Smile has a quorum

Where is Joel? Nobody knows. Geographically. Politically.

People keep asking whether Joel Villanueva is leaving Alan Peter.

Alan Peter doesn’t seem concerned. Maybe Joel is just another layer. Defect?

You’re thinking like a mammal.

We have been watching Alan Peter’s weird serenity very closely lately.

We are a month into this thing. Stressful environment. Terrible for the skin.

By all known laws of nature, the man should be cracking. Everybody agrees.

Instead, Alan Peter appears to be shedding. A little concerning. A little unusual. Like a reptile. A very optimistic reptile. We don’t know what to do with this information.

Another crisis. Another layer gone. Another press con. Another glow. Where does it end? How many layers are there?

The mood is outperforming the votes. The Senate looks exhausted on his behalf.

One day we may arrive at a press con and discover a completely different Alan Peter standing there. Leaner. Smoother. More aerodynamic. Still praising the Lord.

At one point he heard clapping. Immediately: “Ngayon lang ako pinalakpakan ng media (First time media applauded me).” Not the media. Many people would have verified. Alan Peter took the miracle by faith.

The numbers get worse. The smile gets a little cocky if we’re being honest. The smile is beginning to create its own facts. What newspaper Alan has been reading lately? What the hell is he looking at?

Robin knows. He has that look. The look of a man who knows something. Or nothing. You can tell. He won’t say. Very loyal. Very under oath to that smile.

The reporters look worried. The senators. Alan Peter smiles like he has seen the future. Joel looks like the future descended upon him in tongues.

Have you seen it? Joel? Jesus is Lord’s last anniversary? What’s he talking about? Flood control. He’s shocked! Offended! Like he found out someone put ketchup on his hotdog.

“Kasali daw? Eh, ‘di wow! Wala tayong flood control! Hindi tayo sangkot sa katiwalian!” (Me? Oh no, not me.)

You were almost certain something was happening. You’re not quite sure what. Was it a sermon? Political rally? A seizure?

The man’s eyebrows. His arms! Flailing! Like twin propellers. You half-expected him to take off from the Luneta Grandstand like a helicopter. Heli-Joel.

You calculate how many calories a minute Joel was burning. The movements had that frantic quality of a man who forgot where he put the Holy Spirit.

“Tayong mga JIL…if God is with us, no one, nothing and no circumstances here on earth can be against us!”

“If God is with us, who can’t possibly be against us?” We don’t know, Joel. Maybe the Ombudsman?

The more Joel waved his arms, the stranger Alan Peter began to look.

One man looked worried. The other looked unpleasantly reassured.

The Senate is still arguing over 13.

The impeachment needs 16 to defeat that smile.