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Leave her alone!

THE national leader embodies a 6th part of the nation’s people and their karma. Stumbled upon this arcane trivia some years back during an on-and-off rambling through Hindu Vedic lore, uh, vedas = truth and that’s supposedly something to deliver us from evil, now and in the hour of our debt or demise, whatever’s more comfy.

Say as the sacred texts affirm, karma = being. So we can take that when a figurehead represents a sizeable fraction of the populace and their karma, that arcane tidbit refers to human beings. And not just the ordinary types, these particular blokes have the national leader’s traits, inclinations, mindset, quicksilver temper and tantrums, maybe idiosyncrasies and propensities, tell-tale facial mole, warts, and all. The leader’s after all the embodiment of these beings, human or otherwise.

These beings make up a sixth part of the national head count of 86 million. That’s around 14.167 million. That’s a critical mass of numbers whose archetype, avatar, prime exemplar, epitome or symptom of puissant presence in our midst now occupies the most eminent seat of power.

I’m saying we don’t need such an awful lot of quantity, we have to settle for quality—we have the archetype, their crème de la crème or filthiest scum swizzled to the top in the roiling waters of our national life.

So cull the excess, leave out the best. Leave the leader alone, please!

Yeah, alone… Nag-iisa. The only one of its kind. Remnant, reminder or remainder. Why, the 14.167 million sounds like a runaway colony of carcinoma cells that’s been eating the fabric of an orderly life, spreading slow and sure the pestilence into the body politic until the unwitting host rears up the symptom of the malady. And by then, talamak na pala ang tumor, surgery takes out a few colonies while other colonies have effected metastasis… the creeping corruption holds the body politic in thrall.

So you had the notion that all it takes to rein corruption—kabulukan—to a tenable level is a surgical extraction of the symptom or whoever’s enthroned in Malacañang? That’s just a lone virtual clone of 14.167 million more from all walks of life, from the entire social spectrum and economic strata of the nation—nangaglipana sa paligid and they make life miserable for others they seek to infect with their contagion.

Frantic for a cure or needful miracle, the dying host fights for its life and resorts to alternative means, grasps at every straw to bring healing, restore wholeness.

In desperation, even the promise laid down pat in the Scriptures is sought for relief if not effect a needed cure—“whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, I will give…”

That’s the operative phrase, in His name.

Hold it and hold on to that no-fuss-no-muss promise, storm heaven with prayers for retribution—bet your coños y cojones that no bishop in this neck of the woods would be willing to share that open secret about asking for outright decimation of maladies, physiological, societal, whatever… with a prayer for divine retribution.

We can never divine the Divine—maybe the Angel of Death will be sent to do rampage on the millions of evil’s minions, not exactly transforming ‘em into something as useful as compost to enrich the earth, maybe hew close to a Pro-Life disposition rendering14.167 million minions comatose-- a lot of commas which can mean death sentences don’t necessarily end with a period.

There’ll still be evils lurking in the national landscape; the primus inter pares will be carried aloft into power by its minions, around 14.167 million—meanwhile the next waits in the wings.

As a sculptor chips away at the huge hulk of marble to pare away non-essentials and arrive at a decent work of art, think subtraction: (86 million) less (14.167 million + 14.167 million), well, we can reword the equation as 86 million minus 28.334 million.

We’ve got the remainder: 57.666 million!

Uh, what’s the Number of the Beast again?

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