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I’m a huge sucker for freebies, so when Abe mentioned that the Band of Bloggers would be going on a trip to Ilocos sponsored by a certain senator, I jumped at the chance. Little did I know that my “free vacation” would end up resembling a crazy post-college road trip, minus all the fun, plus politics.

Traveling with Abe and I were Aileen and Sasha. The trip to Ilocos takes about ten to twelve hours by land, and I did the smart thing and stayed up the night before so I’d spend most of the ride asleep. When I woke up sore (from the uncomfortable bus seats) and cranky (couldn’t sleep well because of said seats), I learned that my worst fears came true. This was no vacation. There would be no beach. We were there to tag along with the senator’s group in the bus and attend all his campaign rallies, then write about it in our blogs after. What in the world did I get myself into?

The only opinion I have on politics is rather crude and uninformed: no matter what promises the senatorial candidates make, we’re still screwed. They’re still going to use 10% of my hard-earned money to pay for their mansions and to keep their mistresses happy. Corruption won’t disappear in my lifetime. I made a promise to myself that I wouldn’t get involved in any of this election stuff and pander to politicians’ bullshit, much less write in my blog about what amazing people they are. But there I was, smack dab in the middle of it. I suppressed the urge to throw a hissyfit and decided to be a sport about the whole thing, taking down my thoughts as fast as my hand could write.

About 60% of our entire trip was spent riding the bus. After ten hours on the road, we headed over to the airport where our kind benefactor, the senator, arrived with his trophy wife. He spoke about things I couldn’t quite hear because he wasn’t using a microphone. Not that it mattered. I’m sure I’ve heard the same old speech about change, reforms in the political system, and the development of the country’s economy before. I thought we’d head over to our hotel afterwards but instead, we rode around Laoag City in a motorcade where the senator waved and I stuck my face out the window and watched the people standing by the roadside. Most of the time, the name they chanted was not that of the senator’s, but of his wife–clearly a lot of them won’t be voting for him because of the promises he made. What really broke my heart though, was the hopeful look they carried on their faces. They actually believe that this guy will wave his magic wand and radically change their lives for the better!

Popular politics is a sad sad thing. Clearly this senator is loaded. His aides are educated individuals who were working their asses off; I’m sure they weren’t doing this for charity. Everything in the trip was paid for–meals, accommodations, snacks. In Ilocos we stayed at Fort Ilocandia, which I didn’t really get to enjoy because we got there late in the evening. But from what I could see in the moonlight, it was quaint and gorgeous, far from the cheap roadside places I expected we’d be staying. I don’t even want to begin to imagine how much this guy spent for the whole campaign. Millions, probably. All this for a bunch of votes! It doesn’t make sense to spend so much money for the grueling task of serving the Filipino people. Nobody is that altruistic. That’s why I wasn’t swayed by his impassioned speech to the people of Batac. It was too clean, too rehearsed, too polished, like he spent hours in front of the mirror perfecting his modulation, deciding which words to emphasize.

Just when I thought I couldn’t take any more of this farce, the Band of Bloggers broke away from the caravan on day two due to some problems. We ended up in a resort in La Union after another very long bus ride, and the bad weather prevented me from frolicking in the ocean. *sigh* I’ll admit that this wasn’t the best trip I’ve ever been to but despite all my bitching, I am indeed extremely grateful for the experience. Watch me never get invited to cover an event again!