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.

Seriously, such is the power of the Yellow Fever and the Cory magic — they have a way of screwing up your logical mind. You think I’m exaggerating? Check out these samples taken from the Noynoy gushfest over the internet.

• Noynoy offers us hope. We may be disappointed again in the future, maybe not. But we see hope and we cling to that hope. We do not see that at all in ALL other candidateshe is the only who has the integrity, honesty and character for the job.
• given Noynoy’s ‘non-record’, there is HOPE. Some may call it FAITH, whatever you may call it, the 60% of the people THINK it is better than what the others lay on the table. Honestly, I’d rather gamble on Noynoy than the proven records of the rest.
• My biggest reason for backing Noynoy and Mar is their honesty.

As you can plainly see the authors of these comments would like us to believe that Noynoy is an honest person. Now I’m just wondering how they arrived at that conclusion. I’m guessing they did so by simple deduction. Most likely they figured that since Noynoy’s name has never been dragged into any corruption scandal he must be clean. Fair enough. I must admit that kind of reasoning is a little hard to dispute but since I’m feeling a little adventurous today I’ll give it a try.

First of all I’d like to say that Noynoy is not necessarily an honest man even if he has not been implicated in any scandalous affair involving public funds. Notice that I said ‘has not been implicated’ not ‘is not implicated’ or ‘will not be implicated.’ I’m making an issue out of that distinction because if you really think hard about it Noynoy’s clean record merely indicates that he has not been accused of any corruption, yet. That’s just what it means. To say that it’s an indication of honesty is a bit of a stretch. Fact is if we follow that faulty reasoning then we can safely say that the moment Noynoy gets accused of something he ceases to be ‘honest.’ The absence of one thing (accusations of corruption) does not necessarily establish the presence of another (honesty).

I have to hand it to Noynoy’s handlers. Aside from establishing Noynoy’s ownership of the ‘honesty’ brand, they also appear to have succeeded in positioning Noynoy as the solution to corruption.

• Noynoy = Honesty = Anti-Corruption.

Of course there’s an even bigger equation at play here, which certainly works to the advantage of Noynoy and any other opposition candidate. It is this:

• Corruption = President Gloria Arroyo.

Considering the above mentioned equations we arrive at this:

• Noynoy = Anti-PGMA

And that my friends is how Noynoy is perceived by his supporters. Obviously, Noynoy’s handlers want to make sure their candidate will have the best chance of winning and at this point in time the anti-PGMA angle seems to be all that’s working for them.

While I can acknowledge the marketing wisdom here, I’m still of the opinion that an anti-PGMA stance is not enough. So, am I saying that being anti-PGMA is wrong? Of course not. Nor am I saying that we shouldn’t vote for Noynoy because he is against PGMA. What I’m saying is we shouldn’t vote for Noynoy or any other candidate who has nothing to offer but an  anti-PGMA stance.

I hope you’re not thinking I am not against corruption. For your information, like many others I also believe corruption is one of our biggest problems. As a matter of fact some of my earliest posts in this blog were about corruption and my ideas as to how it can be addressed. You can verify this here and here.

Like all the Noynoy supporters out there, I also don’t care much for PGMA. I would also like to see her out of Malacanang. The only difference is I prefer that she be replaced by someone who has already demonstrated a real desire and ability to do much better. I don’t care if that person has any connection, whether imagined or real, to PGMA. What’s the problem if the next president is connected to PGMA anyway? Oh I forgot, a PGMA ally can make sure she won’t have to spend a single day in court after she steps down. Talk about conspiracies.

Anti-PGMA candidates like Senator Chiz Escudero would like us to believe that PGMA’s prosecution is the most important event that should happen after the 2010 elections. For me, it is not. The next president should not even be pressured to focus all his/her energy on this particular issue. That should not be the main thrust of the next president as there are much bigger issues that need attention foremost of which is the economy.

Just like Escudero, Noynoy is running on nothing but an Anti-PGMA platform. No, make that an Anti-PGMA slogan. But unlike Escudero, who in all fairness has been fairly consistent in inflaming people’s passions with his oppositionist pandering, Noynoy doesn’t fully commit to this anti-PGMA branding. Noynoy is simply vague about this and pretty much everything.

Well, there’s really much to be said about a candidate who chooses to be vague or silent about what he really stands for and plans to do for the country. From the time he was thrust into the limelight following the death of his mother, former president Cory Aquino, Noynoy has shown nothing but qualities that hardly qualify him as a leader but certainly make him popular with people who refuse to see beyond dramatic devices. For one he has been milking the “I’m not sure I’m the one but with the people’s support I can be” line for all it’s worth. Dear reader, Noynoy is just playing to your emotions. Don’t be fooled.

At the end of the day, what we’re really talking about here is the country’s future not some telenovela. With that in mind please know that what this country needs is a leader who has real plans and the right skill set to carry them out. If you want to see an end to corruption, hunger, poverty, crime, and everything else that ails the country, demand real solutions from Noynoy and all the other candidates. Let’s base our analysis of the candidates on their ideas and not their campaign slogans and gimmicks.

In Noynoy’s case, all this hoopla around his being honest is just a gimmick.