assholes everywhere

We had the MCTAG Forum 2 last Friday with Mareng Winnie Monsod as the keynote speaker. MCTAG, btw, stands for Mindanao Coalition for Transparent Accountable Governance -- a project that has been running for almost 12 months and is just waiting for the terminal report for it to officially close (though there is a separate six-month extension for communications planning). I was again the TAG team's favorite documentor and listening to Mareng Winnie was a blast. I haven't seen anybody pull out a stunt out of presenting figures and statistics, and if it weren't for her, I probably dozed off. The side comments crisps, straight out of the pan, piercing, yet brimming with truthfulness and reality.

She spoke about the theme of the forum Retrospects and Prospects: The 2007 elections and beyond -- a very predictable topic given the timeliness of the political atmosphere. Of course she talked about the economy, the recent state of the polity, governance, and how we ought not to defuse our 'fire in the belly'.

She gave her admiration to the project's efforts in the coming together of the three sectors (business, LGU, civil society) in a collaborative fashion as this enhances decision making and influencing local governments' policy directions (I say local because national is way way more difficult in dealing with). This tripartism also raises to consciousness the fact the corrupt assholes don't just dwell in the government, although they're likely to grow roots there, but in every sector of society. Indeed, there are assholes everywhere, and as she correctly pointed out, even in the midst of us.

Speaking of assholes -- though I won't dare to elaborate -- what timely event that was for me to realize the asshole-ness surrounding me. Indeed, life makes fun out of the coincidences we encounter. But what a spectacle of asshole-ness. What temerity! I can only shake my head in utter disbelief.