I don?t know why we Filipinos almost always greet each other in the vernacular with ?Where are you going?? or ?Where have you been?? Surely, it?s none of anybody?s business where I?m going or where I?ve been.

It becomes worse when women greet each other in the vernacular with ?Hey, you are pretty now,? as if to imply that one was ugly before. My pet peeve is when somebody greets me with ?You are getting fat,? when I have been starving myself to death because of excess poundage.

The worst greeting in the vernacular any woman can get is when another woman asks: ?Why are you so thin, do you have a problem??

Only in the Philippines, as they say.

***

I don?t know about you, but I?ve been observing how we Filipinos, known for being devout Catholics, have been getting deeper and deeper into superstitious beliefs, attributing to inanimate objects the power of God contrary to the First Commandment.

First, there?s this fanatical celebration of the Black Nazarene of Quiapo so much so that barefoot fanatics by the thousands crowd around the image of the Black Nazarene with towels on hand just to have the chance to wipe the wooden image. By doing so, many believe their many sins have been washed away, only to return to their normal lives of committing all sorts of crimes in the book.

Year in and year out, this is repeated, and the Church appears impervious of the fact that the Black Nazarene celebration has become Southeast Asia?s biggest symbol of fanaticism.

Then comes the annual celebration of Sto. Ni?o, the symbol of the child Jesus, which has become more of an entertainment occasion in many places around the country, especially in Cebu with its Sinulog and Ati-Atihan, which is actually a hangover of the old Filipino belief of his pagan gods more than anything else. Recall the Filipino anitos of old.

The Chinese made it worse with their obsession for luck and good fortune that feng shui has become a fact among the Chinese-Filipino in the Philippines, attributing good luck and fortune on which way your door faces, or how your furniture is arranged. I know many Chinese-Filipino friends who are devout Catholics believing in feng shui. Media exacerbates this superstitious belief by making a mountain out of a molehill in feng shui. My gulay, there?s even a television program on feng shui.

Come around fruits, charms, astrology and palm-reading to find out your future and fortune, as if these things can take the place of Divine Providence. Santa Banana, would you believe that cards and palm-reading are still brisk business in front of the Quiapo church, and the parish priest seems to tolerate them?

In Ilocandia where I grew up, superstition is so ingrained that you cannot even bathe at night, nor sweep your floor at night out with the belief that you are sweeping your good fortune out of your life. Nor plant a papaya tree in your backyard.

To me, all these are the result of failure of the Church to evangelize the faithful on what the First Commandment that ?thou shall not have strange gods before me? means.

My gulay, the celebrations of the annual Black Nazarene procession, the Sto. Ni?o, and Sinulog in Cebu may have become tourist attractions or plain entertainment, and the feng shui fad but to me, they are an indictment of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines for failing to fulfill its primary mission to evangelize the faithful.

***

In yesterday?s newspapers was a screaming headline that government officials and politicians are partly responsible for the many rigged biddings and awards to favored contractors for infrastructure. To me, it was no news since everybody knows it. So, what else is new?

Since we are in the rigged biddings and contract awards, be it with the Public Works Department or any other government agency for that matter, there are so many ways of colluding with government officials, especially those in charge of bidding, politicians and even among the contractors and bidders themselves.

A bidder, for instance, puts up a dummy corporation to compete in the bidding, or is in cahoots with another contractor to share the contract with another that wins the bid. I know for a fact that a well-known contractor joins biddings and often losses, but sues at the end the winning bidder for one reason or another, and then asks the winning bidder for some concessions.

It?s thus well that the issue of rigging of the bidding for World Bank-financed infrastructure projects have come to fore if only to jolt Congress and Malaca?ang to come out of solutions to at least stop this kind of anomaly, if not enable Congress to enact laws for this purpose.

Rigged biddings and awards for government financed infrastructure projects by the Public Works Department are too well-known for this kind of anomaly. And I know quite well two well-known former DPWH secretaries and ministers who had to quit because they could not stand the stench of this scam.

***

With some 16 months to go before the May 2010 presidential elections, the Erap factor is coming to play.

Everybody who knows former President Joseph Estrada, or just anybody close to him, have told me that Erap would surely run for President, no ifs or buts about it. And that he would proclaim his presidential candidacy come April 19, his birthday.

The Erap factor in the coming elections is the fact that with some 10, I repeat 10, presidential hopefuls coming out of the woodwork, from where I sit, Erap who continuously threatens to run if the opposition cannot get united with a common candidate, and with his mass support (as shown in so many surveys, at least 15 percent), he can win.

Comes now the threat that he can be disqualified by the Supreme Court because of the constitutional provision that no President who has served can run again. The big question now is, what happens if the Supreme Court disqualifies Erap before the polls if surveys show he can win? Another question is: Will the Supreme Court have enough time to decide his disqualification before the polls? And last, but not least of all is, what can happen The Supreme Court will rule against Erap if he is elected President?

If the Supreme Court decides to disqualify Erap after he is elected to the presidency, the Constitution provides that it will be the duly-elected vice president who will assume power.

Thus, it now becomes important that Erap must choose a winnable running mate. Just who will that be is anybody?s guess, although he wants Senator Loren Legarda, who is leading in surveys. Will Loren do it since she believes she?s also presidential material? But, will Loren fight Erap?

Santa Banana, the Erap factor can change the 2010 presidential equation if not totally unsettle the scenario altogether!

***

Is it true that the Garcias of Cebu have decided to shift their support from President Arroyo who garnered over a million Cebuano votes in 2004 to former President Estrada instead?

If true, this is another factor going for Erap since the Garcias-Rep. Pabling Garcia and Cebu Gov. Gwen Garcia?are now the kingpins of Cebu, replacing the Osme?as who for decades had ruled Cebu.

***

There are other interesting things going on in the local level for 2010. It is said that Environment Department Secretary Lito Atienza will seek to return as mayor for Manila against incumbent Mayor Fred Lim.

In Makati City, Mayor Jojo Binay who is in his last term and who wants to be President wants his vice mayor to take over from him. However, there are reports that Mrs. Elenita Binay, who was also former mayor, wants her son, Jun-Jun Binay, now a councilor, to take over his father?s throne.

In Quezon City, it will be a fight for the seat vacated by Mayor Sonny Belmonte between Vice Mayor Herbert Bautista and second district Rep. May Ann Susano.

Belmonte will run in his own district and win, and if he does, he will seek the speakership of the House of Representatives. Sonny has been there and done that.