“It's so important to realize that every time you get upset, it drains your emotional energy. Losing your cool makes you tired. Getting angry a lot messes with your health.” 
--Joyce Meyer

By Alex P. Vidal

NEW YORK CITY -- The excuse that “nabutang kami sa tunga ” (we are caught in the middle of things) won’t hold water in politics.

Some friends of the Defensor, Biron, Garin, Tupas, Zulueta, Espinosa, Treñas, Gerochi, Nava, Ganzon, Alim, among other big political families, claim they can’t decide which political group or candidates to support “because they are all our friends; they are all close to us; they are all good.”
Baloney.
Choose the lesser evil.
Anyway, they’re not all Lucifer’s relatives--and they aren’t all angels, as well.
Once we start to peel off the onions, we can separate the chaffs from the grains; we can identify the charlatans from the real epitomes of public service.
In the “Divine Comedy”, Dante warned that “the hottest places in hell are reserved for those who in a period of moral crisis maintain their neutrality.”

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Now that several politicians have started filing their certificates of candidacy (COC) for the May 2019 general elections in the Philippines, speculations about who will face certain candidates in the top and lower positions are also starting to unravel.
Because most local candidates move around and will campaign in close-knit communities, expect many friendships and relationships by affinity and consanguinity to shatter.
It’s a barefaced reality in Philippine politics that not all our friends--bosom or acquaintance--will vote for us.
It’s not even an assurance that a seatmate or a high school sweetheart will automatically vote for us. 
It’s been tested and proven that some candidates can’t even collect all the votes in a family; a sister or a brother--or even the parents--would horrifically vote for another candidates.
Politics has always been the No. 1 destroyer of camaraderie, kinship, and fraternal ties.
Our advice to candidates: keep your cool. 

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When a friend or a relative gives our candidacy a cold shoulder treatment, don’t retaliate by aggression; don’t be vindictive.
Don’t use the social media to confront someone about past affairs or favors we gave them. 
It won’t help deodorize our public image if we resort to “kiss and tell” tactic and sour-grape like a waif. 
As much as possible, avoid the words “I thought you are my friend”,”Your true color has surfaced now that I need you most”, etcetera.
It’s a kid’s rant. 
Don’t be a cry baby if somebody disapproves our candidacy and supports, of all people, our rivals. Painful but life goes on; let's move on.
Life is an ocean of mystery. 

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We can’t pocket all the balls in the billiards table; we can’t win everything. 
Somewhere along the way, relationships turn sour;“utang na loob” or debt of gratitude diminishes and forgotten easily during moments of tests and challenges. 
Jesus lost Judas when the Lord needed him most; Caesar lost Brutus; Bonifacio lost Aguinaldo; and Marcos lost Ramos and Enrile, to name only a few.
When we are in the pigsty, don’t expect a fellow pig to kiss our lips.

Politics has always been a dirty, nasty, and heart-rending game.
If we can’t take the heat, let’s immediately get out the kitchen.

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Strong people are given much trials and heartaches because it is believed that they can overcome such pain. 
That they are brave. 
But sometimes we get so tired that we just want to scream and give up. 
When that certain time comes that we can no longer walk on our own, God helps us carry our pain. 
For as long as God is here, giving up is never a choice.