the floating folly

i enjoy government politics. mom and i watched the news on miguel zubiri's "surprise" resignation in the senate and sliced and diced the intent and his strategy. twas the talk of the town virtual or not that night. the next morning, that's old news. meet christopher lao, the floating folly who toppled miguel zubiri's resignation in terms of shock value.

what's shocking is that no one dared hit that flood road except him. *hello! ano ka, visually impaired? mygawd, mukha kayang abandoned ilog na yun*

what's more shocking is him blaming everyone else for what happened to him, demanding that he should have been informed. *wow! next time, inform us to inform you :) *. 

and what's most shocking is that he is reportedly a Summa cum Laude graduate of BA Philosophy from UP, with an average of 1.169 and he is now a student of UP Law. *apparently, common sense is not taught anywhere, not even in UP*

the video is proof that with 1.169 gwa, he is still human with 0.169 error. hehe.

this is the litmus test of character. how one acts under pressure or unfortunate situation brings forth our nature. for his case, arrogance was all over the place.

could it be a product of years of philosophizing? empiricism over rationalism, where experience rules over logic. for lao to believe the flood is indeed deep, he must first experience it for himself. and then say after, "ay oo nga, malalim pala". hehe.

come to think of it, kung ako maging summa cum laude, magiging arrogant din ako. haha.

#######

some said that his new-found internet popularity is now crossing from humorous to cyber-bullying. this is clearly tyranny of the majority. the video ranked 8th in global twitter trend, which makes me think there is something universal with the reaction he evoked from the video.  this is the virtual age. let us not play innocent as if it's the first time such a thing happened. this is the prevailing culture. so we all should be cautious.

but on one hand it's good to know that despite the Philippines, being the favorite stopover of typhoons, majority of us still has our sense of humor intact. =)


and i am not worried though about lao's demise. people will easily move on to the next folly anyway.

but for now, let me relish this. hehe. saw this fb exchange and gave me my day's dose of laughter. =)

Y: Anong bakit ikaw? Bakit ikaw ang alin? Eh sino bang tarantadong lumusong sa baha? Siraulo pala 'to eh!

X: easy... ahahaha!!!
Y: Easy?!? Bakit ako? Bakit ako? Siya! Siya ang iinform mo niyan! Bwahahahaha!
X: eh sila?! sila?! parang they were just waiting for somebody to do it, eh. ahahahahaha!!!
Y: Ahahahahaha! Bakit kasi hindi nila siya itinext!?! Ahahahahaha!
X: bakit ikaw na reporter?! hindi mo kasi sinabihan. ahahahaha!!!
Y: Sorry na! Sorry na Christopher Lao! Kung alam lang nina Jun Veneracion na lulusong ka sa baha at hindi mo marerealize on your own na malalim ito, eh di sana dun sila sa kabilang side nag-abang at nainform ka agad nila. Patawarin mo na kaming lahat. Ikaw na ang biktima.




**in fairness to him, he already said sorry. :) **

Official Statement from Christopher Lao
4 August 2011

“The past few days have been very disheartening for me and my family. As you know I have been a subject of a viral video that showed my helplessness during a trying moment. As it stands right now, I have several hate pages in Facebook and Twitter with hurtful and derogatory messages attacking my person. The reputation that I built the past years has been besmirched. A bad day has now turned into wounded feelings and sleepless nights for me and my family.

I have been silent the past few days as I want this to go away soon but not before saying sorry and thank you to people who matter.

I would like to apologize for my behavior that was seen on nationwide television and now on the internet. It was unfortunate that I was caught on camera immediately after an overwhelmingly stressful mishap.

I would like to again sincerely thank those who braved the flood to help a distraught stranger like me. Their selfless act reminded me of how dependable Filipinos are in times of crisis.

Lastly, I would like to thank my family, friends and all of those who showed empathy, consideration and support throughout these trying times. You have given me strength and courage to rise above and be a better person.”