‘Gusto ko happy ka!’ ENQUIRY Demaree J. B. Raval 03/07/2010

‘Gusto ko happy ka!’ ENQUIRY Demaree J. B. Raval 03/07/2010 I must admit that when I first heard of Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile’s new slogan, “Gusto ko happy ka!’ I asked myself how someone as brilliant and experienced as JPE could settle for something as unelaborate or unadorned — or tacky, according to some people who have grown accustomed to expect political slogans as a statement of egoism and self-deification. You know, the usual variations of “I am the greatest; I am the purest; I am the wisest.” Or like the “C’est moi” song in the musical Camelot where Lancelot beats his breast and boasts: I’m far too noble to lie. That man in whom These qualities bloom, C’fest moi, c’est moi, ‘tis I. I’ve never strayed from all I believe; I’m blessed with an iron will. Had I been made the partner of Eve, We’d be in Eden still. Having known him for a considerable length of time — including those when I was in and without the Senate, when I had observed him pluck an elaborate phrase out of thin air while thinking on his feet — I sort of expected something more profound to come from him. Until I heard him over the radio. In countless interviews, the Senate President took time to explain his thoughts behind this catch phrase that has become so popular that even overseas Filipinos or residents of remote towns in the Visayas have all become familiar with it... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune ALTERNATE URL: http://www.tribune.net.ph/commentary/20100307com3.html

COMMENTARY EDITORIAL Estrada finds momentum FRONTLINE Ensuring fraud and poll failure ENQUIRY ‘Gusto ko happy ka!’ BLURBAL THRUSTS No stink in Century Park deal ANALYSIS Rogue waves, towering terror on the high seas FEATURE Cyprus Maronites battle to preserve rare ancestral language VIEWPOINTS Assumptions for May 2010 polls