English: Floor proceedings of the U.S. Senate, in session during the impeachment trial of Bill Clinton. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)Financial IQ Philippines Quick Hit(s):
Depending on the outcome of Corona's impeachment trial, experts predict that Philippines will see more economic improvement if Corona is impeached.
Even as we write this column, Filipino bookies are busy collecting bets on the outcome of the Corona impeachment trial: acquittal or conviction? Oddsmakers certainly had their hands full calculating the outcome and trying to predict how each senator-judge will vote. Some are betting 2:1 that the outcome will be guilty, basing predictions on, ironically, the testimony of Chief Justice Renato Corona himself. On the other hand, odds are 2:1 that it will be an acquittal with only eight votes needed to get Corona off the hook.
Not that this is surprising, because many Filipinos love to play the “game of chance.” As a matter of fact, almost anything can trigger the Filipino itch for gambling – with bets placed on the ending numbers for basketball games, or the round when Manny Pacquiao will knock his opponent out cold. According to a paper by De La Salle University economics professors Marvin Castell and Joel Tanchuco, gambling is a “habitual and pervasive social activity,” with Filipinos “from the humblest barrios to the most affluent villages” known to engage in this activity.
Egyptian actor and compulsive gambler Omar Sharif once described gambling as a form of entertainment – which is very apt, since the impeachment is a political exercise as well as a numbers game. And in this country, politics and entertainment have become one and the same.
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