VILLAR UP CLOSE: If you sit too close to senator Manny Villar explaining how he would manage this nation of 88 million if he wins the May 10 presidential elections, you could get convinced enough to vote for hm.

The Nacionalista Party standard bearer was in the Star office yesterday as guest of editors and columnists, who took turns peppering him with questions on all conceivable subjects, including his management agenda. (To savor the details, please go to the Q&A elsewhere in this issue.)

The seasoned manager exuded confidence as he responded to a question on how he would play the First 100 Days of his term as president.

Stressing that there is no time for on-the-job training, he said he would immediately work on priority items. All big-ticket projects still hanging will be bid out early with all sectors watching every transparent step of the way. Contractors and investors will be enjoined to report any attempt to extort money or collect commissions. An immediate goal is to make the whole world know that corruption is no longer a requisite for doing business in the Philippines.

On a myriad “what if…” hypothetical situations, Villar said that he would be guided by what the law says. He noted that the success of an administration, under whatever system of government, depends on the President’s quality of leadership.

* * * 

VOTING ISN’T GAMBLING: Now and then I still meet supposedly mature and educated individuals who say that they think So-and-So candidate will make an ideal president, a true leader, a reformer, but will not vote for him because he will lose anyway. 

Such defeatist attitude is appalling! These are the sorry types who regard elections as gambling, who equate voting with picking and betting on a winner. They are inclined to vote for a candidate who comes strong in the surveys even if he betrays some serious character flaws.

Voters should be educated and made to realize that when they are alone with their conscience at the polling precinct, they hold the key to a brighter future for their children. Will they use it wisely, or gamble and drop it?

A vote for the best candidate, but who rates low in the surveys, is not wasted. That vote is a precious drop in a pool whose water flows and grows into a stream, into a raging river, breaking out to sea, whipping up a tidal wave that will change the contour of the land.

Your solitary vote is not a lone, losing vote. Cast with the other votes for reforms, your ballot will clinch the winning vote for a better Philippines.

* * *

WATER & WINE: I am reminded of an apocryphal story I heard way back in grade school.

A community in the Wine Country decided one day to honor one of its favorite sons who spent time in his youth tending the family vineyards, then set out for the city to study. He became famous as a pioneering medical specialist.

In success, the man did not forget his hometown and his neighbors. He and his wife, a former classmate and now also a doctor, went back to put up a well-regarded clinic in the community. They shunned politics, but were very active in community affairs. They sponsored scholarships, extended free medical services, helped young entrepreneurs with seed money, and were a patron of local art and literature.

The town council decided that the ceremony honoring the doctor be held in the public plaza after the Sunday mass. A stage was built at the center of which was placed a handsome mini-barrel.

The organizers asked those attending the ceremony to bring a small bottle of their best red wine as contribution to the communal expression of gratitude to the doctor. They were to pour the wine into the barrel which will be sealed and given to the honoree.

The program went on as planned. As music played, a long line of people went up the stage to pour their wine contribution into the barrel. After the last person poured his share, the mayor made a small speech which was punctuated by applause.

Then the mayor asked the couple to make a ceremonial wine-testing before the barrel was sealed and delivered.

The doctor took a sample in a wine glass and sipped it. He suddenly turned to his beaming wife and asked her to also take a sip. They looked at each other bewildered. The wine tasted like water! They took another sample and tasted it. It was water!

* * *

VOTING, NOT BETTING: The story ends there. But like a bad joke whose punch line has to be explained to a dense listener, an explanation is appended that each contributor had water in his solitary bottle, thinking it would not be noticed anyway when poured into the good wine in the barrel.

Will your solitary vote be cast like tepid water poured into a barrel of what should be the finest wine in the country?

On May 10, we will be holding elections, not a popularity contest. We are not placing a bet on the probable winner. We will be making known our collective choice for president. We will be casting an intelligent vote for who we think will be an ideal president and leader.