HISTORY repeats itself like a broken record.

Before, it was conjugal dictatorship and cronies. Then, it was Kamag-anak, Inc. Now, we call it political dynasty. Really, there’s nothing new under the sun.

The Estradas had set a bad precedent when mother and son won simultaneous seats in the Senate. In the recent election, we saw senatoriables with kin already sitting in the Senate. That’s one the reasons why I did not vote for Alan Cayetano, Vic Magsaysay and Koko Pimentel (See my previous blog entry: http://inquirerbloggers.net/eleksyon2007/2007/05/16/why-i-did-not-vote-for-pichay-cayetano-et-al/).

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THE WIKIPEDIA entry of Genuine Opposition senatorial candidate Taguig-Pateros Representative Alan Peter Cayetano has apparently been defaced. A check on the History tab that shows all the changes that have been made to Cayetano’s Wikipedia entry shows that the defacing was made on May 16.

Under the “Education and other personal information” section, the user added this entry: Allan Peter Cayetano is also known as “Apeng Daldal”, “KSP Musmos” and “Walking Microphone.”

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I THINK that since the election is now over save for the counting we can now do a post-election evaluation. Maybe candidates can learn a thing or two from this.

I did not vote for Pichay because he apparently spent so much for his political ads. This worried me. Where will he get the money to recoup his “investments”? Also, there were so many ads that I feel it backfired. I got fed up hearing him promise that he dreams of fulfilling my dreams. But it seems the only way for him to do that is that I must first fulfill his dream of becoming a senator.

I did not vote for Sonia Roco because of her “para silang autistic” remark aired over national TV. That’s a very callous statement. She claimed in her apology that she was not poking fun at children with special needs. But the fact that she used the word autistic had hurt me. By the way, autistic is not the politically correct term. It’s “children with autism.” Because we have to see the child beyond his or her autism.

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HERE’S behind-the-scenes footage from today’s Eleksyon 2007 Podcast recording session.

Senatorial bet Alan Peter Cayetano answered INQUIRER.net reporter Veronica Uy’s question on whether he would seek a review of the Visiting Forces Agreement.

I THOUGHT I’d support Alan Peter Cayetano’s senatorial bid. But, after hearing that he would vote for abolishing the Senate), I’d say the people should not waste their votes on him.

We need an even stronger Senate, and the least we could have are senators who believe in having two houses of Congress. It is bad enough that the House of Representatives sold us for the price of their pork barrel. Now, the last thing we need is a Senate with members who do not believe in the importance of its role in the checks and balances that Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has weakened.

Let’s have senators who will serve our people and our Constitution well, not senators who see only the political title and power that come with an elected position.

As Cayetano has shown his real political color, I am hoping that the Genuine Opposition (GO) will drop him from its senatorial slate.

The senatorial race is beyond fighting Arroyo and the First Gentleman, although that is a collateral benefit and a necessary and almost inevitable result of going for GO.

– AURORA RIEL, 503 E High Street, Murfreesboro, North Carolina (via e-mail)