By Mortz C. Ortigoza
The reason why former four-star general and national
police chief Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa earned a niche in the heart and mind of Filipino
voters was not only his derring-do to belt a song or songs while lady
spectators pulled their male counterparts to dance with the music he averagely
sang but his provincial demeanour spiced up by his Cebuano or Mindanaon thick
accented Tagalog.
These are his comparative advantage to other senatorial
rivals like Bam Aquino, JV Ejercito, and others who were outside the Magic
12 of the 2019 Senate Race’s surveys.
I’ve been telling media colleagues here in Luzon why
Tagalog ladies loved their Visayan or Mindanoan boyfriends or husbands not because of their
sexual prowess but because of the thickness of their tongue in enunciating a
correct sounding American word.
Peace for them is “Pis”.
As a resident of Mindanao in the middle of 1970s to middle of 1980s, the ballyhooed “Pis” word for them had, son of a gun, multiple meanings.
Pis could be “Face”, “Peace”, “Paste”, "Piss", or “Fish”.
Peace for them is “Pis”.
As a resident of Mindanao in the middle of 1970s to middle of 1980s, the ballyhooed “Pis” word for them had, son of a gun, multiple meanings.
Pis could be “Face”, “Peace”, “Paste”, "Piss", or “Fish”.
That’s why when I told former Five –Time House
Speaker Joe de Venecia at a presidential rally of the Liberal Party in 2016
that when I asked Senator Manny Pacquiao how was the Peace and Order situation in my beloved island Mindanao, he told
me: “Many fish but no order in the Tuna
Port there in my home place General Santos City”.
Of course I have to immediately calmed down the rabble
rousing Speaker who had a guffaw but seemed to be hit by a stroke
on my joke on what he thought was a faux
pas from the Senator whose college degree was complimented by the Acceleration or
Accreditation and Equivalency Test of the Department of Education where the
world saw him catapulted from Grade 6 to the Tertiary.