa mga katutubong saging ang Bongolan—kulay pula ang balat ng bunga. What a wonderful sight, this bunch of native strains of bananas—and we can chatter like monkeys pouncing and devouring them with gusto.

Sabi nga, nomen est omen—kaya marahil sa sari-saring saging na isinalaksak-salpak sa kung saan-saang guwang, luwang at puwang sa naitulos-tanim na banana republic, bukod-tangi ang Bongolan… who turned out to be the longest serving appointee of the top banana…

Itinulos ang katangi-tangi-tanging saging sa Home Guaranty Corporation (HGC)… and thus the government-owned and controlled outfit just went bananas… napurdoy sa kung anumang diskarte ang ginawa ng nahirang para maging pinuno nito, na dati palang stock broker and market analyst… he must have applied the skills to render stocks broke…

So HGC went broke under Bongolan: findings of Commission on Audit show that as of December 2009, HGC was as good as saging na maruya as it had frittered away P9 billion… parang saging na nilupak sa tindi ng dagok at bayo na tinanggap.

Adding insanity—they just went bananas—to injury, nagbigay ng pabuya sa kani-kanilang sarili ang mga taga-HGC… kumabig pa ng Early Separation Incentive Package (ESIP) na higit P224 milyon. Talagang tiba-tiba sa tinibang punong saging.

So, there’s this sinking feeling that incompetence is rewarded with handsome amounts… all of it to be borne on the sagging shoulders of Filipino taxpayers.

As added bonus for the bunch that ran HGC aground, the Ombudsman recently dismissed the slew of graft cases hurled against Bongolan and his HGC chums… they’re free to go, likely laughing all the way to the bank.

Naunggoy na naman ang sambayanan…

Matapos ibukaka at pasukan ng kung ilang bungkos ng saging— that was a thorough, painful screwing we went through—makakahinga na tayo nang maluwang, este, maluwag…

Kahit dinudugo pa tayo, aasam na ang iniluklok na bagong pamunuan sa HGC ay tatahak sa matuwid na landas palayo sa sagingan…

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