‘Sic transit’

A FAMOUS practitioner of the law ran in the 2016 elec­tions for a seat in the Senate. Extremely qualified, articulate, with a head on his shoulders and a heart where it should be, he was cheered on by friends, ac­quaintances, kindred spirits and strangers when out of the blue he pulled out of the race just when things started to get interesting.

But why, was their astonished reaction. First chance I had to collar him, he told me, “I found out I was no longer being myself. The more people who surrounded me, the more I realized I was be­ginning to sound like them and I was giving them answers they wanted to hear.”

I was just as astonished when he filed his COC in 2019, for one of 12 seats that were up for grabs among a mad and merry bunch of 62. What happened in the three intervening years to change his mind? A political reorientation, a personal/professional challenge? Sadly, he failed to make it again this time, his eminent qualifica­tions notwithstanding.

The failure of this candidate is the fault, for want of a better word, of democracy. You cannot assume you can read the minds of millions of people. As an ex­ample, those post-election day analysts could not have forecast the downfall of this and that dy­nasty; they were good at reading the outcome, after the fact.

For years to come, the fall of the Estrada clan will be the sub­ject of analysts doing their thing, now that May 13, 2019 is his­tory.

History is mankind’s way of deal­ing with its past, as astrologers apply their own unique knowl­edge in linking past to future. According to astrologer Zenaida Seva, the Estradas’ 49 years in power is a reflection of the law of sevens. Each power cycle is good for seven years; accord­ingly the ex-movie star, ex-mayor of San Juan, ex-senator, ex-vice president, ex-president, ex-con­vict, ex-mayor of Manila enjoyed seven cycles. (Count those titles – seven of them!)

Ms. Seva notes: “The seven-year cycle’s limit is 84 years (12 cycles), sometimes extended to 96 or 103. Real power could last 250 years, as empires and civilizations do.” Sic transit gloria mundi.