Trump unhinged and other vexations

I was eating fruit when I saw and heard US President Trump in one of his briefings aired on TV suggesting the injection of disinfectants into patients infected with COVID-19. And he kept at it while the world watched. My jaw dropped to the floor. The camera then focused on one of Trump’s pandemic consultants. She did not know what to do with herself.

The first caricature that formed in my mind was that of an irate, burly Fil-Am nurse shoving a labatiba (sounds more cruel and weapon-like than the English enema) filled with Lysol into Trump’s behind.

Was Trump, the president of what is supposed to be the most powerful country on this planet, joking or what? “Musing,” his defenders said. Even the most irreverent stand-up comedian would refrain from saying something like that out of sympathy for the suffering, grieving millions worldwide. And what about those in the medical profession and the sciences who are racing with the Grim Reaper to find solutions and save lives? Clorox and Lysol lang pala? (The manufacturers had to issue warnings.)

World leaders have had their bursts of spontaneity during critical times, their recorded utterances going down in history to be remembered for all time. Like Winston Churchill roaring “Sink the Bismarck!” during World War II and John F. Kennedy making a gaffe with his “Ich bin ein Berliner” at the height of the Cold War.

Oh, but nothing beats Trump’s own godawful attempt at being on top of the pandemic — his idiotic suggestion to use disinfectants as injectables, his idea perhaps of a lethal solution for both the virus and the patient as well. It conjured up for me images of Hitler’s so-called Final Solution that killed millions of Jews. Well, let me say that in originality, Trump beat the Philippines’ foul-mouthed President whose middle name is IWKY.

*  *  *

Viral on social media is the furious reaction of netizens against the Chinese Embassy-produced music video “Iisang Dagat” (One Sea) shamelessly extolling the “friendship” between China and the Philippines during this present crisis, and showing off the aid the Chinese government has extended to the Philippine government. As if the right hand does not know what the left hand is doing. Pa-consuelo because the virus was spawned in China and they lied about it?

I myself could not find enough invectives and pejorative adjectives to hurl against the producer of the music video that made China look like God’s gift to Filipinos but made Filipinos look like mendicants, what with government officials burping out profuse thanks while the cameras were recording and the goods were being unloaded.

Once-upon-a-time jukebox queen, vice governor of Camarines Sur Imelda Papin lent her voice and face to the music video. Spoofers went to town with a line from one of her songs, “Kung liligaya ka, sa piling ng iba…”—which smacks of betrayal in both the romance and geopolitical departments.

Well, a guitar-playing singer-composer made her own music video and uploaded it. The fiery refrain is directed at the Chinese grabbing Philippine territories in the West Philippine Sea: “Layas… layas… layas!” (Get out, go away, scram!).

As I said last week, the Chinese, like the proverbial thief in the night and while the community quarantine was in place, were hauling tons of mined ore from historic Homonhon Island in Eastern Samar. Islanders watched helplessly while the despoilers of the environment were at work, leaving the island diminished of its richness.

Also, while we were sleeping, Chinese nationals were able to smuggle in drugs and supplements supposedly for use against COVID-19 and for their own use.

And what do you make of that fracas between the Spanish homeowner and the patrolling cops in posh Dasmariñas Village in Makati? There is a video of it. It started when the cops admonished the househelp doing chores outside the house because she had no face mask on. The besotted shirtless, maskless señor stormed out of his casa and berated the cops. The head cop took it all in—the insults, the matapobre-like shouting (“Go to Tondo!”) and finger-wagging—until mamang pulis had enough and wrestled the high and mighty señor to the ground. Sin verguenza, I exclaimed.

Send feedback to [email protected]