It's crazy time in the Philippines

One of the reasons the police are so angry at the so called "hostage crisis" last week, where a man held a busload of preschoolers for ransom, was the danger of copy cat crime, not to mention that it pointed out some weaknesses in the police handling of the situation.

Our relatives passed the place by, and said they thought it was just a rally, and no one seemed too upset. The families still aren't too upset, and many don't want the hostage taker jailed. But the police chief is angry, and some of the police in charge were fired for letting a couple local politicians just walk through police lines and enter the bus to "negotiate the children's realease" as if there was no danger...indeed, the rumor is now that the whole thing was not a publicity stunt to protest poverty but a publicity stunt arranged by the politicians

Personally, I doubt the rumors are true, but my acquaintances just shake their heads and tell me I am naive. Here politics is played "hard ball" style that makes Chicago politics look like amateur hour. For example, in an article about a politician assasinated in Quezon City yesterday, the newspaper blithely wrote: "...Rabaya was considered the first congressional candidate killed at the start of the campaign period..."

Well, technically that's true. You see, the campaign period only officially opened a couple days ago, so murders from last week or last month don't count...

But campaigning here will not start in earnest until the winter crop of rice has been harvested and dried, which is one or two more weeks. With everyone traveling home for Holy Week (Easter holidays) the politicians so far have been busy posting signs up, sending sound trucks into the neighborhoods, and donating money to fund fiestas, church decorations, and free health clinics.