In the Philippines, we value our politics as much as we value our beer. That said, the effects of both politics and beer in this country are similar; it could lead to fights that are circular and tedious at best, and childish and utterly unproductive at worst. Which isn’t to say I abhor politics altogether. It just so happens that I’d rather watch than have much of a say, because I discovered that the minute you say something, you automatically take sides. And it’s never good for anybody with even an iota of journalistic training to take sides. At least, that’s what I’d like to think. Cop out? Maybe. I'm not going to defend myself. But I will say that this is why I have tried, as best as I could, to remain neutral throughout the entire political debacle that is the (automated!) elections in the Philippines this past month. Of course, there’s no way one could remain completely neutral, when clowns like Bong Revilla and Juan Ponce Enrile cling to the senate with a death grip, w