< whoa >

   I'm going on record in saying that Bohol Gov. Erico Aumentado is a dickwad.  By "dickwad," I don't mean that as an all-too-common cursory expression: I mean that if anything, a good metaphor for Aumentado is that of a male tampon.

   Because Rey "Boom-Boom" Bautista lost his match against Daniel Ponce de Leon, the proposed cementing of the road in his village of Can-uling in Candijay, Bohol, will not push through.  Apparently, Aumentado promised Boom-Boom that he will only cement the provincial road running through his village if and only if Boom-Boom won his fight.  Boom-Boom lost, and the loss also cost his village a lifeline and a promise to national development.  Never mind that Boom-Boom lost: I don't know why Aumentado would even gamble on national development.

   To me, the term "trapo" (or "traditional politician;" derived from the Filipino term for "dishrag") is overused.  I can understand "trapos:" if anything, I'd rather vote for a "trapo" than a neophyte snot-nosed politician, for all the experience a "trapo" has in the Philippine political arena.  But I have yet to hear of a "trapo" who did the same thing Aumentado did: "trapos" will name infrastructure projects after their kin, and perhaps skim out a few million pesos out of their pork barrel funds to add to next elections' campaign coffers.

   Aumentado, on the other hand, is a dickwad.  Maybe I'm a bit too harsh, but I don't know what's harsher: to call people names, or to deny people the promise to improve their lives just because someone among them lost a boxing match.

   Somebody give me Aumentado's e-mail: I'll send him cotton balls.