Better Philippines

Some Recommendations For The President-Elect

I was trying to come up with a list of things I would like to recommend to President-Elect Noynoy Aquino. It’s a list that I hope will give him a sense of what many Filipinos would like his administration to be.

I had wanted it to be as comprehensive as possible but after much thought I realized a shorter and generic list would be enough.

So here goes. A list of things I would like the President-Elect to do immediately.

1. Stop making excuses.
2. Stop talking about your parents.
3. Start talking about your vision.
4. Start talking about your concrete plans.
5. Order your media handlers to stop feeding the Filipino people with showbiz crap.
6. Tell your sister Kris to stop talking, period.
7. Don’t appoint people based on their closeness to you. It’s distasteful especially when all they have going for them is their showbiz roots.

As simple as these are, I am confident these recommendations can help the President-Elect become more “presidential” and less “showbiz.”

Related to this, a commenter on my previous post “Aquino Wants Us To Lower Our Expectations” wrote:

Can we just let him be president first, and reserve the criticisms for later?

I think this is a sensible recommendation. However, I will follow it if and only if the President-Elect will start showing us that he is in charge of his camp and that he will no longer allow “showbiz” tactics and gimmicks to dictate his decisions and actions.

It’s time for REAL change. Are you up to it Mr. President-Elect?

Aquino Wants Us To Lower Our Expectations

Whoa! What? President-Elect Benigno Aquino III is not Superman or Einstein?

Well, according to him he is not. Now I wonder why he and his mouthpieces are making a big point out of this only now.

As I recall, during the campaign period, Aquino and his Yellow horde were all promoting him as this country’s best hope. Remember his pompous slogan “”Kung Walang Corrupt Walang Mahirap”? It can’t be denied that mentally weak voters fell for it, which is exactly why the senator won the election.

Well, Mr. President-Elect you made the claim. Make sure you fulfill your promise. You wouldn’t want to disappoint those who pinned their hopes on you by becoming just another traditional politician who breaks his campaign promises.

I am very sure though you will not succeed in solving poverty and corruption. As PinoyBuzz pointed out in his newly-revived blog, these are all “biblical” problems.

Going back to his I-am-not-Superman-or-Einstein spiel, I suppose with the presidency now in the bag, the President-Elect and his advisers feel that now is the perfect time to clarify that the Yellow One is not The One. As the following report www.malaya.com shows, Aquino is now calling on the public to set reasonable expectations.

PRESIDENT-ELECT Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino hopes that the Filipino people will have “reasonable” expectations of him as the 15th President of the Republic, saying he is humble enough to admit that he does not have all the answers to the problems besetting the country.

Despite the hardships he would face, Aquino vowed to bring more food to the table and reform the “poor” educational system.

“Kung reasonable expectation di ko nakita bakit di natin magagawa,” he said.

“Mas maraming pagkain ang itatanim natin, ang kakainin, palalakihin,” he said. “Lahat ng bagay sa reporma, education system, sa dagdag na two to three years mako-complete yan.”

“Sana reasonable (ang expectations) but I’m sure there are a lot of people thinking there has to be a night and day difference,” he said in an interview at his residence on Times St., Bgy. West Triangle, in Quezon City Monday night.

Are you serious Mr. Aquino? You want us to lower our expectations? Ok, how low is low anyway? I’m sure your fans would like to know and many of them would gladly give in to your request… huwag ka lang mapahiya.

Well, just to be clear, I am not at all inclined to cut you some slack. I will keep score. I expect that will not be too difficult to do after all you never did give us much in terms of plans and platforms just that mumbo jumbo about “Kung Walang Corrupt Walang Mahirap.” I’m sure keeping track of that one thing should be easy.

By the way, I think fulfilling that one promise should also be manageable for you. But, of course, you’re just human and it is possible you’d have some episodes of self-doubt. Should that happen may I suggest that you re-visit your campaign advertisements and be reminded of the conviction you displayed there. Of course, I’m assuming that was real conviction not some showbiz posturing.

Hypocrites and Jokers

Just saw a TV news report on how much was spent by political candidates in the last election. Seeing the figures, most of which were close to the 100 million peso mark, made my head spin. I couldn’t help but think how such a big waste elections are especially here in the Philippines.

A lot more people could have benefited had those candidates simply pooled their funds together and launched some kind of socio-civic project. They could have built classrooms, low-cost housing etc. It would have been better if they used the money to finance the education of hundreds or maybe even thousands of children. With hundreds of millions of pesos, I’m sure those politicians could have easily figured out some way to really do what they always promise to do but always forget to fulfill, that is to help poor people.

But of course, that’s all too idealistic. By default, a politician’s money always goes first to whatever endeavor there is that would potentially benefit him first and foremost. To the typical Pinoy politician, helping out others is only worthwhile if there’s a clear return of investment.

As I was watching that news report, I couldn’t help but sense some irony especially when the newscaster said something that sounded to me like a subtle criticism of political campaign spending. It just struck me as strange that this TV station would even come out with such a report when in fact it stands to gain big-time from all this. It’s a bit hypocritical, isn’t it?

Of course, there are other reasons why Pinoy-style political campaigns cost so much. One of these is the showbiz mindset. Since most Filipino voters are still stuck at being star-struck, the Pinoy politician naturally treats his campaign as if it was one big showbiz production.

So what do we get? Substance? You wish. Song and dance numbers? Yes, lots of it. Feet washing? Now, that’s new.

This is exactly the sort of thing I hate about Pinoy-style campaigning. It’s all form and no substance. Unfortunately, judging by the public’s response, we will see more of these asinine gimmicks. Hay naku.

Well, it’s all one big expensive joke.  I just hope no one’s laughing because ultimately it’s on all of us.

Survey Drop Due To Unholy Alliance?

Misplaced pride is clearly Senator Noynoy Aquino’s sin. A few glaring things bear this out. First of all, just like former President Joseph Estrada, he can’t admit to himself that he doesn’t have what it takes to lead a Third World country in dire need of progress. An underachiever in Congress, Aquino hardly qualifies as the person fit to lead millions of people to a better life.

But that is not the most damning evidence of Noynoy’s misplaced pride. With the latest surveys showing a reduction in his popularity rating, the senator now finds himself facing the reality that people’s perceptions can change. However, being the proud son-of-Ninoy-and-Cory that he is, the senator simply dismisses that even though it is a likely explanation for his ratings drop. Noynoy attributes it instead to his closest rival’s supposed advantages.

(excerpt from inquirer.net report) “I am not surprised with this turn of events,” said Aquino, reading a prepared statement at a press conference Wednesday. “First, our opponents have had a long head start in this campaign. And while I diligently perform my functions as a legislator, the others are practically campaigning fulltime, neglecting their mandate with those, who entrusted them with their votes,” he said. Aquino also criticized Villar’s “unprecedented and sustained ad spending in all forms of media and the unrelenting and increasingly below-the-belt and baseless black propaganda” against him.

In fairness to Noynoy, the moneyed Villar did start his campaign earlier. There’s also no denying that the former senate president is armed with a seemingly unlimited supply of advertising funds. However, it also cannot be denied that as an excuse this is as flimsy as it can get.

Villar did start campaigning earlier because, unlike Noynoy, Villar knew what he wanted and had the guts to take action. Of course, Noynoy and his supporters could say that he never craved power and was even reluctant to run for president. That’s just good old media spin. The truth is Aquino was never reluctant. Show me a reluctant opportunist and I’d believe that.

The problem with Noynoy is he now believes his own press releases. His overestimation of his qualities has blinded him to the reality that he is not impressive at all and people are beginning to take note of that. Attributing the fluctuations in his survey ratings to the imagined maneuvering of other candidates simply shows an apparent inability to consider his own shortcomings.

True to form, Noynoy even goes as far as dragging the Arroyo administration in his blame game.

(excerpt from gmanews.tv report) The Arroyo administration and the camp of Sen. Manuel Villar Jr. are forming an “unholy alliance” for the May 10 elections, Sen. Benigno Simeon “Noynoy” Aquino III insinuated Wednesday. Aquino made the statement after Pulse Asia released its latest survey results showing a further drop in Aquino’s ratings while Villar continues to inch closer to him despite the controversy hounding him in connection with the C5 road extension project.

I sure hope the good senator or any of his handlers would be mature enough to accept that perhaps the threat to the Aquino campaign is internal not external. And, if I may suggest, presenting a genuine platform might help Noynoy regain lost ground and destroy the perception that he doesn’t have a clue how he will lead this nation. I’m not counting on it though.

I hope I’m wrong but it seems Noynoy’s only interest is his “winnability.”

(quote lifted from gmanews.tv report) “What should not escape all of us is that I still lead the surveys—from the time I declared my candidacy to this day.

Ho-hum… Villar cuts Noynoy’s lead in survey

Is this a horse race or a Presidential election? Are we betting on a cockfight or are we looking for a leader? Are we herded into some popularity contest instead of deciding the course that our country will take in the next six years?

Manny Villar catches up to Noynoy Aquino in SWS survey

These were the thoughts that ran through my mind after reading in Inquirer dot Net’s breaking news that Presidential candidate Manny Villar had narrowed down Noynoy Aquino’s lead in a Social Weather Station survey.

Here’s an excerpt from that report:

Villar cut Aquino’s lead by eight points – from 19 to 11 percentage points, said the survey sought by San Juan representative Ronaldo Zamora, and conducted from December 27 to 28.

Of the 2, 100 respondents asked by the SWS in Filipino as to who on its list would they most likely vote for if elections were held today, 44 percent said they would go for Aquino while 33 percent for Villar.

Fifteen percent of the respondents chose former president Joseph Estrada while five percent for administration candidate Gilbert Teodoro, the survey said.

Television evangelist Eddie Villanueva came next with one percent, Senator Richard Gordon with 0.5 percent, and Senator Ana Consuelo “Jamby” Madrigal and independent John Carlos de los Reyes tied with 0.4 percent.

I subscribe to the idea that the publication of surveys that shout who is in the lead of one survey or another basically serves a propaganda for the leader in that survey.  It says that the leader of the survey is the one who is most likely to win in the electoral contest and this endows the survey leader with the advantage of a winnable image.

For the second most popular, the advantage of publishing a story that says he is catching up on the survey leader casts the electoral contest as a two way fight.  The other candidates in the electoral contests are cast as also-rans, even before the race is actually run on May 2010.

Moreover, I think that this propaganda of winnability in the form of claiming the lead in certain surveys has an effect on people.  It is a form of mental conditioning that puts blinders on the eyes of the voting public, brainwashing them into believing that the only choices they have are those that lead in the surveys.

Together with the fact that the Comelec makes little or no effort at all at leveling the playing field for all contenders in terms of campaign spending and the amount of political ads a candidate can put out — even before the start of the official campaign period, this creates a situation where in the only candidates that will be present in people’s mind are those that land on front pages because of surveys and those who can have their faces in media 24/7.

If Noynoy Aquino and Manuel Villar are the only names most people get exposed to most of the time, then it becomes most likely that people will think that these are the only contenders in the electoral contest.

On Twitter, there was an exchange between @momblogger (Noemi Dado, blogwatch) and pre-eminent blogger @mlq3 (Manuel Quezon III).  In that exchange, @mlq3 said this, apparently, in response to Noemi’s queries on whether surveys influence a voter’s decision:

@momblogger afaik only about 3% of voters decide on candidates on the basis of surveys

@momblogger If you look at ADMU’s Institute of Phil Culture study of D&E sources of influence on voting decision: http://tinyurl.com/yk4tx3y

Following the shortlink posted by @mlq3, I landed on a matrix showing the result of the Institute of Philippine Culture’s study on “Sources of Influence on voting decision.”

@mlq3 points to the result of a study saying that surveys influence only 3 percent of voters

This tends to go against my position that surveys influence people into voting for the leader in that survey.

That is, until you consider that surveys are published in the media and this forms part of the propaganda put out by the candidate, raising even further awareness for the survey leader.

But regardless of whether or not surveys do or do not influence how people vote, what is clear to me is that electing a leader means choosing the person with the best qualifications for a position and that involves examining a candidate’s worthiness based on a criteria.  Of course, the criteria by itself will not do you any good unless you get to know as much as you can about the other candidates.

If you want to go through various criteria for choosing a President or any candidate, you can go over to @momblogger’s blog.

Pinoy Buzz: Supporter says Noynoy coming to Romulo debate

ERRATA: Misunderstood @bluevill, apparently what he meant was that Noynoy will be going to a debate at La Salle Zobel on Saturday and no confirmation has been made about his attendance to the Romulo debate.

Here is a direct message from him on twitter:

bluevill Pls read my tweet to momblogger. Debate Sat. at La Salle Zobel cont…

My sincerest apologies.

I am still trying to confirm if Noynoy has changed his mind about coming to the Romulo debate from the organizers.  So far, Noynoy’s camp hasn’t indicated that their candidate has changed his mind.

Late last night I started twittering that it was rather odd that most Noynoy Aquino supporters were deafeningly silent about the fact that their idol/candidate was not going to the Carlos Romulo Foundation Presidential Policy debate.

I gave this post twitter love with mentions to @blogwatch, @momblogger, @carlosceldran, @motwister, and @mojojojo899 just to get the attention of Noynoy’s supporters.

Eventually, @bluevill twittered that Noynoy Aquino would be at a sortie somewhere in Northern Luzon but nevertheless, would go the to debate.

Here’s the screen cap of that twitter from @bluevill:

http://twitter.com/bluevill, apparently a supporter of Noynoy Aquino, says that his candidate will be coming to the Romulo debate on Jan 14

This is a good thing, if true.

Noynoy Aquino should join the Romulo foundation debate

(I was going to post this as a response to a comment in the previous post on the Carlos Romulo Foundation debate but decided to post it as an entry because it was very long.)

According to the announcement I got from a friend, the organizers of the Carlos P. Romulo Foundation for Peace and Development debate got word that Noynoy Aquino would not be attending the debate scheduled on January 14.

Here’s the portion of that announcement:

Sen. Richard Gordon, Sen. Manuel Villar and former Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro will participate in the two-hour forum. Two other candidates – former President Joseph Estrada and Sen. Benigno Aquino III – were invited to join the discussion as early as October last year, but they declined.

Now, we should note that perhaps this is the first time that Manny Villar will be engaging in a debate.  He was thoroughly dissed for begging off from previous debates and perhaps his handlers think that it is hurting his campaign to shy away from debates.

I am actually looking forward to hear Villar talk about what he’d do about Maguindanao and how to bring peace to Mindanao.  About a year ago, according to a friend from Zamboanga who heard him give a short interview there, Villar wanted to bomb the heck out of provinces where muslim rebels were the most active.  Perhaps my friend was exaggerating, but the point is, it would be a great opportunity for him to clarify his position on the matter.

Anyway, going back to the comment that I wanted to respond to….

Mr. Evelio B. Obeso wrote:

Hindi pa huli kung sasali si Noynoy. Magpakalalake naman sya.

Kung totoong para sa kabutihan ng sambayanang Pilipino ang pagtakbo nya eh dapat malaman natin ang kanyang posisyon sa mga issues sa debate.  Dito natin malalaman sa forum na (i)to kung mey kakayahan ba sya.

Eh baka sa economic issues di nya kayang magdecision at kung saan sya papanig.

Halimbawa anong pipiliin nya, murang patatas galing China o ang mahal na patatas galing Baguio?

Simpleng tanong lang po eto..Dito natin masusubok kung makabayan nga cya. Please Mr.President-to-be umatend ka na.

Here’s my response:

Dapat talaga laging sumasali ng debate ang lahat ng tatakbo bilang Presidente para madinig natin mismo sa kanila kung ano ba talaga ang plano nila para sa bansa natin.

Bagamat lagi kong binabatikos ko si Noynoy, naniniwala ako na malaki ang chance na manalo siya.  Kaya kung may pag-galang talaga siya sa atin, dapat siputin niya ang debate.

Hindi naman sa panlalait kay Noynoy, pero dun sa ANC Harapan medyo malabo ang mga sagot niya — lalo na dun sa tanong na kung ano ba ang gagawin niya sa first 100 days.

Kung sisipot siya sa debate, baka maipaliwanag niya ng mas mabuti ang mga sinabi niya.

Heto iyong transcript ng sagot niya na siningitan ko ng mga puna ko:

Noynoy Aquino:

1. Halos nagkakapareho ang dapat gawin at kung paano gagawin,

Baka hindi nakinig sa sagot ni Perlas, Gordon, at Villanueva.  Magkakaiba ang sagot nila.

2. ang problema wala pang nagsasabi kung nasaan ang pambayad ng lahat ng ito.

Sabi ni Gordon, kukunin ang pambayad sa hihingiin na debt moratorium.  Pero, mahirap yatang gawin ito at kelangan ipaliwanag pa ni Gordon kung paano magagawa ito.  Kelan lang, sinabi ng Dubai na titigil muna ito sa pagbayad ng mga utang nito at nayanig ang mga malalaking ekonomiya.  Malaking epekto kasi kapag tumigil ang daloy ng pagbabayad sa utang.

Gayun pa man, may punto nga si Noynoy, saan kukunin ang pera? Tignan natin kung masasagot niya.

3. Itong taon na ito, mayruon tayong 300 Billion deficit, next year 270.  Ang gaganda naman ng mga programa pero paano natin popondohan.

Magaling, atleast alam ni Noynoy talaga kung magkano ang magiging kakulangan sa budget ng Pilipinas. Okay, paano ba re-resolbahin ang deficit?

4. Sa amin, sa first 100 days, pareho rin naman kung tutuusin. Job generation, bigyan ng kakayahan ang tatay pakainin, patrabahuin, paaralin, kalusugan, ang kanyang mga anak. Iyong health papasok tayo, yung pangalawa health susunod…

Okay, senator, paano mo gagawin ang job generation eh may deficit nga diba? paano mo popondohan?  Sa health, ganun din?

5. Pero tuloy ang judicial reform.  Hindi ho tayo seseryosohin kung sasabihin natin na lalabanan natin ang graft and corruption.

Ang isang sagot sa judicial reform na hahantong sa mas mabilis na paglilitis ng kaso ng graft and corruption ay ang pagtatalaga ng karagdagang mga prosecutor at huwes.  Dahil nga may deficit senator Noynoy, paano mo popondohan ito?

6. 12 percent ang tax efficiency rate tapos ang nangyayari pa diyan eh walang hindi ginagamit ang poder ng BIR ng customs para mahinto ang smuggling.  Para mahuli ang nag-evade ng taxes na iyan.

Ah, so itataas mo ang tax efficiency rate.

Alam mo ba senator na ang pinakamalaking tax evaders eh ang mga dambuhalang mga negosyo?  Ang katotohanan po senator, ang middle class po ang nagbabayad ng taxes at ang mahihirap ang nakikinabang. Iyang mga mayayaman, gaya po ninyo, sitting pretty na lang habang kina-karyoka ng mga CPA ang mga libro ng kumpanya.

Kapag smuggling ang pinag-usapan, naalala niyo ba na isa sa pinaka-malakas na smuggler ng agricultural products iyong kasamahan niyong mala-kuweba ang ilong?  Siyempre, hindi iyan aaminin.

7. Kelangan masigurado ang judiciary, kapag may ginawa kang kasalanan may tiyak kang kaparusahan. Tapos, imbentaryuhin natin ang lahat ng detalye ng lahat ng problema…

Nasabi niyo na po na iyang judiciary ah, baka nagkamali ka ng balasa ng cue cards mo.

Iimbentaryuhin pa lang?  Hindi ba masinsin mong pinag-aralan ang budget ng pamahalaan? Dun pa lang, makikita mo na kung ano talaga ang problema.  Kunsultahin mo sana si Mar Roxas, may sinabi siya tungkol sa “Incrementalism” at patok na patok iyong sinabi niya.

8. Maganda po iyong gagawa tayo ng infrastructure.

Iyong iminumungkahi ngayon sa aming initial budget deliberations, wala hong binabanggit for instance sa Southern Tagalog Region na magkakaruon ng highway.  Alam naman po natin kung gaano kakitid ang papunta dun.. ang produktong binabagsak sa Batangas papunta ng Maynila ay hirap na hirap na pagtra-traverse nung mga karsadang napaka-primitibo.

Imbentaryo specifically kung anong infrastructure.  Hindi ito iyong binibigay na nowhere to nowhere connecting roads, o iyong mga ro-ro ports na gawa na pero wala namang dumadaong.

Okay, sir, maganda at nasabi niyo iyang infrastructure na iyan.  Actually, maraming naka-pilang plano para sa infrastructure po at nakasaad po lahat iyan sa GAA.  Bilang senador po, pwede niyo pong i-request sa DPWH ang listahan ng lahat ng kalye, tulay, at kung ano ano pa.  Kung magagawa niyo ang lahat ng pag-aaral na iyan bago kayo maupo, mabuti kasi six years is a short time lang po. Baka abutin po tayo ng siyam-siyam uli bago niyo matapos ang imbentaryo at tsaka pa lang kayo gagawa ng plano — iba pa iyong pagpapatupad nito.

9. Pero ang dulo po niyan, nung nakuha na natin ang pera, nagpakita tayo ng kasersyosohan sa pagpapatupad ng ating mga batas..

Hah? Pakiulit po?

10. Bibigyan natin ang lahat ng oportunidad ang ating mga negosyo po, mga dayuhan at lokal ay may patag na pinaglalabanan kung saan mangingibabaw iyong pinakamagaling at pinaka-efficient.

Ibig po niyong sabihin eh hindi papabayaan niyong malugi ang mga negosyo na hindi episyente?

Alam po ninyo, ang pinaka-hindi episyente na negosyo ay ung may kinalaman sa agricultural production, tulad ng pagpapalaki ng palaya at tubo.  Ibig po niyo bang sabihin eh hahayaan na nating mamatay ang agrikultura natin kasi mas epsiyente pang mag-angkat na lang ng bigas at asukal?

11.  Sa ganuong paraan ho, sa unang hundred days nga ho, matapos makuha iyong gastos, iyong imbentaryo,nanduon na po ang konkreto at detalyadong plano sa mga motherhood statements na parepareho naming sinasabi ngayong gabi.

So, Mr. Senator, mawalang galang na po, ibig po niyo bang sabihin eh kapag naupo na kayo bilang Presidente eh dun po pa lang niyo pag-aaralan ang dapat gawin para sa bansa natin?

Sa pagkakasabi po ninyo dito, Senator, parang inamin niyo nga na puro motherhood statements po ang nakasaad sa inyong Social Contract.

(Psst! Senator Noy, nadinig ko si Villanueva na bumubulong, sabi niya “Speak for yourself. Ako nga eh, may Executive Order na naiisip. Ikaw wala, belat!)

Noynoy’s Pod People

“They’re here already! You’re next! You’re next!”

– Kevin McCarthy as Dr. Miles Bennell, The Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)

Whenever something is weighing heavily on my mind, I come across things (books, articles, pictures, people, phrases overheard in hallways, etcetera) that somewhat eerily frames what I am going through.

Early this evening, as I was going through my collection of VCDs and DVDs, I came across a copy of an old movie sent to me by a friend years ago and that movie happens to be the original, “Invasion of the Body Snatchers”.

They're here! They're coming to get you!

For those of you who haven’t seen it, the Wikipedia provides this synopsis:

Set in the fictional town of Santa Mira, California (actually shot in Sierra Madre), the plot centers on Dr. Miles Bennell (Kevin McCarthy), a local doctor, who finds a rash of patients accusing their loved ones of being impostors. Another patient is a former sweetheart of his; recent divorcée Becky Driscoll (Dana Wynter), who tells him that her cousin, Wilma, has this same strange fear about Uncle Ira.

Assured at first by the town psychiatrist, Dr. Dan Kaufman (Larry Gates), that the cases are nothing but “epidemic mass hysteria,” Bennell soon discovers, with the help of his friend Jack Belicec (King Donovan), that the townspeople are in fact being replaced by perfect physical duplicates, simulations grown from plantlike pods. The Pod People are indistinguishable from normal people, except for their utter lack of emotion. The Pod People work together to secretly spread more pods — which grew from “seeds drifting through space for years” — in order to replace the entire human race.

The film climaxes with Bennell and Driscoll attempting to escape the pod people, intending to warn the rest of humanity. They hide; Driscoll falls asleep and is subverted. With the Pod People close behind, a seemingly crazed Bennell runs onto the highway frantically screaming about the alien force which has overrun Santa Mira to the passing motorists and (in a moment that is considered a breaking of the Fourth Wall) looks into the camera and yells, “They’re here already! You’re next! You’re next!”

Finally, Bennell is picked up by the police and questioned in a clinic. The policemen in charge do not believe his account-until they receive news of an accident in which a truck carrying strange giant beanpods is upended.

The police are quick to alert the authorities; the message has been received, but the actual end of the story is left open.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers is a classic tale of paranoia that in part plays on the fear of waking up to find out that everybody you know has been transformed into alien beings.

An hour or two ago, this movie seemed jump right to the fore of my consciousness as a very apt description of what is happening to the Philippine cyberspace as the May 2010 elections draws near.

During the last few weeks of 2009, it seems more and more people are logging on to the internet to campaign for one candidate or another.  Among the most active  and numerous (thanks to multiple nicks/handles) are those who claim to be supporters of Noynoy Aquino, Manny Villar, and Gibo Teodoro.

I am not at all sure if other Presidential candidates such as JC de los Reyes of Ang Kapatiran, Nicanor Perlas, or even Dick Gordon of Bagumbayan have nearly as many people in their retinue whose only job is to spread their candidate’s message on the internet.

For sure, Gordon has supporters on the internet — all of them are volunteers.  Perlas, according to a blogger going by the nick Shiela, says that “Nicanor Perlas has a lot of active blogging supporters/volunteers who write passionately and from the heart. In fact the whole team of Nick is composed of, tandadannnnnn…. VOLUNTEERS!”.  I haven’t come across supporters of JC de los Reyes but I am sure he has people working for him too as volunteers.

Anyway, among campaigners on the internet, I’d say that Noynoy’s followers in cyberspace seem to be the most active because as soon as you write a post about Noynoy Aquino, they come swarming to your blog.   If you post a comment  about Noynoy on a website, they’ll post a comment as well.  If you twitter anything about Noynoy Aquino, they all twitter back.  If you post a status message or a comment on Facebook, you can be sure that they’ll make their presence felt one way or the other.

I think the general instruction for Noynoy’s supporters on the internet is flood the internet with pr0-Noynoy messages, slogans, pictures, chants, rants, and what have you.

Now, what is truly impressive about Noynoy’s army of followers is that there are big names on the internet who spread his message too.  They have blogs which have a huge volume of high quality traffic, multiple Facebook accounts that are all filled to capacity and pages that have fans in the tens of thousands or more,  and they have twitter/plurk/tumbler acounts that have tens of thousands of followers.

Some of these internet bigshots openly profess their support for Noynoy. But there are others who actually make an effort not to hide the fact that they pro-Noynoy, even when it is already obvious.

Now all of these people campaigning for Noynoy Aquino on the internet basically mouth the same lines as if they’re all following a common script.

Here are some of the archetypal lines that follows after they’ve said, “Noynoy is the best choice for President…”

- because he is the most popular Presidential candidate according to all surveys and his popularity unites all Filipinos.

- because he is sincere and honest, possesses integrity, and is transparent in all his dealings.

- because he is the exact opposite of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo

- because he is the son of Ninoy and Cory Aquino, heroism is in his blood

- because he is the lesser evil

- because he is the only option

- because he is the most winnable

- JUST BECAUSE! Ah basta! Siya na nga! Yun na yun at wala na kayong magagawa.

If you encounter such thoughts on the internet just once or twice, you’d probably forget about it.  But if you constantly get exposed to these assertions it begins to get to you.

Now, how your mind reacts to this depends on how committed you are to critical analysis and how dedicated you are to the idea that people should earn positions based on the proven merit of one’s work.  It seems that the less impressionable you are, the stronger your rejection of these assertions will be and that can lead you to counter these assertions.

However, the reality is that most of our countrymen are impressionable and are prone to jump on bandwagons without asking where it is heading.

Noynoy’s handlers are actually exploiting a huge array of  very powerful and emotional ways to draw people to draw people to Noynoy’s bandwagon

You had the death of Cory Aquino producing the ‘awa para sa ulila’ effect.  Proof of the potency of the  “awa effect”,  some say, is the case of  Pia Cayetano who ran for the senate in 2004 just after her father, Senator Rene Cayetano, died of a lingering disease.

You have Kris Aquino and a number of entertainment celebrities producing the “artista effect”.  There is actually no need to point out that in almost every major political campaign rally or gathering, the presence of one or two artistas are crucial to drawing a crowd.  Kris Aquino happens to be one of the biggest celebrities in the Philippines today and usually, politicians associate themselves with artistas in order to draw the masa to them — what association can be stronger than being siblings?

And certainly, not the least of these is the fact that Noynoy Aquino is the son of Ninoy and Cory Aquino.  I can personally attest to the fact that having a revered or admired parent is a big plus when you’re campaigning for an elective position.

Now, with all these and more at their disposal, it is no wonder that more and more people are jumping like crazy on the Noynoy bandwagon.  The conversion from awareness to devotion is almost instantaneous.

Just this afternoon, I actually heard my child’s yaya blurt out that she’s voting for Noynoy Aquino after seeing a merchandising plug for one of  Kris Aquino’s shows.

It was scary.  Really scary.

In fact, I am now entertaining the idea that if Noynoy Aquino’s media handlers ratchet up his campaign just a notch further, we will soon find more people being instantaneously converted just like what happened in the Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

Then again, it can actually come in stages.

First you get exposed to a barrage of Noynoy Aquino commercials and you begin to start singing ala Regine Velasquez in the shower while insisting on carrying a bamboo torch.

Then at work where you do most of your Facebooking you get invited to join one of Noynoy’s Fan pages and without thinking about it, you join the page.

At the mall after punching out, you see a black Collezione shirt with the Philippine map on it and you buy it along with a pair of eye glasses.

Then you go to a barber shop, insist on having your hair cut very short and having the top of your head shaved like a monk.

Who is leading in Philippine Presidential online polls?

Right now on the web, there are a lot of online polls where you can cast your vote for one Philippine Presidential candidate or another.  Each online poll has a claim of being more better than the other but there is no way of really knowing what criteria to apply to figure out which is really better.

Continue reading ‘Who is leading in Philippine Presidential online polls?’

To Pandering Politicos: If You Can’t Do It Then Don’t

Aside from the blatant use of the memory of dead people as campaign foundation, there is another campaign trend all voters should be wary of. It’s that cheesy use of the “Hindi ko ito kaya mag-isa pero sa tulong niyo magagawa ko” (I cant do this alone but with your help I can) line not a few politicians like to use for dramatic effect and to prop up their substance-free campaigns.

Now I don’t know about you but for me this is simply unacceptable. Nakakainsulto eh. Obviously, politicians who run their campaign on this crap think voters are stupid. I know I’m not. How about you?

On second thought maybe these politicians do have basis to think such empty rhetoric can still work. I won’t single out any one particular person but in this blog alone a few commenters have been displaying their voting immaturity. You can easily recognize the type. They are those who rabidly defend certain candidates against — of all things — legitimate calls for platforms. These people are so juvenile they are easily convinced to support certain candidates as if there are already enough relevant information with which to base their decision on.

Ok, I may be generalizing too much. Not all of these premature supporters lack the necessary intelligence to vote wisely. Some of them are actually smart — smart enough to act like real supporters when in truth they are actually paid hacks. Some are smarter even in that they are backing up this or that candidate not for loose change but for political leverage. Btw, these people are quite easy to detect. They are usually involved in high-level “volunteer” work for the candidates. Some of them serve as spokspersons or advisers. Afew are public personalities themselves who are now also being tagged for inclsion in their candidates’ respective line-ups. I don’t want to insult creepy crawlers but these characters can easily be likened to leeches.

But enough about these shady characters. Let’s go back to this “Hindi ko ito kaya mag-isa pero sa tulong niyo magagawa ko” drama. If you really think hard about it you’d probably realize that a politician who wants to lead on a national level shouldn’t really be using such a line. Think about it. What kind of a president would such a candidate be? Di pa nga nagsisimula alam na niya na hindi niya kaya. If he/she can’t do it on his own then he/she has no business running for higher office. Of course, the rabid supporters of such candidates will simply say their bets are just being humble. Puhleez. Ever heard of false humility?

What’s even funnier is that these non-thinking rabid supporters lap up such lines even though their candidates do not really say what exactly it is that they cannot do on their own. Apparently, these people are real suckers for vague statements. “Hindi ko ito kaya mag-isa…” What does “ito” refer to anyway? Ask 10 fanatics and you can be sure you’ll get 10 different interpretations. Even then they still think they are all on the same page. I think they call that unity.

“Hindi ko ito kaya mag-isa pero sa tulong niyo magagawa ko”

Seriously, have you ever encountered a politician who turns to his/her constituents for advice or support after they get elected? I know I haven’t. Let’s be realistic here. The only time politicians find us useful is during the election season. After that they simply forget we exist. I don’t know about you but I don’t really care if a politician turns into a snob after he or she is voted into office as long as he/she is competent and confident enough to lead with or without my support.