Written by Clarisse P. Marquez
Every great magic trick consists of three parts: the pledge, the turn, and the prestige – Christopher Priest, The Prestige
The ‘Pledge’ is when the magician shows you something ordinary like a deck of cards. It looks real, but it probably isn’t. The ‘Turn’ is when the magician takes something ordinary and makes it extraordinary. The ‘Prestige’ is the final act.
Not surprisingly, Philippine politics is just another magic trick.
The first act is when a political candidate makes the ‘Pledge’. He makes promises and shows you that he is a man out of the ‘ordinary’. The narrative of being “laki sa hirap” is often glamorized. It looks real, but it probably isn’t.
The second act is the ‘Turn.’ He shows you that he can definitely make a change. Simply stated, “Change is coming!”. He does something extraordinary despite the narrative of being ‘ordinary’ or perhaps to kill? It is easy to fool the audience during this act because most Filipinos decide based on emotions.
The final act is called ‘The Prestige.’ This is the payoff where lives hang in the balance and you see something shocking that you’ve never seen before, “If you give me 100 billion, we’ll solve all the problems in Philippine education.” Then, the money disappears.
This time, it’s neither an illusion nor a magic trick. So, ‘Are you watching closely?”
THE BARRISTER 