ABS-CBN’s Harapan: The Tandem Presidential Debate has been canceled. The surprising and unexpected reason: several candidates for president and vice president have either backed out or declined to participate.

This is shocking news. Who would have thought that the likes of Senators Noynoy Aquino, Manny Villar and their equally esteemed running mates would find it not worth their while to join a no holds barred debate? Well, to be fair to Villar’s running mate Senator Loren Legarda, her reluctance to participate is understandable considering the beating she got  last time.

(excerpts from a newsbreak.com.ph report)

• In a surprise result, Sen. Loren Legarda did poorly in ABS-CBN’s Harapan: The Vice-Presidential Debate, based on feedback from citizens who participated in the debate.
• Legarda failed to get 50% or more in most of feedback from the audience through the WARS.  She was asked about her experience in governance, her plans on improving the state of education, as well as on her pet themes, environment and climate change.
• Aside from doing poorly in the WARS, she also did badly in the on-line poll through abs-cbnNEWS.com chat with netizens, http://abs-cbnnews.com/harapan. The poll asked the question: Who is the most believable among the candidates in the Harapan debate?

It’s just too bad the debate scheduled for this Sunday will no longer push through. It would have given us yet another glimpse into what these people are really made of. I would have enjoyed watching Villar deflect questions about the C-5 controversy. And, of course, who would want to miss the Great Yellow Hope in action. I wonder how he would have fared against his cousin former defense secretary Gilbert Teodoro or Senator Richard Gordon.

By the way Teodoro was among those who backed out. He claims he has already saturated forums and debates. Well, at least he wasn’t being a jackass about it not like Villar who gave an excuse that can only be described as pamimilosopo.

(excerpt from an abs-cbnnews.com report)

Villar and Legarda said they already committed to visit their supporters in Bicol on the same date.

Villar added they did not back out because they never confirmed their participation.

Now, to be fair , I should also identify those who were all too willing to attend the debate. In no particular order, the Walang Pakisama (sa mga naduwag) are former Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Perfecto Yasay Jr., evangelist Bro. Eddie Villanueva, former MMDA Chairman Bayani Fernando and Senator Richard Gordon.

The gall of those 4 candidates for trying to re-invent the wheel. Don’t they know most Pinoy voters respond better to song and dance routines than speeches on the economy, population growth and other serious stuff? They should ask Senator Aquino. Better yet they should get lessons from him on the finer points of campaigning without really trying. After that they could also ask him to provide tips on how to cover all the bases. 

Oh, I almost forgot. Gordon is now part of that elite group of candidates who think they’re cute. He now has a music video of his own.  Before you watch it be sure to prepare yourself to be disappointed because Gordon didn’t really sing or dance on this video.

I’m sure you were also surprised the first time you watched that. I too  never imagined Moymoy Palaboy as celebrity political endorsers. But that shouldn’t really surprise anyone anymore. Ater all we’re talking about Pinoy-style elections.

Submitted on 2010/01/15 at 7:47pm

Dear Friends,

Election time is here again. Many of you will shrug this off as another of those futile exercise that we as a dysfunctional nation go through.

Let me tell you, THIS TIME IT IS DIFFERENT. IF we make it so. Why?

1. This is the FIRST TIME THAT IT IS AUTOMATED: COMPLETE WITH FINGERPRINTS (BIOMETRICS). Naysayers talk of loopholes. But one thing is sure: Cheating will certainly be cut down (no ghost voters, no carbon papers, etc…)now. I say, first time. The next time around,some smart-pinoys will know how to go around it. Then cheating begins to accelerate again. WE HAVE TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS FIRST AUTOMATED ELECTION.

2. We are now in a precarious situation: World financial crisis, Ondoy, Pepeng, Mt. Mayon, especially the pervasive apathy etc… We are slowly trudging to our doom. If we do not elect a good president this time, we will spiral down this pit. But, if we elect a good president, there is a big chance that we can rise up very quickly too. That is, if the next president will know how to position our country in the current world crisis.

3. There are more alternative media: more social networks,SMS/GMS and information is much much more accessible than before.

4. We have better choices (of candidates) now. Believe me! We do have a GOOD CHOICE!

MY APPEAL TO THE EDUCATED FILIPINOS WHO HAVE MORE ACCESS TO INFORMATION IS THIS: We must vote for the MOST QUALIFIED CANDIDATE TO LEAD us. AND we must CONVINCE all people within our circle of influence to vote for our choice! We, the educated people of our land should pave the way for our next president. Not the artista’s, singers, paid-media persons and other personalities. PLEASE! WE DO THIS CORNY THING EVEN JUST THIS ONCE.

HOW?
1. Be objective! Examine the candidates well. WITHOUT biases you know, surveys, benefits that you’ll gain when he’s president (for your business or careers–Pls., esp. not this! kaya naghihika-us tayo eh.), party-affiliations, strategic voting, etc… Here are some links that might start you out:

PRESIDENTIAL DEBATES:
by GMA (audio)
http://www.gmanews.tv/video/53577/kilalanin-forum-09-jan-2010
by ANC (video)
http://www.pinoychannel.tv/watch/v-185258?title=HARAPAN%2012/02/09%20PART%201/12
by Carlos Romulo Foundation presidential policy debate on Jan 14. (will send the links of recorded video if i can find one)

Che-Che Lazaro did a comprehensive interview of the candidates in alphabetical order. (You may also search for the interviews of candidates in the search box of probetv):

Sen. Benigno Aquino
http://www.probetv.com/index.php?option=com_probetv&view=video&layout=program&id=0&Itemid=8&vi=1417

Sen. Richard Gordon
http://www.probetv.com/index.php?option=com_probetv&view=video&layout=program&vi=1541&Itemid=8

Sec. Gilbert Teodoro
http://www.probetv.com/index.php?option=com_probetv&view=video&layout=program&vi=1344&Itemid=8

Sen. Manuel Villar
http://www.probetv.com/index.php?option=com_probetv&view=video&layout=program&vi=1311&Itemid=8

2. Do a background check on your chosen candidate: Google search, I think will do. Check allegations, counter allegations etc… (Allotted time: please do this fast! by next month: February: you should be sure of your candidate)

3. Once you are sure of your candidate, convince your household members, drivers, yaya, extended families, friends, etc… I think, our words are more credible and I hope we be relentless in convincing die-hards who are already stuck with an unsuitable candidate.

4. Go out and Vote this May (If you can). And if possible volunteer as a pollwatcher. Calling esp. the IT/computer geeks: please study the automated election well. If you see any prob., you can text/FB/e-mail etc… so we be aware what to watch out for.

5. Please pass this e-mail to all Pinoys out there.

Thank you very much.
May we rise to be a great nation once again.
God bless the Philippines!
Mabuhay!

Thanks Sony. This is much appreciated.

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.

I’ve been invited several times to participate in them and here are some of the online polls that I have been invited to.

http://www.philippinedailybrew.com/philippines/poll-who-will-you-vote-for-2010-philippine-president.html

http://apps.facebook.com/election_twenty_ten/

http://presidenteko.com/index.php

http://2010presidentiables.wordpress.com/

http://apps.facebook.com/philelection/

http://professionalheckler.wordpress.com/

http://www.philippineselections.com/presidential-poll-2010

I don’t believe that online polls will have a profound impact on how the real polls in May 2010 will turn out.  They are really just surveys where the results are displayed in real time, online.

In certain instances, these online polls become the battle ground for the online campaigners of various candidates.  In some cases where online polls allow participants to leave a comment, the digital equivalent of a brawl erupts when one campaigner or poll participant engages another in an argument over who is the better candidate.  They trade barbs and insults as if their life and their entire future depended on it.

What I find funny is when an online brawl erupts over the results of an online poll which doesn’t even prevent users from casting multiple votes.

The argument sometimes begins when commenter 1 says “Candidate A is better than candidate B because more people voted for him in online poll X.”  and commenter 2 confronts commenter 1 by saying “Yeah but candidate B is a better candidate than candidate A because he topped online poll Y! And online poll Y has more participants than online poll X!”

Oh brother!  I think such arguments over who is the more popular candidate in whatever online poll belongs in market places and street corners, not on the internet where everybody on earth can see just how loony Filipinos can get over what is in reality a spiffy but petty popularity contest.

The popularity of a candidate shouldn’t even be a consideration among voters.

There is actually an erroneous notion going around that a candidate’s popularity is proof that the candidate can unite the country.  So, going by this false logic, the more popular a candidate is, the more unified a country becomes.

Sorry to break this to those who believe that popularity = unity, but, popularity wanes.

If, God forbid, the popularity of one person becomes the only thing that is holding a country together, we will most likely find our country involved in a Civil War as soon as that person’s popularity wanes for one reason or another.

Think of it this way folks, if a candidate’s or leader’s popularity rating dips by 10 percent are our countrymen then 10 percent less united?

On the other hand, consider what happens when a candidate or leader becomes extremely unpopular, isn’t the country then united against that candidate or leader?

What if a survey says that 99 percent of Filipinos absolutely hate candidate or leader X, wouldn’t this be proof that unpopularity is a bigger unifying factor than popularity?

In truth, I think Filipinos are better at uniting AGAINST something rather than uniting FOR something and this is one of the reasons why the country is the way it is.

We united against Marcos but really didn’t have a better alternative, instead, we settled for the least contentious popular figure to take his position in the hopes that this will unify a fractured country.  What happened? 9 coup attempts, a resurgence of communist rebel attacks, and the rise of muslim dissident groups.  Was that UNITY?

We united against Estrada but really didn’t have a better alternative, instead, we settled for someone who was touted as lesser evil.

Now, we are united against Macapagal Arroyo and again, it seems we are going to settle for someone who is touted as the lesser evil or the only choice.

The lesson that our recent history as a revived democracy is this, if we continue to keep settling for the most agreeable option rather than working to create a correct and better option, we can expect to go through the same bad things all over again — perhaps even worse.

The real task at hand in the following months is not to make ensure the popularity of one candidate or another, but to create a better option for our country and support that better option with all our might while exposing the false “pwede na” options that we find.

I wasn’t able to watch the live telecast only the replay and just parts of it so I didn’t catch all that was said. However, I did hear enough to be able to form an opinion about the first batch of participants namely Senators Richard Gordon, Mar Roxas, Francis Escudero, Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro and Pampanga Governor Ed Panlilio.

Judging how they responded to the questions asked of them I would rank the participants this way with 5 being the lowest.

1. Panlilio
2. Teodoro
3. Gordon
4. Roxas
5. Escudero

Without referring to the validity and political implications of their responses and just focusing on how they addressed the questions, I would say that Panlilio and Teodoro did well. I felt that Panlilio was the most candid. I also appreciated Gordon’s responses although I thought some of his answers were a little too wordy and circuitous. As far as these three are concerned, I’d say they did not dissapoint at all communication-wise.

On the other hand, I think Roxas and Escudero proved themselves to be bad communicators. Neither one of them provided any real substance with their responses. Roxas even thought it was appropriate to inject his “lalaban tayo” campaign slogan in his closing message. He did it in bad taste. Fortunately, for him, Escudero was even worse.

To most people, Escudero would probably sound like he is making real sense. But if you really listen hard to his statements you will easily realize that there’s really nothing there. I’m sure the young senator has the brains but unfortunately he chooses not to show it. Instead he wastes his and other people’s time — precious airtime included — with his oppositionist, motherhood crap.

Interestingly, Escudero got some of the biggest applause from the mostly young audience. This is a telling and troubling sign that Escudero’s worthless verbiage is working. It’s that or those who clapped for him were just gullible or plain dumb.

At this point, I would like to reiterate that this is not about the validity or the political implications of the statements made by Escudero and the other participants. My only focus here is whether or not they can communicate sincerely. In my book, Escudero failed miserably in this regard.

Why am I making an issue out of this? It’s simple. I equate sincerity with respect. A person who talks to you without any sincerity is basically desrespecting you. He is basically telling you that he doesn’t hold you in high regard; that he looks down on your intellect; and that he is convinced he can get away with giving you his bulls__t. It’s even more insulting if the person talking to you in such a manner is asking you to give him something as important as your vote.

I wonder about the forum audience present at the Leong Hall of the Ateneo de Manila University. They applauded Escudero’s crap. Were they not insulted at all by his manner?

I sincerely hope that come 2010, all Filipino voters will have already learned to demand respect from politicians.