where in the world is pablo john garcia

Living in a hole in the wall in Quezon City is hardly the ideal way to live but I find living in Metro Manila notches higher than in Cebu, where the parochialism and pettiness is magnified many times over. In Cebu where I’m from, the Cebu City mayor and the governor are locked in battles over so many petty issues and many important ones (garbage, transport, education, environmental issues, water). But do they know the difference? While I generally side with the governor on the issues, I still find her petty and barriotic and onion-skinned.

I used to be able to claim friendship with one of the governor’s brothers. Pablo John, bright, humble when I pretended to know him, with a way with language, and an unsurpassed sense of (self-deprecating; that is the best kind of humor) humor. I wonder where Pablo John is now and whether he is starting to take himself too seriously, which would be the end of hunor.

I would like to imagine Pablo John making fun of the way the governor and her advisers are running the province. He can and could always use his formidable IQ against his former client when drunk or sleeping or any combinaton of the two states. Were he in some other and fundamentally different set of circumstances, Pablo would poke fun in original ways and there is no lack of subjects to poke fun at. Cameras monitoring the demeanor of employes, the Fuente park, ‘outlawing’ frowns, etc. I admit not knowing the details of policies which can be the butt of jokes and insults but let’s grant the governor is right on every issue. I would still miss Pablo’s humor brought to bear on them and his relatives.

Right after I learned he won the contest in Cebu’s third district, I naughtily sent him a message: “Cebuano voters voted for you, your dad, and your sister because they found your anti-dynasty program compelling.” His response was to the effect that only people with mediocre minds and who are unelectable would harbor such a view. True, but not absolutely.

I am disgusted with Joe DV and I wish the elder Garcia can wrest control of the House. And I am being Filipino, not a Cebuano, and least of all being friendly to Pablo John. But as a Filipino, let me say I miss Pablo John’s humor and warmth. And most of all I wish he’ll do well in the House.