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2010 Philippine Elections

Ambivalent towards Erap

I feel ambivalent towards Erap.

I neither like nor dislike him. My feelings has something to do with the memories of my little boy. My 6 year old son adored Erap. Luijoe thought the world of the former president. Luijoe yelled at the top of his voice that Erap was the smartest president in the whole world, in a jumpacked room at a plane ticket office ten summers ago.

In his booming voice, he threw his hands up in the air , twirling around the room, “Mom, President Erap is so smart, the smartest president in the whole wide world”.

awkward silence

Nobody in that room could deny not hearing my son’s adulation. It was May 2000 at the height of Erap’s unpopularity. I wanted the floor to open up and swallow both of us. I could feel the steely gaze and snickers surrounding us. My boy never sensed the awkwardness of the situation but I wanted to save face.

“So , why is Erap the smartest president in the whole wide world?”, as I squeaked the question to my naughty son.

“Mom, his jokes mom. He says the funniest jokes. That is very smart of him” (or something like that)

See my son had a great sense of humor and loved to throw a joke or two. Then he discovered the Erap jokes during one of our conversations. Luijoe overheard us laughing to our heart’s content on an Erap joke. He wanted to know why were laughing. He badgered to know the joke. So I narrated the joke

Erap: Miss, do you have a ballpen?
Clerk: Sorry, sir we don’t have any ballpen
Erap (angry): Why did you name your store “Penshoppe“?

royal_elastics 043.jpgHow my boy laughed! Luijoe loved to tell this joke to everyone . One time, Luijoe and I passed by Penshoppe ( a teen fashion store) in Glorietta mall and I teased him if he wanted to go inside with me , so I could ask the same question Erap asked. Luijoe tugged me away. hehe

I bought him the book , “Joke ni Erap” by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism in early 2000. Luijoe often packed this Erap Joke book in his backpack and kept re-reading those jokes that he could understand. He loved the book so much, he even labelled it with his name. Here are a few of his favorite jokes culled from that book.
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Feeling the loss of a dream

To the Noynoy supporters

Take time to read carefully from beginning to end including citations from columnists. This is about the grief and sense of loss (then road to acceptance) as the title suggest. This is not about you. Be happy your candidate won instead of making fun of people’s pain. Of course, you are entitled to get pissed (at the author of the Business World article I quoted) as we are entitled to our sadness. Remember that the quality of a victor shows in how he treats the defeated. thank you.

Juan VoteMay 10 called upon #juanvote to close the day with our anecdotes of the historic first national automated election. Right before we went live, the breaking news of the Comelec hit us hard. The speed of the results just stunned us. Thirty-five (35%) of the votes were just transmitted. Noynoy Aquino took a lead.

I was restless that night, unable to sleep. Did I waste 9 months of my life to voters’ education when I could have ventured into more profitable endeavors? You might all know by now that I didn’t vote for Noynoy Aquino because he didn’t fit my critieria of competency, character, coherent platform and clear vision. The night before May 10, I told myself that no matter who the president will be and as long as it is a fair and clean election (unlike the Hello Garci scandal in 2004), I will support the new president whoever he/she may be.

Just like sudden death, the impact of the news was shocking. How could 40% of the voters ignore “several candidates far more qualified by a record of public achievement than Noynoy” ? As Rene Azurin expressly wrote

“Mr. Aquino, because he is famous and a celebrity, can claim authority over us without any demand to show prior proof that he is at all qualified to exercise it. That’s intrinsically unfair. Of course, this is not Mr. Aquino’s fault. It is our fault for allowing ourselves to fall — stupidly, let us admit — under the spell of celebrity.”

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Why Manny Villar?

A mention of my twitter name @momblogger alerted me .

“Is it true that you have chosen Villar?” , someone tweeted.

I replied that I will neither confirm nor deny that as I have stated in my entry, My presidential candidate

It does not matter who my candidate is. As project editor of Blogwatch.ph, it is prudent that I keep that choice only to myself and my close friends, the people I trust. Certain quarters cannot distinguish me as a voter and me, as the editor. Blog Watch remains non-partisan.

You are free to speculate, of course.

Most of the comments agreed with my short list (Manny Villar, Dick Gordon and Gibo Teodoro). A few raised eyebrows “Villar?!?” as if I just uttered the devil’s name.

The skeptical often are bewildered…Why oh why is Manny Villar in your short list? That’s what I’d like to talk about. Why Manny Villar?

With the negative campaigning and half-truths being flung around, one is confused with propaganda, counter-propaganda and black propaganda.

with-presidentsI am blessed with this wonderful opportunity as project editor of blog watch where I get to scrutinize these candidates, at least seven out of the nine presidential candidates.

A rational decision based on research, intensive interviews and attendance to three presidential forums was slowly forming in my head the past months. Insights gained by this experience paved the way for my decision to include Manny Villar because of his leadership, managerial ability, experience (I wrote more about it here with Dine and Wenchie.) I believe our presidential candidate should have all three characteristics to manage the economy well enough to create more jobs and address this issue of poverty. Understanding of issues against him included fact checking and discernment.

It helped a friend vouched for Villar’s high moral standards since she worked with him in the senate for many years. ( read Pia Cayetano‘s comments on Manny Villar)

But…a friend’s testimonial, his track record, competence and platforms were not the only factors to consider in the selection process.

The way a candidate handles his campaign gives me an insight to the governance of this candidate.

Read More »Why Manny Villar?

Pia Cayetano, a mom, a senator, a triathlete

pia-cayetano4“I can’t believe Tita Pia is now Senator Pia”, my two daughters exclaimed in awe after we told them that she had won the senatorial race in 2004. My girls knew their Tita Pia and played with her toddlers way back the time my husband and her then husband started a law office in the mid 90’s. Pia was there to hold my hand during the wake of my son who took time to talk to me, who took the trouble to order me a grief recovery book from the states. There are not many who know how to console a bereaved but like her brother Alan (who was there with me by the hospital bed with Luijoe), she truly showed compassion and sincerity.

When Pia won in 2004, I knew she was going to accomplish a lot. Even if she trailed in the surveys at the start of the campaign, I was confident she’d top it and she did. Health is her advocacy . I asked her “what motivated you to focus on Health?”

I am a lawyer as a profession . I believed no matter the training, emotions and background dictate the path. I talked about the loss of my son and my father due to severe illnesses. I was thankful we had the means to keep them happy and healthy. I was mindful of the fact of the work that my dad had done. There was much to be done. When I ran in 2004, I ran in the campaign of health. I lost my father and my son in my speech. Advisers told me to change my speech. I have nothing else to talk about. I talk about my background. I am a lawyer. I graduated with honors. That is where my competence and qualification come in. What is my passion? What do I have to offer? I want to do something with health care. I still talk that way.

Read More »Pia Cayetano, a mom, a senator, a triathlete

On Manny Villar’s brother, black propaganda & negative campaigning

I am so sick of the negative campaigning and black propaganda. The latest is in reference to Manny Villar‘s ad where he says ““Nakaranas na ba kayong … mamatayan ng kapatid dahil wala kang pera pangpagamot” (Have you experienced losing a brother because you did not have the money to provide him proper medical care)? Manny Villar asked in his ““PANATA(Advocacy)” TV commercial. Villar and referred to his younger brother Danny who passed away on October 1962. In the same commercial, Villar’s 1962 photo with his younger brother was shown.

The writer claims that ““Villar was not really poor as he claimed. Really, is it hard to imagine that he was once poor? I am sure you all have read the allegations , accusations or whatever you call it…BLACK PROPAGANDA.

Manny Villar has this to say on the question of “Ginagamit ba ang kapatid”

Ginagamit ang kapatid?

Ngayon me mga grupo na nagtatakang guluhin at siraan ako na hindi daw kami mahirap dati. Nais kong ulitin noong araw, ako po ay ipinanganak…kaming lahat na magkakapatid, dun kami sa 500 Sta Maria, Moriones St, kanto, at dun po kami, 9 kami na isang banig, isang kulambo. Nagtitinda kami ng nanay ko ng hipon.

Sa sobrang sikip naming, nangutang ang tatay ko, nagpatayo ng bahay…pinapalabas ngayon na kami’y hindi mahirap. Hindi naman tama yon. Hindi kami wholesaler, hindi kami broker. Nagsimula kami, nagtitingi kami ng hipon, yan po ay paulit-ulit kong sasabihin.

Yung kapatid ko na namatay ng cancer, yan po ay dala din ng kahirapan, hindi namin — kung saan-saan lang namin dinadala. Nung mamamatay na ang kapatid ko ay napilitan kaming dalhin sa ospital. Nangutang kami ng pera, at sa charity pa.

Maliwanag na nag-iimbento na naman ng mga akusasyon sa akin. Sobra naman ang ginagawa sa akin. Hindi maiaalis sa akin na mahirap ako noong dati.

Ang tatay ko mismo, 9 din silang magkakapatid na pawang mahihirap din. Kaya nagtataka ako kung paanong pati ito ay pinag-iinteresan nila. Siguro para ma-justify kung bakit haciendero ang kanilang kandidato bilang pangulo.

He says more in a press conference.

Read More »On Manny Villar’s brother, black propaganda & negative campaigning

My presidential candidate

It is two months before May 10, 2010, the Election day. The Day we vote for a president and the rest of the national and local posts.

I made a choice.

I have chosen my presidential candidate.

I want my candidate to win.

Yesterday, my husband and I decided to openly support our presidential candidate (not here online). The past month, we began discussing our choices, analyzing and researching on the nine presidential candidates. I am blessed and privileged to have interviewed seven presidential candidates and attended three presidential forums. It has given me an opportunity to understand their platforms, the issues and over-all impression of the presidential candidates. I know their strengths and weaknesses but there can be only one President.
Read More »My presidential candidate

JC de los Reyes on Servant Mothers, Humble Nation-Builders

jc-de-los-reyesI have been swamped lately with our interviews of presidential candidates in blogwatch.ph. One of these candidates, JC de los Reyes of Ang Kapatiran party moved me so much. Let me make it clear. I am not supporting a presidential candidate as of the moment. But I like JC de los Reyes, the humble person and public servant, and pretty much how I felt when I met Nick Perlas that I even wrote about his views on new politics. These are competent but not too popular presidential candidates. Well, not yet because they are not given a chance by the Filipino people and more so with media. JC de los Reyes was not invited to the de La Salle forum or even the upcoming January 14 Romulo debate in AIM. But really, these presidential candidates have the compassion, the vision and the clear platform. Truly new politics. It frustrates me that traditional media do not give the same media mileage given to Manny Villar, Gibo Teodoro, Dick Gordon etc. Let the electorate decide not those stupid surveys to bring in ratings or brisk sales.
Read More »JC de los Reyes on Servant Mothers, Humble Nation-Builders

New Politics, New Media, A New Beginning in 2010

Year’s end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us. Hal Borland

Peace , love and prosperity is what I wished for 2009. Though Ondoy hit us and to this day, our cars are still in the shop, life is good. When I wondered what was coming for 2009, I told myself the best is coming, the very best in life and love had to offer, the best God will send and claim it as mine.

As the year ends, I feel blessed to be offered the position of Features Editor of Vibal’s Foundation, Philippine Online Chronicles (POC) in recognition for the editorial work I do for blogwatch.ph.

How did I end up in an election watch project anyway when my only exposure to politics was my student council days? I had long envisioned myself to be of service to our country. Perhaps blogging is one way. New media events just fell into place. Sure, I am a blogger but a new media publisher is the more accurate word, because I create content, collaborate and connect.

Here are the events that brought me to the challenge I face today.


It started when Carlo Ople, the New Media Consultant of Senator Mar Roxas back in August 2008 invited me for a bloggers’ meetup and I almost choked:

““Whaaat? I hope you won’t ask me to endorse him or something”.

mar roxas
Another meetup with Mar Roxas in early 2009 brought me to the realization that politicians will actually meet with bloggers as election nears. I resolved to meet up with each candidate if an invitation is offered to me. It seemed important to share my thoughts to my readers in a simple and effective format.

Read More »New Politics, New Media, A New Beginning in 2010