Play The King: Act Two

CHAPTER VII: Circle the Wagons (Castiel)

My face twitched and my hand clawed on my left leg. I felt a stabbing pain course through it. Mabuti't ilang segundo lamang ang itinagal n'on kaya hindi nahalata ng mga kasama ko ang pagngiwi ng aking mukha.

Valeria flicked her eyes to me, and I gave her a nod in response. "It has something to do with the Freedom of Information bill, ma'am."

"What of it? If I recall correctly, unanimous ang vote doon ng LEXECOM, 'di ba?"

"Before the actual vote, we thought that the majority bloc would kill the motion. So we tried to convince one of them to vote in favor of its approval."

Our advisor squinted her eyes. "And how did you convince that person?"

"We, uhm . . ." Valeria looked down for a few beats. She must be struggling to find the right words. Ang pangit pakinggan kung sasabihin niyang binlackmail namin ang isang chairperson ng college student council. Our adviser would not be happy to hear it.

"Valeria and I offered a quid pro quo to the chairperson of the College of Computer Studies council," I finished her sentence. Ako na ang sasalo sa kanya sakaling hindi niya kayang ituloy. The idea was mine anyway. "We found out that Chevy and some CCS students were involved in spreading the false rumor about Fabienne Lucero—"

"The one started by her ex-boyfriend?"

I nodded. "Ayaw po naming malagay sa kontrobersya ang isang chairperson, maging ang ilan niyang officers at collegemates. Kaya nakiusap kami na kung pwede, iboto niya kung ano ang sa tingin niya'y tama at huwag basta-basta sumunod sa kagustuhan ng kanyang party."

"That sounds like subtle coercion to me." Our adviser reclined in her seat. "But isn't that unnecessary? Every chairperson—even those from the majority bloc—voted in favor of the FOI bill. Either they really intended to vote yes or Chevy managed to convince them to support the motion."

"My guess is that it's a trap set by majority bloc," I said, pushing my spectacles up the bridge of my nose. "They made it look like they were going to oppose it so we would be forced to use whatever's necessary to convince at least one of them. Kumagat kami sa pain kaya nabingwit kami."

Ma'am Sonia breathed a sigh before flicking her gaze to our president. "Were you aware of their action? Did you authorize it?"

Priam lifted his gaze from the newspaper. A few beats of silence followed. I surveyed his face intently.

"Yes, I was well aware of what they did, ma'am."

"No, you weren't!" Val interjected before turning to our adviser. "No, ma'am, he wasn't! Priam only knew na kauusapin namin si Chevy. Wala siyang kaalam-alam maging sa naging takbo ng meeting namin."

"Don't try to claim responsibility," I told him with matching hand gestures. "Hindi ka namin sinabihan kung ano'ng balak naming gawin para ma-convince si Chevy kaya hindi mo maaako 'yon!"

"Any action related to student governance by any officer of the USC has my consent," Priam insisted with his firm voice. Hindi niya kami binalingan ng tingin ni Val. "Therefore, their method of convincing Chevy has my approval."

I squeezed my eyes shut as I hung my head low. Kulang na lamang ay sabihin niyang "the buck stops with me." I got the whole point about holding himself accountable for the actions of his officers. But this was not the right time to insist it—especially not in front of our adviser! Minsan talaga, ang tigas ng ulo niya.

"He wasn't able to give his approval because he wasn't informed." Val motioned to him. "This is his way of putting the blame on himself."

"Whether he was aware or not, you can't change the fact that the coercion was done for the benefit of the USC," Ma'am Sonia commented. "At lahat ng mga galaw ng student council ay automatically ina-assume na may blessing ng head nito. I admire Priam for taking accountability for your actions."