OF LIES AND LACK OF "ZIPPER CONTROL"

When God decreed "Go thou therefore, multiply and cover the earth" - he armed men (especially the male specie) with the faculty necessary to obey His decree. A just God, after all, issues not a law that man is not equipped to follow.

Thus the strong sexual urge was implanted. Some men were born (at birth) with the urge to touch the nurse before the bottle; others developed the lack of "zipper control" as they blossomed into puberty.

Now one adjunct that makes this primal necessity compelling is "power." One wit once said that "power is the best aphrodisiac" - the bearer feels invulnerable and seductive, the female (usually) gets attracted to the sense of power and imbibes pride in it as if by osmosis by having a relationship.

We have heard of kings and emperors siring hundreds of children at their heart's content. We also have no lack of modern-equivalents.

The latest tragic character is popular North Carolina Senator John Edwards, one of the then three leading Democratic presidential candidates behind Barrack Obama and Hillary Clinton.
The 55-year-old former successful trial lawyer is good enough to be a Hollywood actor described by the Associated Press as "armed with the practiced charm of a court room warrior and a smile bright enough to blind the camera's eye."

He dropped off the presidential race in January and helped Obama win by endorsing him over Hillary. John was a sure-fire candidate for a prime Cabinet position under an Obama presidency.
Now - no longer.

Now after dodging the issue for a year, Edwards finally admitted (due to preponderance of evidence) that he had an affair with film-maker Rielle Hunter who made some of his documentaries. There are talks that the 5-month old Hunter's daughter is Edward's son. The senator's wife is reportedly fighting off a debilitating disease - increasing the melodrama.

Senator Edwards abruptly lost the support of his followers and the Cabinet position (as a
consequence) because as they said:" You can't lie in politics and still have the people's confidence."

Leaders having sexual affairs in America is commonplace but lying is never accepted as a public norm. It is very instructive.

Recall that President Richard Nixon was impeached not necessarily because he illegally tapped the headquarters of the Democrats (said "Deep Throat") but because he used the power of his office to hide the truth. It is the dishonesty part that rankles the psyche of Americans.

Notice further that playboy-president Bill Clinton owned up to his "Oral" Office affair with Monica Lewinsky and apologized to wife Hillary for his private transgression. The American public had forgiven him. Even John "Camelot" Kennedy who had alleged sexual exploits with many including the Great Temptress - actress Marilyn Monro is still one of the most famous American presidents ever.

If the Americans pretend to have amnesia when considering the sexual offenses of their leaders - more so the Filipinos.

The early Commonwealth President Manuel L. Quezon, the Mestizo, was an inveterate womanizer, his good looks and oratory - a lethal combination. President Ferdinand Marcos had his tape-recorded dalliances with a CIA Hollywood B-actress called Dovie Beams. Plus, among other stars and starlets, a reported romance with a leggy creamy-skinned singer (a'la Imelda) and an international beauty queen.

But in 1986, the Filipinos did not oust him because of his sexual excesses but because he lied on his mandate by stealing the elections from the widow Cory Aquino and plundered the nation.
Fidel V Ramos (FVR) won the presidency despite his publicized romance with a fair Makati socialite who allegedly bore him a son who studied Economics in London.

Top on the list, of course, is Joseph Estrada who had a bevy of girl-relations (with kids) who were flaunted like part of his bio-data, yet he won the presidency with the biggest majority vote in Philippine recorded election history. He was ousted by money issues of alleged plunder and corruption.

Even, the late Fernando Poe Jr., who almost made it to the presidency, if not for some Mindanao "magic" - had his share of women stars and starlets with at least one alleged child out of wedlock.

People accept this "lack of zipper control" among their leaders for it has almost become a part of the counter-culture of the country dating back from the Spanish times.

Then - the rich and powerful had mistresses among the Indios, the married soldiers cavorting with local lasses and my goodness, even friars and bishops had their indiscretions that echoed through the communities like the pealing of church bells. The same happened when the Japanese invaders occupied the land - to the victors belong the booty, including the women.

In today's governance, however, a somewhat ticklish issue revolves around the public official who holds a mistress or two or three, as the case may be.

Paid a pittance officially and disallowed to go into private business as a public official, the government functionary who is known to hold a harem through girls housed in a condo or apartment in every relevant port in the country or goes wild on a spending orgy in social clubs, bars and discos - are always suspect.

Suspect as in having used the people's money - through direct assault on the treasury (false expense claims) or through kickbacks generated. Per the World Bank that "tongpats" is at least P88 billion a year; Senator Edgardo Angara had a kinder estimate of P24 billion, many years back.

Now that is not just sexual mania, that is partial kleptocracy.

That is no longer just lack of "zipper control" but dipping one's dirty fingers into the cookie jar.