In a not so formal ceremony held by the Comelec at the PICC last Wednesday night, June 6th, 10 senatoriables have been officially proclaimed as elected. The winners with the number of votes, as follows:

1. Legarda, Loren (GO) - 18,069,466
2. Escudero, Francis Joseph (GO) - 17,858,416
3. Lacson, Panfilo (GO) - 15,261,999
4. Villar, Manuel Jr (GO) - 15,004,714
5. Pangilinan, Francis (IND) - 14,229,449
6. Aquino, Benigno Simeon III (GO) - 14,052,166
7. Angara, Edgardo (TU) - 12,187,225
8. Cayetano, Alan Peter (GO) - 11,560,083
9. Arroyo, Joker (TU) - 11,381,206
10. Honasan, Gregorio (IND) - 11,343,606

Two other spots are left vacant by the Comelec as they have proclaimed a failure of elections in Maguindanao, a southern region in the Philippines, and therefore will hold a special elections. There are still about a million more votes left untabulated that will ultimately decide the fate of the three hopefuls:

1. Trillanes, Antonio IV (GO) - 10,977,680
2. Pimentel, Aquilino III (GO) - 10,656,050
3. Zubiri, Juan Miguel (TU) - 10,542,036

Recto might even have a chance for a spot in the "Magic 12," as he closely trails Zubiri with 10,272,111. But that's wishful thinking. Who's that in the 11th spot? A surprising --- no, alarming --- outcome is the sudden appearance of Trillanes in the "Magic 12." Do all those 10,977,680 people know this guy? The only thing I know about him is that he led the mutiny that took place in Oakwood (now Ascott) in Makati. To take hostage a whole hotel demanding changes in the government just takes the cake. He's either very, very smart, or very, very stupid. The mutiny brought fear to the people of Makati, grinding businesses to a halt for a few days, which had a great impact on the economy of the city and, indirectly, to the country. It almost makes me want to compare it to the tragedy we know as 9-11. For starters, it crippled a country's economy, almost to the point of non-recovery. But of course, nothing can compare to the horror that was 9-11. Taking down symbols of economic and financial strength is definitely an act of terrorism. This hole of an ass should be tried for acts of terrorism, in addition to acts of sedition and treason. This guy shouldn't be alive, at all. But he's in the running for a senatorial spot. And I just recently learned that if you are a convicted felon, criminal, or whatsoever, one way to stay out of jail is to become an elected official. You are immune from prosecution for the duration of your term. Or at least, that's how I understand it. Did I mention he's in jail? And to think that he's going to be responsible for all the Filipinos. It was then that I realized how much I hate the way things are run here in the country. I hated it before. Now, I hate it more. How'd he get there? That is exactly the question. Speculations abound, and one of them is that the Genuine Opposition (GO) did some dealings and made bargains and cheated their way into the senate. There was a proposal before for a computerized elections to lessen, if not minimize, election fraud, but GO senators opposed it, being with the opposition, of course. Now, with a regular election, they're crying and screaming of being cheated. If GO cheated, why would they cry foul that they were cheated? The answer would be misdirection. "He who complains of smelling it is likely the one who dealt it." Another speculation would be that GO had a very effective machinery in campaigning for their boys. That maybe true, but how much information about this guy did GO's machinery disseminated. And how much of it did the national public actually believed? And so, in hopes of answering these questions, I'd like to ask another question, hoping for an answer based on stock knowledge with no research whatsoever:

What do you know about Antonio Trillanes IV?

I've mentioned before that what the Philippine government needs is a conscience. I would like to also say that its people also needs the same thing.