As kids in Trancoville, we played a game to determine who will go first to talk to the mean parish priest or who gets the last piece of three musketeers or group ourselves into opposing teams to play shatong (one group all the losers and the other, all the winners) and bato-bato pik or rock-paper-scissors.
This went on until adulthood during Christmas or family gatherings, this time for higher stakes – the winner takes all cash prizes.
Bato is a game where two protagonists toss out hand gestures. Both players move their fists up and down three times while shouting a pre-agreed chant – Jack en Poy/ hole hale hoy/ sinong matalo, s’yang unggoy, or Bato/ bato/ pik!
The fists come down each time a word is said without fists touching each other. There are three gestures to choose from – rock, a closed fist, paper (a flat, open hand), or scissors (index and middle fingers extended).
Rock wins over scissors; scissors wins over paper; paper wins over rock. Tossing same gestures results in a tie (tabla) and proceed anew. Most of the time, it is a best of three (two out of three) game; the first to win two games, wins.
True to his word as a funnyman or clown of the Senate and Philippine National Police in the past, Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa filed his certificate of candidacy for president in the on Oct. 8. He was in Cavite when PDP-Laban party president Alfonso Cusi asked him to file a COC. He called Sen. Bong Go to confirm if his last-minute nomination had the party chair, PRRD’s approval, and then rushed to Sofitel.
Talking to the media after, he told reporters he was willing to be substituted by Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte, who has oft-repeatedly stated her disinterest in the presidency, although she leads surveys.
With this statement, Bato is a candidate only until Nov. 15 and admits he was merely warming the bench for Sara, obeying first without questions like a good soldier. PDP-Laban, hence, is “the first ruling party in history to endorse a nuisance candidate.”
He was pissed though when a Rappler reporter asked “if he was making a mockery” of the process but the ploy betrays his intent to run.
Nuisance candidates should be weeded out to allow timely ballot printing. That would leave only five official candidates for president.
Section 69 of the Omnibus Election Code, forbids nuisance candidates. They are defined as those who put the election process in mockery or disrepute; cause confusion among voters by the similarity of their name to other registered candidates; and other circumstances or acts which clearly demonstrate that the candidate has no bona fide intention to run for the office for which the certificate of candidacy has been filed and is consequently preventing a faithful determination of the true will of the electorate.
With no presidential platform but aping Duterte’s war on “drugs, corruption, terrorism, and Covid-19,” so Bato gets clipped by the scissors of Comelec or if he pushes through, the paper will cover his presidential ambitions and that of Ping, as they come from the same lineage of voters and supporters.
No wonder during his proclamation with Tito Sen, Ping looked forlorn and had the face of a loser even before the contest began.
Sigh.
April 26, 2024
