Rage

"The next few days will see America on a razor’s edge."

By the time this article comes out in this publication, the voting precincts in the US of A shall have closed, and canvassing shall have begun.

The results in this year’s key battleground states, such as North Carolina, Florida, Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania should be showing a trend after 24 hours, or around the morning of 05 November, our time. But if Trump manages to squeeze a narrow victory in the states other than Pennsylvania, then the numbers will not clear up until perhaps Saturday morning, our time.

In short, if the pollsters are right this time, Joe Biden shall have captured the 270 electoral votes by 05 November, or at the latest, 06 November. Beyond that date, it could be very, very tight, and the whole of America will be in tenterhooks, as a mad president prematurely proclaims victory even as the numbers are not yet fully canvassed.

America would then enter into a period of uncertainty and instability, with street protests in many states where the racial divide has been exacerbated by the clearly racist Trump who has pandered incessantly, even during the last days of the campaign, to his “white” American fanatics of the conservative and extreme right fringe.

From coast to coast, major urban centers have seen many stores boarded up, in fact even in the nation’s capital. Retailers fearing a mad frenzy of rage are taking preventive measures to protect their shops. As we write this article, an “unscalable” fence is being put up around the White House, as if expecting a siege.

In his final campaign speech in Michigan, Trump warned of a “physically dangerous” situation on account of a federal court sustaining a Texas court decision allowing some 127,000 votes elicited from drive-in voting precincts to be counted. Trump threatens to send lawyers all over the US of A to protest any results that would show he lost. This 21st-century Caligula would hold on to power no matter what, and goes to the extent of inciting his fanatics, whom he calls “patriots” to do mayhem.

Which is why the next few days will see America on a razor’s edge. Hopefully, the majority of Americans in the battleground states shall have by now seen the utter lack of moral scruples and the irrational mind of their incumbent, and voted for Biden.

The whole world watches intently, not the least China and Russia, and the repercussions of prolonged indecision that would trigger street rage, could well affect whatever designs the other military powers may have in their own regional spheres.

Trump could act like a mortally wounded lion, or a dying man who, to paraphrase Dylan Thomas famous poem, would “not go gentle into that good night” and would bring down the most sacred institution of democracy, which is the freedom of electoral choice, in a fit of “rage against the dying of (his) light.”

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Rolly was not as “bad” as feared. The day before, it seemed like Yolanda Part II. But extensive damage to properties, crops and infrastructure will impact adversely on the economic plight of the affected parts, particularly the Bicol region and southern Quezon.

I saw Catanduanes from the air when it was struck by Typhoon Reming in 2000, and it was devastated. Initial reports indicate that 20 years after, Rolly repeated what Reming did.

The second landfall in Albay triggered mudslides from the slopes of Mt. Mayon, destroying houses and bridges on its path.

One could only hope that farmers were able to salvage their crops early enough, but that may be a forlorn thought considering that a week before, Quinta flooded their fields as well. Mud-caked palay and corn will hardly fetch anything in the commercial trade, and only if the government would step in and buy storm-damaged grain could farmers be able to recoup part of their capital and labor costs. Due to COA rules on accountability, only the President can authorize such massive losses on the part of the Department of Agriculture, and it comes at a time when DBM is cash-strapped.

We are relieved that the loss of lives has been minimized, thanks to alert local governments and their forced evacuation moves. But spared lives of poverty-stricken people offer little consolation to the misery of livelihoods lost.

Meanwhile, we thank the Taiwan government for its immediate expression of sympathy by phone calls from top Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials and the TECO representative in the Philippines, Michael Pei-yung Hsu. As in past calamities, they are ready to assist our countrymen in the calamity areas, for Taiwan can help. Indeed.

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Looking beyond these destructive typhoons, with the hope that Siony will be much weaker, and no further typhoons visit us until January, the economy would still have to buckle up as the COVID pandemic continues to rage, not only here, but in so many parts of the world.

The economies of Europe, Russia and the US of A will definitely slow down, creating a ripple effect on the economies of still-developing countries like the Philippines. China, Japan, the US and Europe are still our biggest export markets, and when they limp, the effects cascade into ours.

How our government is able to utilize a historically high budget for 2021 to restart and revitalize our economy left weakened by COVID-19 is extremely important. How we can raise the funds needed to support such a huge budget is a big problem to begin with.

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Which is why it may be necessary to go slow on politically nice proposals such as creating a Department for Disaster Resilience and a Department for Overseas Workers. We may be creating false hopes without wherewithal to support these new departments.

Revenue collections are down, and will be down next year, perhaps well into 2022. We need to be realistic. Further bloating an already bloated bureaucracy would strain all ways and means.