‘Let Cynthia be Cynthia. And let us worry about the myriad of real problems that are keeping all of us from maximizing our potentials as individuals and as a nation!’
LAST week, I was deluged with messages from friends, thanks to news items from Bilyonaryo.
Thankfully, the first item which unfortunately featured me (it was a slow news day!) was quickly displaced by a second news item, complete with a video clip, featuring none other than Senadora Cynthia A. Villar. The clip showed her berating private security guards of a subdivision who were refusing to open or remove a metal gate that blocked access to what I am told was part of the “Friendship Road” network of Las Pinas. The network allows the public to travel through private subdivisions with the consent of the homeowners as a way to alleviate the terrible traffic situation in Metro Manila in general and Las Pinas in particular.
“Tanggalin mo. Tanggalin mo!” The Senadora can be heard saying over and over again, fruitlessly. When she was asked “huwag ninyo naman po saktan ang guard naming,” she was right to protest because I didn’t see her doing anything to hurt a guard or anyone for that matter, gay or straight.
But the video was fodder for our voyeur nature and for part of us that just can’t resist a “scandal” and so before you know it every Tom, Dick and Harriet was asking me if I’ve “seen it.”
Poor Cynthia (Villar). She was being herself, which is rare among politicians. But being known for her temperament and for her “Devil-May-care” attitude (that comes maybe in part from not being poor!) her statements and moves have become a favorite subject matter for soc med commentators.
Of course, she has said stupid and silly things. We all do, yes? Like when she was said to have berated a government agency for believing too much on (and wasting too much resources on) research. She knows that her other half, former SP Manny Villar, wouldn’t be the richest Filipino today if not for good business research. Or that she would not be in the Senate (and son Mark, as well) if not for good, paid political research. But I guess sometimes she says stupid things for emphasis — like we all do. But since she is Cynthia A. Villar, it’s all over social media, just like that.
Think what you want of her but I’m happy we have someone like her in the Senate where many members can choose to be over-careful in what they say or do because keeping their seat is paramount to them. Being the wife of the Brown Tycoon, she couldn’t care less and does and says what she thinks, without fear or favor. Which should be a good thing, if you ask me, in a world where too many people are posturing 24/7, 365 days of the year.
So, while I’m happy that Bilyonaryo so quickly saw her as a great news item to cover, I have a kindlier take to that episode that landed her in the news.
Let Cynthia be Cynthia. And let us worry about the myriad of real problems that are keeping all of us from maximizing our potentials as individuals and as a nation!
