The May 2007 Poll was not, by any stretch, a perfect one.

Vote buying, disenfranchisement, violence, rigging of counting, variants of the dagdag-bawas and the undemocratic coercion of the "command votes" were still there. Let us just say that the magnitude of the electoral abomination was not that heavy.

But it is only because the Administration is a rational political animal. Even with its cutting edge (if it wanted to cheat), it rightly believed that doing so was counter-productive. Domestically, it could not have survived a severe political backlash from a people still traumatized by the questions that plagued the 2004 presidential polls.

Internationally, it could have eroded its already decimated image of lack of integrity and transparency. That has political costs as well as economic ones (poorer credit rating limited access to credit and higher price of debt - which is a function of risk.)

The sanitization of the May 2007 polls, therefore, was more an act of political survival than an inherent propensity for higher virtue.

Given that, the people (especially on the national scale) spoke with their fearless voice and sent the symbol of protest - the Genuine Opposition - into a smashing senatorial win, seizing eight top slots including an anti-GMA independent (Pangilinan). The winning TU winners were by no means GMA apologists especially Joker Arroyo who behaves more rabidly an oppositionist than many Genuine Opposition bets.

Such is this maverick senator, that to this hour, he is still a prime candidate for a "junking" when push comes to shove for the last four Senate slots. Except for Migz Zubiri, the GMA clones like Mike Defensor, Prospero Pichay and Chavit Singson are given a political spanking despite the oodles of funds they sank into the campaign. It has a message as "clear as day."

Listen not to GMA's Rasputins and Goebbels. The fact is that the May 2007 senatorial race was a national referendum on GMA administration's performance.

What's the story behind the results of the Bohol May polls?

The Bohol Administration, out of gratitude perhaps for the economic and political largesse lodged at its dinner tables, promised a 12-0 TU victory in the province. The latest NAMFREL figures, however, proved to them that Boholanos have more sense than succumbing to "command votes" who would treat them like sheep to the slaughter.

An independent and four other opposition candidates may yet make it to the Bohol Senate winning circle. Among them, of course, is GO Manny Villar, who has close links to the Governor (Congress days) and whose name appeared in many administration sample ballots. One wonders what the TU hierarchy thinks about that.

In the local scene, the reelection of Rico Aumentado and Julius Herrera was as expected as rains in July. Ditto for Representatives Edgar Chatto and Roberto Cajes for the 1st and 2nd districts. The issue of performance, at least in this election, far outweighed the allegations of graft and corruption in officialdom Bohol.

The prospective victory of former Bohol governor Rene Relampagos over greenhorn lawyer Adam Jala would have been a victory of competence over inexperience. The opposite would be a story of the dominance of money, political dynasty and patronage politics in the Third District.

The split victory of reelectionist city mayor Dan Lim and party opponent Toto Veloso is a mixed result of performance benchmarks and the magic of grassroots political machinery.

On the other hand, the town top executive's chairs in the towns of tourist Meccas like Panglao and Carmen are expected to find new occupants. Hopefully, this will signal a new dawn breaking - finally giving these neglected seats of tourism wealth the kind of genuine attention and dedication that Panglao and Carmen truly deserve but had not gotten in the past.

For every tear, a victory, was Ferdinand Marcos' favorite phrase.

The victors know too well the story behind their political triumphs. It is entirely in their hands now, to weave a new, more important script. That model to road-map their next three years so that they can prove their detractors wrong by a governance and behavior deserving of the mandate of the people.

To the winning senators, it is time to roll the sleeves, not just to become stubborn obstructionists but to defend democracy when it is threatened and to craft new laws to help the nation paddle the canoe through turbulent waters.

Otherwise, the May 14 election would just have been an expensive, idiotic circus of clowns, cheats and liars who promise much and deliver too little.

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