Pass or fail?

Nette and I have a running joke about the ongoing Survivor series. (Well, two, actually.) The first one goes: put a full-blooded Pinoy in the running, and he’ll win over all those whining Americans. Hands down. ("What the hell you mean, you don't eat fish heads?!")

The second, a little less complimentary to the Pinoy state of affairs, goes that the most challenging Survivor ever would be: Survivor Tondo. Now, that’s a real challenge.

It’s another challenge only the Pinoys could win. We’ve been fighting for our survival as a people for 400 years, and we’ve kept the specter of total chaos and genocide at bay. Only just.

What will tip the balance, in my opinion, is the upcoming exam the whole nation will take this May. Pass or fail. There are no second chances this time.

And I hope desperately that we’ve learned our lesson: no actors for President. No devious politicos hiding behind their Senatorial status to evade prosecution. Just honest, decent men who’ve only got the good of the country on their agenda.

But who have we got? An actor, a bloodthirsty police general, a discredited President, and an untested leader.

One would hope that the nation would have gotten the message. On a municipal level, the lesson seems to have sunk in: Sonny Belmonte won over actor and Erap buddy Rudy Fernandez in the Quezon City mayoralty race. The pre-exam review for the rest of the country, however, depresses me. The same crowd who saw glitter over substance in the last Presidential election seems likely to swerve the same way next year.

Exam day approaches. Somebody give this country a crib sheet.