luck be a lady
Manila, 11 October—The Ultra Lotto 6/58 jackpot has hit a staggering P1 billion, and everybody has been in a betting frenzy. The odds of winning are 1 in 40.5 million, which makes it much, much rarer than the 1 in 200,000 probability that one will get struck by lightning in the US. That is insane.
With prices of commodities going up, and in the face of the upcoming election season, it’s hard not to cling on to the tiniest of hopes. My officemates, a dozen of whom participated in a betting pool, all daydreamed out loud about the P1 billion pot. I myself cannot begin to grasp the magnitude of such a sum. Still, Pinoys are lining up, because in a nation of 100 million, you may just be That One at the Right Place, Right Time with the Right Numbers.
You know who else was at the right place at the right time? Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. As Estrada’s vice president, she assumed office after Edsa Dos in 2001, and when she ran again in 2004, she made sure that her running mate and winning VP, broadcaster Noli de Castro, was as unsavory an option for replacement as ever, keeping her safe from the succession of impeachment attempts against her from 2005 to 2009.
So it was utmostly appalling for me to hear that Arroyo’s version of the draft charter purposefully omitted the clause on vice presidential succession while the country is transitioning to a Federal system of government.
Arroyo. Who, post-Edsa, is perhaps the one who benefited from this clause the most. That is just the height of hypocrisy. (LOL, height.)
Meanwhile, Vice President Leni Robredo is headed to US and Canada to deliver speeches. Looks like the international community is taking a closer look at the vice president, who will, barring all unconstitutional maneuvers and power-grabs, likely succeed the president, who has admitted being ill multiple times. Hmmm. Will VP Leni be at the right place at the right time, just like GMA? Only time can tell.