I’m happy to know that education advocate Efren Penaflorida has kept his promise that he will not endorse any candidate. Although he attended yesterday’s tribute concert organized by some pro-Aquino groups, reports say that Efren generally kept a low profile and basically reiterated his assurance that he will remain apolitical. Thank you Efren for doing the right thing.
In my previous post wherein I urged Efren not to endorse any candidate, a couple of readers left comments that I found quite amusing. Apparently some people feel it would be a big loss for the CNN Hero if he didn’t endorse a candidate. Here’s an excerpt from one of the comments (bold highlight is mine).
Efren then is in a bind now. Kawawa naman. Pati pag-endorse ng kandidato, inuupakan na.
Kawawa naman?!? How so?
Anyway, I hope other celebrities would follow Efren’s lead and refrain from endorsing ANY candidate. I emphasized the word “any” because the same reader who posted the comment above also had this to say to me.
I bet if he endorsed your preferred candidates, hindi kayo magre-react ng ganito.
I hope he or she gets it now that what I wrote wasn’t an appeal against endorsing a specific candidate but an appeal against endorsing ANY candidate.
Now some people may argue that this is a free country and it is well within the celebrities’ rights to endorse or publicly campaign for the candidates. I agree 100%. I’m not questioning their right to do as they please. As I clearly stated before I am just making an appeal. If they heed my appeal then that would be great. If they don’t then that’s okay too. However, if they do proceed with endorsing someone my hope is that they’ll choose wisely.
Celebrity endorsers should remember the quote “With great power comes great responsibility.” Indeed, since they can influence a lot of people celebrities should at least make sure that their endorsement will not lead others to choose the wrong person. Maawa naman sana sila sa bayan.
Of course, I still prefer that they not endorse anyone at all. The way I see it celebrity endorsements are not at all helpful in raising the bar for Filipino voters. They just distract people from the crucial task of seriously evaluating the candidates.
Another reader left me this comment.
I hope in our democracy, we allow any one including celebrities to endorse and campaign for their candidates…
I really can’t say I share his hope. If it were up to me I’d even ban the practice. Seriously.
I’m guessing you’re familiar with the 3 Gs of traditional politics. These are Guns, Goons and Gold. I’d like to expand that list by including Glitter, which is essentially the only thing celebrity endorsements add to the whole electoral process.
You want change? Change the system. Reject traditional politics and everything that perpetuates it.
Congratulations to Mr Efren Penaflorida for doing the right thing. At least that is one less honourable Filipino tainted by the moronism of Philippine politics.
Rather than endorse people, we the ordinary voters and celebrities alike should endorse ideas and take positions on issues.
A person taking a position on who to vote for does not in any way tell us anything about what that person believes in. As responsible participants in a democracy we should take a position on an issue AND THEN select a candidate on the basis of how closely he/she aligns with the positions we take.
Penaflorida’s taking a position on something and then acting upon it gives him his character. If we truly see Penaflorida as our hero, we should do the same — take a position or a stand on something and then EXPECT our politicians to do the same before they can EARN our vote.
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For the one that said “I hope in our democracy, we allow any one including celebrities to endorse and campaign for their candidates…”
Well, we also reserve the same democratic right to lambast someone who uses his “Hero” status as a soapbox if he endorses a candidate especially after he promised to be apolitical. Besides, sa on line voting lang naman nanalo yun eh. That is really no big deal. OA lang talaga ang Wilipino.
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I support Efren for not endorsing any candidate. You are right Glitter is another thing during election. Anything that glitters literally attracts a person. Somehow it blinded his perception because of the shimmering light it produces. We just hope that the glitters come from diamond (servant politicians) and not from fancy jewels.
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admin Reply:
December 14th, 2009 at 8:14 pm
asia,
turds can never shine. they need stars to give their campaign some shine.
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Asia Reply:
December 15th, 2009 at 4:36 pm
Oh well, I forgot
, yes they need stars to shine, because very few if there is any among the politicians really shine.
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Glad to know Efren knows how to keep his ball in the right court. For a guy who tried to make one solution for the effects of DepEd corruption, he knows how to keep out of the political shadows.
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these two articles support the observation that there is a connection between trapos and celebrity endorsements. check them out.
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/entertainment/12/16/09/marcos-villar-match-noynoys-celebrity-endorsers
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/179506/bongbong-np-needs-celebrity-endorsers-to-get-even-with-lp
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Now some people may argue that this is a free country and it is well within the celebrities’ rights to endorse or publicly campaign for the candidates. I agree 100%. I’m not questioning their right to do as they please. As I clearly stated before I am just making an appeal. If they heed my appeal then that would be great. If they don’t then that’s okay too. However, if they do proceed with endorsing someone my hope is that they’ll choose wisely.
Choose wisely? On the basis of what? Your own standards? You say it’s okay for celebrities to endorse candidates because it’s their right yada,yada,yada when clearly you are against it. What the hell is wrong with celebrity endorsers? Almost all candidates will have them. So which one is a wise endorsement? One for Gibo? Villar? Gordon? Can you absolutely say that no one celebrity has genuine support for any candidate? Hindi ba posibleng meron silang suportahan dahil naniniwala sila sa isang kandidato? Masyado ka namang cynical at seryoso. Di bale, aabangan ko na lang kung sino ang kanididato mo nang malaman natin if you’ve made the “wise” choice.
Something’s really stuck up there, man. Dulcolax should work.
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admin Reply:
December 17th, 2009 at 11:21 am
bert,
you missed the point entirely. what i’m saying is simply this: it would be better for celebrities not to serve as endorsers. as to choosing wisely, if you care to read my other posts you’ll get what i mean but i’ll make it easy for you and just tell you how to choose wisely. you look at results. you look at plans. you don’t look at media hype. you don’t look at winnability. you don’t look at survey ratings. that’s about it.
what the hell is wrong with celebrity endorsers? you really don’t know? perhaps, you’d agree that our voting population is still largely made up of people who don’t really bother to analyze first before they choose. perhaps you’d also agree that these same people are prone to the bandwagon effect. perhaps you’d also agree that these same people would rather just follow the recommendations of their celebrity idols. perhaps, you’d agree that following without thinking is stupid.
it would be better for our celebrities to just give their endorsement to ideas rather than personalities. one idea that i think they should actively support is the use of rational, critical thinking in choosing our leaders.
something’s really missing up there, man.
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berting Reply:
December 18th, 2009 at 1:08 pm
what the hell is wrong with celebrity endorsers? you really don’t know? perhaps, you’d agree that our voting population is still largely made up of people who don’t really bother to analyze first before they choose. perhaps you’d also agree that these same people are prone to the bandwagon effect. perhaps you’d also agree that these same people would rather just follow the recommendations of their celebrity idols. perhaps, you’d agree that following without thinking is stupid.
Ahhh, do you have anything concrete, something more empirical that would suggest what your saying is accurate? Did all those who came on top of surveys actually win the elections? It would be interesting to find out . Yes i will agree that there are people out there who will take the word of their idols but the problem is, it happens to all sectors of society. Even the educated ones may have a tendency to join in the “bandwagon.” Now here’s the thing, it is obvious to me that the blind followers you are referring to are the Noynoy supporters because he is the one with the most number of celebrity endorsers as of now. Do you think though that it’s fair for you insinuate that those who support him actually do so because of the celebrities around him? Remember, Noynoy was already leading in the surveys even before the whole celebrity endorsements started coming in. Besides, i would assume all candidates will have their share of “blind” followers. Why single out Sen. Noynoy? Why do you care for him so much?
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admin Reply:
December 18th, 2009 at 5:06 pm
berting,
you’re stretching the discussion. my suggestion is as simple as it can get — that celebrities refrain from endorsing politicians. i think i also made it clear already that my call covers all politicians not just noynoy. nice try though.
berting Reply:
December 18th, 2009 at 5:12 pm
How so? You have only been writing about Sen. Noynoy. All your articles are gleaned from whatever move, true or perceived his camp makes. Again, for a better Philippines, who do you think is the wise choice?
admin Reply:
December 18th, 2009 at 6:23 pm
berting,
not true at all. i have written about other politicians as well maybe not as much but still. check these out.
http://www.betterphilippines.com/uncategorized/bloggers-lunch-with-chiz/
http://www.betterphilippines.com/voters-education/pander-fest-as-always/
http://www.betterphilippines.com/voters-education/escudero-loves-education/
http://www.betterphilippines.com/political/indignant-over-hypocritical-show-of-fake-indignation/
http://www.betterphilippines.com/voters-education/a-campaign-ad-by-any-other-name/
http://www.betterphilippines.com/political/can-panlilio-save-the-philippines/
there’s actually more but you can just try searching through my archives.
but of course i know what you want to know if i’ve written about the other confirmed candidates. well, that’s forthcoming. drop in from time to time for updates.
again, for the sake of clarity, i don’t have a candidate yet. i have a shortlist though but i’d rather not tell. i don’t want to unduly influence other people. please note also that i’ve already said that i will make my choice a few days before election day.
admin Reply:
December 18th, 2009 at 6:28 pm
berting,
here’s more
http://www.betterphilippines.com/righteous-indignation/how-much-is-your-support-worth/
http://www.betterphilippines.com/political/why-do-politicians-run-for-office/
http://www.betterphilippines.com/uncategorized/ang-kapatiran-party-engaging-the-what-before-the-who/
enjoy!
berting,
btw, i’m not being cynical or too serious. i’m just going against the flow of traditional politics. you should try it especially if you are for “change”.
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berting Reply:
December 18th, 2009 at 1:11 pm
Well believe it or not, I am too that is why i am rejecting candidates affiliated with this current administration. Now please tell me who you think is worthy of our support so we can shift the discussion. Nakakasawa na kasi si Sen. Noynoy. Siya at siya na lang ang pinag-uusapan.
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berting,
sorry man. i don’t endorse candidates just ideas.
who would you recommend?
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