A moveable feast of presumptions

Malice in the House

For the first time, I had a grand time watching on Sunday TV the canvassing proceedings in Congress. Finally, I thought, I can make a passable comment about it.

Indeed, it was entertaining in a bizarre way: With the steadfastness of a barnacle, the Opposition displayed an irritating presumption of guilt until the administration party could be proven innocent.

Look, I am not saying the latter is immaculately clean. We constantly hear about cheating during elections, of course. We constantly hear about vote-buying on the part of corrupt politicians and data manipulation on the part of unscrupulous COMELEC officers. But to talk like the cheating at this level was massive, was totally ridiculous! The resulting scenario was that the administration legislators were made to appear constantly defensive, and hence, hiding something. For Pete's sake, there are seven copies of the COC, and at each of the five or so stages of data transmission, poll watchers and/or political representatives were present and these people signed, attesting to the veracity of the figures!

"Show me the money!" Cuba Gooding's character screams to Jerry Maguire on the phone, to the point of tinnitus, in the movie Jerry Maguire. To the Opposition legislators, one should've shouted, "Show me evidence of massive fraud first!" Come on. It's not as if these people care so much about such abstractions as truth, justice, freedom, democracy! Who are they fooling?

If that's not the law being turned on its head, then prosecute me.