Election Analysis

Theres The Rub
After the fall

By Conrado de Quiros
Philippine Daily Inquirer

First Posted 05:13:00 05/27/2010
Filed Under: Eleksyon 2010, Elections, Benigno Aquino III, Inquirer Politics

Am I worried that Noynoy Aquino will not be proclaimed at the end of next month and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will continue to be a holdover president?

Not at all. The time when Arroyo could have mounted a “no-proc” is gone and past. Noynoy will be president by the end of next month.

At the very least that is so because he is the near-universally perceived winner of the presidential elections.
I say near-universally because only Joseph “Erap” Estrada is now challenging it, while most of the people who voted for him have given it up. What makes the electoral protests a little silly is the basic contention of the losers that the elections were “generally clean” except in their cases.

That’s what the Erap camp is saying. Only Noynoy cheated. Or worse, as Erap’s supporters have openly charged, only Noynoy has benefited from Arroyo’s cheating. The elections were perfectly OK when it came to Erap’s wife and two sons who won, and won big, but not so in his case.

And that’s what the Roxas camp is suggesting. Only Jojo Binay cheated, his numbers being unbelievable. Or worse, as his supporters have darkly hinted, only Binay has benefited from whoever cheated. The
elections were perfectly OK when it came to Roxas’ running mate who won, and won big, but not so in his case.

This is where I say again I am thankful for the surveys, a thing I never thought I’d find myself saying. Without the surveys, the results of the elections would now be in very serious dispute. Easy to say the
results are unbelievable and let loose more koalas into the Philippine Outback. The Comelec is not exactly held in the highest esteem by the public. Until it held an election that hewed pretty nearly to the
findings of the more reputable survey-takers. That is not to say I have become a convert of surveys; that is merely to give credit where credit is due.

I myself suspect the reason it happened was that it wasn’t the public who wasn’t prepared for automation, it was the commissioners. Most of them are past masters in the tricks that happen in canvassing,
the kind where 100 gets to be 100,000, but few, if any, of them are even neophytes in the tricks that happen in computing. Some of them probably still use manual typewriters, the kind found in police stations, LTO branches, and canvassing offices. As a rule, automation can’t be hacked: You cannot tamper with it from the outside, you can tamper with it only from the inside. How could the Garcis educate the public in the use of the machines when they couldn’t educate themselves with it enough to mis-educate the public about the results?

The clincher in the elections being credible was that all the Queen’s men lost. Or the ones that had lent their faces to Arroyo’s regime, chief of them Prospero Nograles, Raul Gonzalez and Mike Defensor. They lost, and lost big. Noynoy doesn’t get to be proclaimed on June 30 and you will have an Edsa situation. It’s not just that a reasonably beloved leader would be prevented from becoming leader, it’s that an unreasonably unloved leader would continue to be so.

Which brings me to: At the very most there’s the psychology of it.

You don’t need Tolkien’s imagination to see the sea-change that has been wrought on the face of this country by the elections. All you need is to open your eyes. I did warn about it repeatedly in past months:
After Arroyo falls, she will look like the bust of Marcos in Agoo, home to rain, crows and forgetfulness. Once a face that shocked and awed the people of this country, it has become one that draws only spite and
spit. It looks like a face in the throes of pain and anguish, a reminder that the exalted shall be humbled, so like Ozymandias proclaiming, “Look upon me, ye mighty, and despair.” Such is the fate of tyrants.

You don’t need to go far to see it. Facebook has a “Dear Gloria” site that has become a big hit, performing the not inconsiderable service of giving people therapy by allowing them to release pent-up emotions.
Brave new world, we never had that in 1986. It’s a mechanism for instant national catharsis. Needless to say, most of the letters that appear there are not fit to print—in newspapers at least, the Web is a little freer (for good and bad). It’s enough to have bestirred the usual suspects in Malacañang, Gary Olivar and company, to call for sobriety, if not call the writers names (“It’s their right to be as foul and stupid as they want”), to which the writers have responded gleefully with more of the same.

No, I’m not worried at all that Noynoy will not be proclaimed and Arroyo will continue to be holdover president. In fact I’m not worried at all that Arroyo will cause any trouble in Congress, such as by rallying her troops as speaker of the House and posing a threat to the new government. The moment she steps out of Malacañang by the end of next month, she will be more alone than Marcos. At least Marcos had a loyal following, however small, based on those persons’ belief in his ability and/or generosity. Arroyo has none.

Not even Hermogenes Esperon and Eduardo Ermita will be there, and in any case they too have already been judged harshly by the voters, pending the judgment of history. She will be orphaned in ways that redefine orphanhood just as she was once parented in ways that redefined parenting. The fall comes hard on the heels of pride.

More than the legal, more than the political, it is the psychological that will make Noynoy Aquino president of this country by the end of next month, a full month to the day his mother died. Whether he has a vice president
or not, whether Jojo Binay will stand by his side or not. That is so because the people will want it so, that is so because the people will make it so. Heaven has no beauty than a nation reborn.

Hell has no fury than hope scorned.

College Recollection

I remember my 2nd sem sa Diliman (bagong transfer pa lang ako from UPLB). I was one of the youngest brods (the latest would have been the trio Miggy, Filio and Julius). Nung nalaman ng mga brods na I haven't seen any x-rated film -- they made it their mission to erase this deficiency.

So isang hapon, punta kaming mga brods kina Sab sa Area. I can't remember the title of the movie (was it Roommates?) but I still remember the actress: Samantha Fox. Nilagay ni Sab sa betamax player. Credits came out at nagsimula na ang pelikula. Excited na lahat. From time to time, brods would pretend to wipe my mouth as if I was drooling (mga hayup talaga!) So walang tigil na katatawan at kantiyawan. Wala pang bigayan -- preliminaries pa lang. Then, when things were getting hot -- BROWNOUT! (I think because of a passing thunderstorm.)

It was not meant to be for me to see that movie that day.

Now that I think about this, may Dios talaga. Kulang na lang, a voice from above, "Run away from this house ....".

Oh well, tignan mo nga naman, ngayon, enforcer of the rule si Sab sa kongreso. Before, corrupter of young minds :)

Election Analysis

Great article from anti-pinoy websight by Jose Rizal II.

http://antipinoy.com/noy-bi-versus-noy-mar-oligarch-protectionism-versus-economic-liberalization/

Faster than anyone could say “President-elect Benigno Simeon Cojuangco Aquino III”, numerous Noynoy-Mar supporters from the burgis class and Liberal Party supporters were shell-shocked to see Makati Mayor and VP-candidate Jejomar Binay consistently dominate the polls over Mar Roxas. While these same people were primed to think that Mar Roxas originally had a strong showing in the surveys, it now seems like what everyone refers to as the “Noy-Bi” campaign was a scheme cooked up from the very beginning by no less than Noynoy Aquino’s own close relatives who were outside of the Liberal Party’s command-structure.

Noy-Bi: Underhanded and Sneaky

No one expected Binay to be the dark horse (figuratively and literally) who would “come from behind” and take the lead. Ever since the Liberal Party fielded the Noy-Mar tandem, both Noynoy and Mar were presented as leading the SWS and Pulse Asia surveys even if Mar wasn’t exactly doing well in the surveys as a presidential candidate before Cory’s death and before he slid down to VP. In fact, back in January, it was Noynoy who was in danger of losing his lead when Villar was said to be “statistically-tied” with him, while Mar continued to maintain his lead in the surveys.

Then suddenly, out of nowhere, almost a month before the May 10 polls, the idea of an Aquino-Binay tandem was publicized first in campaign ads by a little-known party-list and a little later on by Chiz Escudero. Most members of the burgis class who supported the official Liberal Party’s tandem brushed it off as a cheap trick by Binay and most just shrugged it off as being a desperate but futile attempt that was destined to fail.

Suddenly, just before the May 10 polls, the latest survey results revealed that Binay might just win over Mar. The May 10 polls came and guess what happened: Binay maintained a consistent and steady lead over Mar Roxas.

No one saw it coming. No one thought it would be possible. But there you go, the Noy-Bi campaign actually worked.

Numerous people did their own little surveys among the masa-types (cab drivers, security guards, etc) and asked whom they voted for. The result: Noynoy for President; Binay for Vice-President.

When asked for details on whether they decided based on Chiz Escudero’s “Noy-Bi” ads, the answer was that Chiz Escudero’s message was a little too late in the game: They were already going for Noynoy-Binay ever since late 2009.

Self-Proclaimed Activist Harvey Keh Cries Foul about Anti-Mar Sabotage

Keh cries foul: "People high up in Noynoy's campaign are pushing for Noy-Bi"

A few days before the May 10 polls, Kaya Natin! Founder and  Noy-Mar cheerleader Harvey Keh was observed by numerous people to have been posting status updates that hinted to his fellow Kaya Natin! Activists and Liberal Party supporters that he had inside information that certain people who were key players in the “Noynoy for President” campaign were actively sabotaging Mar Roxas and the Liberal Party by being involved in spreading the Noy-Bi campaign and lending support to it. His advice to his fellow activists was to stay the course in rooting for the Noy-Mar+Liberal Party slate and ignore or reject all attempts by anyone – whoever they may be – to sow confusion and division.

Who Else Could It Be?

To anyone who wonders who comprise the general “Noynoy for President” campaign, it’s quite obvious that while you may have the “monolithic” Liberal Party and its volunteers rooting for the Noy-Mar tandem, above that, there is an “inner-circle” core group of closely-associated supporters with a pure “Noynoy” campaign, regardless of who his running mate is.

Who else but Noynoy’s own close relatives and their pawns!

Why Sabotage Mar Roxas?

Unfortunately, Mar Roxas’ economic ideals run counter to what Noynoy’s close relatives and family friends from the Oligarch class want the economy to look like.

Mar Roxas and the Liberal Party essentially stand for economic liberalization. The end goal is the removal of protectionist barriers that inhibit foreign investors from actively choosing the Philippines as an investment location, which would bring in more foreign capital and more importantly, more advanced foreign technology, systems, management concepts and techniques, and insights that could drastically improve the overall business environment, business culture, and job market in the Philippines.

Sabotaged by Kamag-anak Inc.

The Oligarchs, especially those from the old Hacienda-owning Sangley-Mestizo families (Cojuangco, Yulo, Lopez, etc) who are descended from Southern Chinese immigrants who were baptized into Catholicism, intermarried with native women and were granted the right to own land by the Spanish authorities as an incentive for conversion into Catholicism and produced a caste of Filipinos who now comprise the dominant upper crust of landowners, would prefer a protectionist economy which would favor “local business owners” under the guise of “nationalism.” Unbeknownst to the masses, the end result would be monopolistic businesses, higher prices, and fewer job opportunities.

Indeed, this was a topic of discussion in a Sentro ng Katotohanan (1242 KhZ AM; 8:30pm-9:30pm; T-TH) broadcast in late 2009 when a radio guest mentioned that there seemed to be possible areas of conflict between some of Noynoy Aquino’s statements and the Liberal Party’s official platform. He commented that while the Liberal Party’s official platform was very much in favor of liberalizing the economy through the removal of protectionism and the invitation of foreign investors, resulting in the creation of numerous new jobs for ordinary Filipinos, Noynoy had on several occasions mentioned that he was against any changes being done to his mother’s 1987 Constitution. The radio guest mentioned, however, that one of the main prerequisites to achieving the goals of economic liberalization and the attraction of foreign investment in more sectors of the Philippine Economy was to amend the Constitution particularly on the protectionist 60-40 provisions on business ownership by foreigners.

To everyone who astutely observed the plans of the Liberal Party’s tandem, it was very obvious that the Liberal Party President Mar Roxas gave way to Noynoy Aquino as standard bearer, with the obvious agreement that it was Noynoy’s job to exploit his name, surname, parents’ name, and their legacy in order to win as many votes as a tandem, and as planned, Mar Roxas as Vice-President would do the real work of managing the economy and taking care of the difficult decision-making. This “agreement” between Noynoy and Mar was made more explicit when, thanks to the confusing publicity of Chiz Escudero’s Noy-Bi campaign ads, Noynoy admitted in public that he was planning to share 50%-80% of his Presidential Powers with his Vice-Presidential running mate Mar Roxas.

As Mar’s pro-foreign investment and economic liberalization agenda clashed with the Oligarchic Kamag-anak Inc.’s pro-protectionism agenda, Mar was not going to be acceptable to them as Noynoy’s VP.

Backtrack to 1986: Doy Laurel and the Kamag-anak Inc. Cordon-Sanitaire

What the Oligarchic relatives of Noynoy did to Mar Roxas was not too different from what these same Kamag-anaks did to Doy Laurel.

Blocked by Kamag-anak Inc.

Recall that Doy Laurel was originally the leader of the united opposition against Marcos, dubbed “UNIDO”, and it was originally his plan to run for President against Marcos. Due to the overwhelming Pinoy emo-sentimentality that was going for the charming and charismatic wife of slain opposition former Senator Ninoy Aquino, public sentiment of the anti-Marcos bloc was for Cory Aquino. Thanks to the intervention of numerous kingmakers such as the late Jaime Cardinal Sin, Doy Laurel decided to give in to Cory Aquino to run as President while he would just have to accept the post of Vice-President.

Internally, though, it had been agreed that Cory Aquino was there to be the vote magnet, the crowd-puller, and the figurehead. Doy Laurel, on the other hand, was expected to be the real decision maker, himself being well-prepared by his own experience, political savvy, and decision-making ability.

Come People Power, after Marcos was deposed and both Cory Aquino and Doy Laurel were sworn in by Justice Claudio Teehankee at the Club Filipino, and Cory Aquino declared that Doy Laurel would be Prime Minister (which during Marcos’ post Martial Law era was essentially the equivalent of Executive Secretary), everything changed. Suddenly, Cory withdrew the appointment of Doy as Prime Minister. In fact, most accounts say this change happened in a matter of hours.

Worse, as soon as it was time to start doing real work, Doy Laurel was kept out of the loop in everything that the Office of the President did.

Kamag-anak, Inc. was now calling the shots, not Doy Laurel as was supposed to have been originally agreed.

Essentially, the inner-circle of Cojuangco relatives, particularly Jose “Peping” Cojuangco, Jr. and his cohorts had decided to keep Doy out of the loop by preventing him from having any real contact with Cory. This was done by staffing Cory’s secretariat staff exclusively with close Cojuangco relatives from within the Jose Cojuangco wing of the clan. That staff would be primarily staffed with people who were Cory’s children (like Ballsy) or children of Cory’s siblings. Everyone would be a niece or nephew of Cory and Peping, and, as it turns out, would be receiving strict instructions from Peping on how to handle Doy Laurel when he calls.

Anyone who reads through Doy Laurel’s memoirs and old recollections will find that Doy Laurel sought to meet with Cory Aquino numerous times in order to discuss policy directions for the Philippines. Unfortunately, Doy could never reach Cory on the phone because the secretariat staff (Cory’s own relatives) were instructed by Peping to always tell Doy that Cory was “in a meeting right now” or “out of the office” or “will be returning your call.” As it turns out – if Doy’s accounts are to be believed, under no circumstances were they to tell Cory herself that her own Vice-President and anti-Marcos ally had called, because Doy claims his calls were never returned.

It was because of this cordon-sanitaire and obvious snubbing he received from Kamag-anak Inc. that Doy Laurel later became part of the opposition.

Today’s Technology Won’t Allow a Cordon-Sanitaire to Work: Just Dump Mar

Noynoy as the Yellow Emperor: a mere figurehead

The cordon-sanitaire that Peping Cojuangco is said to have set up worked back then because the technology available at the time made it possible to block Cory from receiving private calls (it was the protocol to always have phones routed through to secretaries first) and all mail would be pre-screened before letting Cory read them. Obviously, with today’s cellphones and e-mail, establishing a cordon-sanitaire just isn’t going to work.

If we had e-mails and cellphones back then, Doy would be able to reach Cory privately by directly calling her cellphone or directly sending e-mails to share his concerns and give suggestions. No cordon-sanitare would work to censor any incoming messages coming from Doy meant for Cory.

Since Kamag-anak Inc, led by Peping Cojuangco and his gang didn’t want Mar Roxas, clearly Noynoy’s intellectual superior, dictating his own economic agenda and other suggestions on policies and decision-making to Noynoy, they realized that the only way to prevent him from ever having any influence on Noynoy was to take him out and prevent him from winning. The result of that is the Noy-Bi plot: Sabotage Mar and prevent him from holding an office that would give him the right to influence Noynoy, and put in someone else – Jejomar Binay – who has no real economic agenda who is likely to kow-tow to Kamag-anak, Inc.’s wishes.

Never mind that Jejomar Binay was formerly an old Aquino loyalist who later shifted his allegiance to Marcos loyalist Erap Estrada. Peping and company decided that Binay was “easier to control” than the internationally-oriented and pro-Foreign Investment Mar Roxas and since Binay projected himself as a Filipino Nationalist and populist, he would be more amenable to the Economic Protectionism agenda of the Oligarchs led by Peping and Noynoy’s other Cojuangco relatives.

For Kamag-anak Inc., the decision was to drop Mar and support Binay.

SWS and Pulse Asia: Part of the Noy-Bi Conspiracy Ever Since; Mar and Villar Duped by Surveys

As already mentioned earlier, there are a lot of signs that show the collusion between SWS and Pulse Asia on the one hand, and Kamag-anak Inc. on the other. Both SWS and Pulse Asia are clearly connected to the Noynoy camp through association and even consanguinity. (Pulse Asia was founded and is partly-owned by Noynoy’s Cojuangco cousins Rafael Cojuangco Lopa and Tonyboy Cojuangco)

Recall that the public was made to believe from the very start that Manny Villar was Noynoy’s key rival for the presidency and that Mar Roxas was supposedly leading the surveys with Loren Legarda following behind. The obvious plot was a form of misdirection and deception: Campaign for Noynoy by contrasting him against Villar. Demonize Villar, to make Noynoy look like an Angel versus the “Evil Villar.” Focus attacks on Villar, but avoid too much mudslinging on Erap, so as not to antagonize a huge base of Erap fans (those who voted for Erap in 1998 and FPJ in 2004), many of whom decided to root for Noynoy early on in 2009. The intense focus on Villar as “The Main Enemy” as he was perceived by Noynoy supporters to be in second place, meant any disagreement with a Noynoy supporter (on internet forums or in actual conversations) would cause the Noynoy supporter to automatically label anyone who dared to disagree as being pro-Villar. Such was the extent to which the Noynoy campaign intensely and fanatically focused its attacks on Villar, and as a result, avoided attacking the Erap-Binay camp.

Moreover, the whole idea of making it appear that Mar was leading the surveys with Loren not too far behind, was meant to give Mar Roxas and the Liberal Party the overconfidence and the impression that having Noynoy as the Presidential standard-bearer was to the Liberal Party’s advantage, as they could ride on the Aquino-frenzy and win. It seems very plausible that little did the Liberal Party know they were being taken for a ride by the two Kamaganak-affiliated survey firms SWS and Pulse Asia.

The May 10 Poll results reveal that not only were those early results showing that Villar had a strong following at second place totally wrong, or that the survey result that showed that Villar was statistically tied with Noynoy in the recent January survey results were baseless, it also shows that what they presented as Mar’s strong performance in the surveys versus survey second-placer Loren was a ruse!

Doctored surveys showed Villar was 2nd to Noy

All those results that showed Villar putting up a fight with Noynoy were obviously meant to help Binay’s campaign as Erap’s running mate since Noynoy’s supporters would then focus their attacks almost exclusively on Villar and hardly attack Erap and his running mate. In the meantime, by deceiving the public that Mar was leading in the surveys with Loren following closely behind, the idea was clearly meant to get the Liberal Party’s political machinery focusing on defeating Loren, as well as propping up Noynoy as well, not on defeating Binay.

Recall that the Liberal Party stepped up its campaign for Noynoy when it was shown that Mar continued his lead for the vice-presidency while Noynoy’s position was allegedly threatened by Villar. It is very plausible that Mar wasn’t really leading the old surveys from the very beginning and was instead neck-to-neck with Binay, with Binay already having a slightly better lead over Mar.

By duping Mar to think he was leading and that his fight was with Loren, Mar wasn’t going to be too concerned about the need to campaign, as he was led to believe that his main focus was against her.

All that underhanded deception was meant to allow the manipulative and sneaky Kamag-anak Inc. and its associated groups to run a clandestine parallel grassroots campaign for the Noynoy-Binay tandem virtually unnoticed and undetected.

It is quite obvious that in order to justify the May 10 results as showing Binay as Vice President and Erap at second place for President, so as not to undermine the credibility of both the Kamag-anak Inc-affiliated SWS and Cojuangco/Lopa-controlled Pulse Asia, the surveys were made to progressively start showing Binay’s and Erap’s rise much later towards election day. Unfortunately, there is nothing to support the idea that former Villar supporters would actually shift allegiance to Erap towards May 10. The same thing goes with the improbability that voters shifted their allegiance from Mar Roxas and Loren Legarda to Binay. Demographically, Binay supporters fall under a totally different category (lower socio-economic stratum and recipients of Binay’s patronage) from that of both Mar Roxas and Loren Legarda (both of whose supporters are more “burgis” than “masa”).

There is instead more evidence that the people who voted for Binay on Election Day are the same people who’ve been supportive of Binay since the very beginning.

Considering the improbability of certain specific shifts from one candidate to another, it is thus extremely suspicious to see that both the SWS and Pulse Asia would, for the longest time, publicize results which were totally inconsistent with the post Election Day reality.

There is a consensus that SWS and Pulse Asia had maliciously concocted survey results early on that were meant to make Manny Villar and the public think he was within striking distance of Noynoy, that Mar Roxas was consistently leading the Vice-Presidential race, and that Erap Estrada and Jejomar Binay were far from winning.

There is a very strong suspicion that SWS and Pulse Asia’s apparently doctored survey results were part of the plot by Kamag-Anak Inc. to deflect any early detection of the under-handed plot to sabotage the Liberal Party and its leader Mar Roxas as Noynoy’s running mate, and run a clandestine parallel grassroots campaign for a Noynoy-Binay Tandem from the very start.

Emanating from Kamag-anak Inc: Excuses Made to Mask Mar’s Loss

Peping: CEO of Kamag-anak Inc.

Kamag-Anak Inc. obviously doesn’t want to look like they had anything to do with the Noy-Bi plot to sabotage Mar and the Liberal Party. Instead of owning up to the obvious mess that Noynoy’s relatives created, numerous paid-hacks have come out of the woodwork to make all sorts of excuses to explain away why Mar Roxas was consistently lagging behind Jejomar Binay in the real polls.

Numerous commentaries came out, such as the accusation that “Mar didn’t quite catch the Yellow Fever” to explain that Mar didn’t win because he wasn’t fully-integrated with the Yellow Aquino-Magic and chose to stick with his signature blue shirt instead of wearing a Yellow Shirt just like Noynoy.

Another one erroneously claimed that Kris Aquino’s scandals affected Noynoy’s survey results (which scandal hit which survey results?!?), allegedly prompting Mar to “distance himself” from the Noynoy campaign. On the contrary, it was quite obvious that after the January “survey results”which led the public to believe that Villar was “statistically-tied” to Noynoy, both the Liberal Party and Mar actually went out of their way to campaign really hard for Noynoy. In fact, while there were so many Noynoy stickers without Mar on them, there weren’t any campaign materials with Mar alone.

Other people even went on to speculate that Mar Roxas didn’t do very well because “people didn’t like his wife, Korina Sanchez.” Some even talked about a supposed rift between Noynoy and Mar in the course of the campaign a little over a month before election day where Mar is said to have dismissed some campaign. Everyone gave all sorts of petty excuses to explain Mar’s loss away, conveniently avoiding any talk of the fact that the Noy-Bi plot to dislodge Mar emanated from the very core of Noynoy’s own inner circle: Peping Cojuangco, Tony Boy Cojuangco, Rafael Cojuangco Lopa, and Peping Cojuangco-led Kamag-anak Inc.

Just recently, the great deceiver and pied-piper named Conrado de Quiros came up with a two part-piece that tried to make sense of why Mar Roxas was clearly junked by Kamag-anak Inc. along with the Liberal Party and lost to Binay.

The Anti-Economic Liberalization De Quiros made the same old smokescreen excuse that:

De Quiros: Liar & Spin-doctor

    “Mar made it a point to be a separate entity; he made it a point not to own Edsa (which he already did by getting a rocket boost to his career by the “sacrifice” of sliding down for the greater glory of Edsa); he distanced himself from Noynoy when the sun was shining on his side of the hill. He insisted on being blue to Noynoy’s yellow, and it didn’t turn out to be velvet.”

He also made it a point to criticize the Liberal Party by claiming that back in November, it was compromising its principles…

    “…because it was giving the campaign a trapo (traditional politician) image. That took the form in particular of contemplating bringing in “winnable” candidates like Jinggoy Estrada and even Bongbong Marcos into its senatorial roster. It went beyond contemplation in the case of Ralph Recto, a staunch Arroyo ally whose conscription so pissed off Serge Osmeña that he quit the group altogether. The logic of this idiocy was that after Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III won he would need allies in the Senate to push his reform agenda.”

There is absolutely no indication that such accusations even had an effect on Mar Roxas’ standing in those “surveys.” What the unanalytical and agenda-driven Conrado de Quiros needs to realize is that in all probability, Mar Roxas wasn’t all that strong among the voting population in the first place, but Kamag-anak Inc. seems to have manipulated the survey results by the Kamag-anak-affiliated SWS and Kamag-anak-owned Pulse Asia to fool Mar Roxas and the Liberal Party into thinking that Mar continued to have strong support, despite what was obviously an underhanded and undetected clandestine grassroots campaign to sabotage Mar Roxas and promote the Noynoy-Binay tandem on the side.

By not showing Binay as being “within striking distance” on the radar screen early on in the campaign period, Kamag-anak Inc. could easily and stealthily mount their parallel campaign for Noy-Bi undetected and uninterrupted until much closer towards Election Day, when the Noy-Bi campaign would then become more out in the open, fronted by someone not visibly connected to Kamag-anak Inc: Chiz Escudero.

Conrado de Quiros needs to realize that Mar Roxas and the Liberal Party were maliciously used and exploited by Kamag-anak Incorporated in order to make use of their campaign machinery andtheir volunteer groups for cause of getting Noynoy Aquino elected into the Presidency.

But since the Liberal Party and Mar Roxas have always had an economic liberalization and pro-foreign investment agenda that was running diametrically opposed to the economic protectionism agenda of the Cojuangcos’ Kamag-anak Inc. and their fellow-Oligarch backers, there was no way that Kamag-anak Inc. would have allowed Mar Roxas and the Liberal Party agenda to dominate Noynoy’s programme of governance.

Conrado de Quiros, an avowed Leftist and staunch opponent of economic liberalization finds the Feudal Oligarchy to be a useful ally in keeping out foreign investments. As such, the Great Pretender that he is has decided to make all sorts of excuses that would justify why Mar lost and why Mar was “rejected” by Kamag-anak Inc.

Poor Mar Roxas. Poor Liberal Party. Poor Kaya Natin! Poor Noy-Mar Volunteer Groups.

They thought they were doing something good, and instead, they actively caused Kamag-anak Inc. and puppetmaster Peping Cojuangco to get reinstated into power, and they were almost totally left out to dry.

All of this because the Liberal Party and its leader Mar Roxas advocate a pro-foreign investment economic liberalization platform that runs diametrically-opposed to Kamag-anak Inc’s Oligarch-friendly agenda favoring economic protectionism.

Off to a Bad Start: Sense of Betrayal; Minority President; Hostile Senate and House; Chief Justice

Thanks to the malicious schemes played out by Peping Cojuangco and Kamag-anak Inc., Noynoy Aquino is in for major trouble even way before starting his term!

MLQ3 idiotically thinks 40% plurality is an overwhelming mandate

With most members of the Liberal Party and other allied groups totally disgusted by what has now been exposed to be an insidious plot by Noynoy’s own uncle Peping and Kamag-anak Inc to actively, but sneakily sabotage Mar and the Liberal Party, there is chaos and division even among the very supporters of Noynoy Aquino.  Combine that problem of divison and disunity within the Pro-Noynoy camp with the fact that Noynoy Aquino, despite all the misguided description of him as “The People’s President” or “the President with a Landslide” does not have a real mandate because he only happens  to be a Minority President having roughly around 40% of all the votes cast. A real landslide is a Majority win, not a Plurality.

Then he has a hostile Upper House and Lower House. Then there’s this brouhaha with the new Chief Justice Corona.

Noynoy Aquino is really off to a very bad start.

No matter what his clueless and agenda-driven drumbeaters Conrado de Quiros and Manuel L. Quezon III say in order to make it appear that everything will be better with Noynoy as President, it looks like Noynoy Aquino is going to need more than “the Aquino Legacy” or his mother’s “magic” on his side.

The Real Solution: A Unity Government

Noynoy Aquino is not going to enjoy the same euphoric high that his mother Cory started her administration on. In 1986, the Public (at least a real majority) was extremely happy and in high spirits. Everyone was Proud to be Pinoy. No one among Cory’s supporters felt betrayed (not yet, at least). And Cory was said by analysts to have actually enjoyed an absolute majority of at least 55% to probably a little over 60% of the entire vote.

Contrast that with 2010… The Public is happy only that the automated elections were much faster than how things were before and that many losing candidates conceded early. But that’s just about it. A much bigger number of people were depressed about “how stupid Filipinos are with how they vote” and an extremely huge number of supporters of the winning Presidential Candidate felt betrayed by the winning candidates own relatives. And there’s the fact that Noynoy is a minority president.

What mandate is that imbecile Manuel L. Quezon III talking about?

For Noynoy Aquino to effectively govern, he will need to make a real and meaningful Unity Government with his fellow candidates for President, particularly those who will be laying low and semi-retiring into private life for the time being. It is a real shame that these same people who will be laying low are themselves some of the most competent candidates in the entire electoral campaign.

Marcos may win in 2016 if Aquino fouls up

For one, Noynoy will need to get the Liberal Party and the numerous Mar Roxas supporters who felt totally betrayed by his own relatives on his side. Then there are the competent candidates from competing parties such as Noynoy’s own second cousin Gibo Teodoro, turnaround-specialists Bayani Fernando and Richard Gordon.  In order to get on the soft-side of Lakas-Kampi-CMD which will clearly dominate the soon to be strong House of Representatives, Noynoy should tap his own mother’s loyal successor, former President Fidel V. Ramos, who could bring all these men together due to his seniority.

Noynoy need not turn them into cabinet officials, especially considering that they will be subject to a ban on official cabinet appointments for a year. But Noynoy can certainly publicly announce that he will be actively tapping into the minds of these “worthy opponents” as it would be a waste to let their experiences, their expertise and competence, and their dedication to making things better for Filipinos go to waste. Not only will Noynoy’s administration benefit positively from the solid competence that that those men will bring to the table, Noynoy will effectively show to the Public that he is serious about uniting the country and the supporters of those competent statesmen will then be brought to Noynoy’s side.

Noynoy will already have the Erap crowd with him through his Vice-President (and old “family friend”) Jejomar Binay. He needs to get a huge swath of the 60% who did not vote for him and whose parties are represented in the Congress and Senate on his side.

Lastly, Noynoy will need to “grow the balls” necessary to be a real President by totally rejecting the overtures of his own relatives from Kamag-anak Inc. and the entrenched Oligarchy. He will need to focus almost exclusively on the Economy and make use of the fastest tried-and-tested economic growth model and the most rapid job creation program: Economic Liberalization and the Massive Attraction of Direct Foreign Investment. Jobs and food on the table are what Filipinos need, not empty slogans about “Corruption” and prosecuting his predecessor. Noynoy will only be able to resist Kamag-anak Inc. if he gets Gibo, Bayani, Gordon, and FVR as consultants and turns them into his own “Council of Trent.”

If he does not do this, however, Noynoy Aquino will be on the path to self-destruction and in 2016, Noynoy will have become the cause for the probable Return of the Marcoses when Bongbong presents himself as the “antidote” that would fix the Noynoy mess that Kamag-anak Inc. is now actively causing the Philippines to be in.

President-elect Noynoy may choose to pay close attention to our advice about the proposed “Unity Government” or he may choose to ignore it. The Truth is: He has no other choice. He clearly won’t like it when we at AP say “We told you so!”

Challenge for New Administration

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20100523-271552/eOw-poOohhzz-cut-out-the-jejemon-says-DepEd

‘eOw poOohhzz,’ cut out the jejemon, says DepEd

By Edson C. Tandoc Jr.
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:36:00 05/23/2010

NO MORE “J3J3J3,” “INGATZZ!!” AND THE mind-boggling “eOw poOohhzz.”

The “jejemons” must be stopped, the Department of Education (DepEd) has decreed.

Text messaging shortcuts are quicker and the fancy spelling read cute, but if “u” replaces “you” and “4” takes over for “for” in formal theme writing, then public school teachers must take action.

In a statement Saturday, Education Secretary Mona Valisno ordered public school teachers to discourage their students from using fancy spellings when sending text messages.

“Now that schools are about to open, we want our students to write properly. [But] how can we improve our English writing and speaking skills when we make shortcuts composing text messages?” she said.

Birth of ‘jejemons’

Fancy text messaging gave birth to a new group of texters called “jejemons.” The name is a play on how these texters type “hehehe” or the sound of laughter. They punch “jejeje” or “j3j3j3.”

They greet people not with a “hello” but with an “eOw poOohhzz.”

What’s alarming is these misspelled words have found their way into academic requirements like essays, according to DepEd spokesperson Jonathan Malaya.

“We got reports from teachers that even high school students use these spellings in their compositions,” he said.

This has resulted in students getting failing marks in reading, writing and comprehension skills, the DepEd said.

‘Get some sunlight’

Valisno recognizes that shortcuts in spelling help texters save time and phone load. But the secretary said SMS, or short messaging service, “is intended for delivering concise messages and not full conversation.”

“Instead of composing long conversational messages, why don’t you meet up? Get some sunlight. Enjoy the outdoors,” she suggested.

Valisno also called on parents to help in correcting the bad spelling habits of their children.

She said: “Practice makes perfect. If they do it right always, they will become better at it.”

Philippine Election Results: An Opinion

 
Theres The Rub
All the king’s men
By Conrado de Quiros
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 22:35:00 05/23/2010

 http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/columns/view/20100523-271695/All-the-kings-men

I’M glad that the president-elect— which should be fairly obvious notwithstanding the protests of Joseph Estrada, the only major presidential candidate left who hasn’t conceded it—has stopped giving his opinion about who he believes will win the vice presidential race. At the very least that is so because it is not a matter of opinion, it is a matter of fact, to be determined by the Comelec and Congress. At the very most, that is so because he is the president now in all but the formality of being sworn in, and should begin being the president of his nation and not of his party.

I am not glad that his party, specifically Nonong Cruz and company who claim to be loyal to him—which is by no means obvious notwithstanding their protestations of it—continue to give their opinion about who they believe will win the vice presidential race. At the very least that is so because that is not a matter of opinion, that is a matter of fact, to be determined by knowledge available to everyone and not just to themselves. So far all they’ve presented are claims based on COCs no one has seen except them, which fly in the face of all tallies (near-complete, except for a few places in Mindanao), not least the Comelec’s and the PPCRV’s and the exit polls of SWS and Pulse Asia. At the very most that is so because it compromises the very person they claim to be loyal to, who is their president.

What can come off their furious insistence, amid the resolute contradiction of heaven and earth, that the vice presidential race was won by the LP candidate, Mar Roxas?

If Congress proclaims Jejomar Binay the winner and they cry foul, it puts their president in a bind. It compels their president to either contradict them or go along with them. If he orders them to cease and desist, well and good, he will be seen as presidential, rising above party, partisan and ultimately petty politics. But that puts pressure on him, and a huge one even before he starts. If he goes along with them, then ill and bad, he will be seen as the president only of his band and not of his land. That is not a promising premise for healing, uniting, transcending and all that jazz.

If Congress proclaims Roxas the real winner, then even worse. That will come as a surprise to everyone except them: Joey Salgado has a point when he asks how the vice presidential race could possibly be called “close” when Roxas has never led it in any count at any time. That will put their president not just in a bind but in a blender. If he opposes it—which is not likely—then it presents a government in utter disarray even before it starts. If he accepts it, then he will be seen to be a party to whatever it was that proved the Comelec, the PPCRV, SWS, Pulse Asia, and every other poll-taker/reader/interpreter in this country monumentally wrong. That will hound the new government with the same curse that did—and did in—the GMA government after 2004.

That will be the irony to end all ironies, that the government that took its first step in the journey of a thousand li on the vastness of Edsa was run over by a padyak and looked as broken down afterward as the one it replaced. That is not a promising beginning for someone who, like Spiderman, needs to be constantly reminded that to whom much is given, much is expected.

Manny Villar, Gibo Teodoro and Dick Gordon have discovered that graciousness always extracts victory from defeat, that in the end the only real and lasting victories are moral ones, not political ones. Villar in particular, who started the conceding epidemic, a thing hitherto unknown in this country, redeemed a great deal of what he lost during the campaign by that luminous act, which held echoes of the moment long ago when he banged the gavel and said, “The President is impeached.” Not enough to escape investigation/prosecution for C5 and the stock exchange fiasco—justice may never be drowned in a sea of beaux gestes—but enough to deserve loud applause for it.

Unfortunately, Erap has yet to discover the lesson. Well, he has yet to discover grace or taste in general. It adds only to his Eraptions that he is seen, after his wife and sons have won handsomely, scratching his head and saying that in his case the computer does not compute.

Cruz and company would do well to follow the example of Manny, Gibo and Dick. In other places and not just in other times, it is customary for loyal servants of the king or president to insulate him from any whiff of scandal, any hint of danger. The question, “Who will take a bullet for the king or president?” is one that does not produce a paucity of volunteers, whether the bullet is literal or metaphorical. That is the instinct of loyal servants, to protect the king or president at all costs, even of their lives.

This is the only country I know where it is customary for some people, the ones who are filled with a sense of entitlement for reasons only they can say, to push the king or president right in harm’s way, while they cower behind him. The question, “Who will take a bullet for the king or president?” produces only a lot of volunteering the next fellow, whether the bullet is literal or metaphorical. It does a disservice to servants, particularly the OFW variety, protecting the master at least cost, especially to oneself.

Put in another way, elsewhere in the world, loyal servants sacrifice themselves to protect their king or president. Here, loyal servants sacrifice their king or president to protect themselves.
* * *

People keep asking me if I think a government of Noynoy Aquino and Jojo Binay will work. Well, right now I am certain only of one thing.

If Binay is scorned, marginalized and oppressed in any way, he can always complain of racial discrimination.

On Mutual Funds - a story: Part III

Then I scoured the internet again for grants for improving the environment.  I saw one that would pay up to $4k if I replaced my water heater, furnace and my air-con for efficient models.  Up to 96% efficiency. I lost my bulky gas-powered 24/7-heated water tank and in its stead had a *hot-water on demand* unit hooked up to the wall. It would heat water only when it's needed. They even sealed my chimney to minimize heat loss. I was advised to replace all lightbulbs and TVs, refrigerators, stoves to more efficient ones. A government-authoriz ed technician came to test heat and air loss through the portals and gave the reports to the gov't. (the gov't paid for this too, $150 worth for each before and after fix ($300 total), separate from the $4k offered, but they will re-imburse only when you go have the work done to improve the house).  Did you know that fat tube TVs (as opposed to LCD flatscreens) are like huge 1000-watt bulbs that even when it's
off, it eats up a lot of electricity?

  I took out the main floor stove, bought two efficient refrigerators and an efficient gas stove for the basement.  The air con is now industrial-sized (twice the size of the old one) but uses a quarter of the electricity of the puny old model (and it uses another type of refrigerant that is not harmful to the ozone). The furnace is more quiet yet it pumps more heat around the house with 96% efficiency. Total wattage of all light bulbs all over the house and garage is under 200 watts - they're all the 13-watt curly fluorescent bulbs.

With my approval, Ontario Hydro (the electric supplier) even went further to install an electricity regulator for my air conditioning unit to further save on electricity consumption.  It's good for the environment, they said. This $500 job would install a digital unit hooked up to the aircon to monitor and curtail its electrical usage without harm to the aircon unit (a 100% efficiency target ... with minimum electricity ). For my *troubles*, the installation job was free plus they gave me a $75 rebate on my hydro bill and a $25 discount for Canadian Tire store products and services.

Our roomer tenants (both Filipino girls) and us share the basement gas stove for cooking but they have their own fridge. I threw out the dryer and replaced it with a *sampayan* in the basement laundry room (total length back and forth around 100 feet) ... the extra space given up by the water tank heater gave us more area ... and *ordered* the tenants to do laundry once during weekend.  If they refused, there's always a laundromat in the immediate area and I'll lock the laundry room :-). With my neighbor's help, we, (mostly him :-), built a high pole tower, attached to the back of my garage (I have a detached garage at the back) and on top of the pole attached a big pulley with a heavy 400-foot (total to and back) nylon-covered metal clothesline string hooked to yet another big pulley attached to the back of the brick wall of the house. This is our summer *sampayan*.

 My gas for cooking and heating bills in the winter dipped from about $400/month to about $70-80.  My electricity bills from about $300 down to $70 every two months (2-month billing cycle). The summer gas bill is currently about $10 to $25/mo compared to a summer bill of $100-150 used up mainly by the water heater. The loan I took ($10K) to replace my furnace/aircon/ water heater set me back $150 per mo. (principal and interest) but the end result is massive savings on heating and electricity and better for the environment.  It's paying for itself and more.

For helping the environment, I received my $4k from the government in the mail ... (3 months later ... better late than never :-)

The real estate market has now picked up and I recently received a tax assessment and valuation for the house.  It gained $100k.

The house was also awarded an *energy wise approved* designation ... they sent a sticker by mail. (The sticker is now attached to the front vestibule's glass ... "Our home is EnWise approved", it says. :-)

Without the mutual fund debacle, my diminishing savings would probably be sitting in the mutual fund earning or losing $1k a year depending on market fluctuation.  The lesson learned here is it's better to invest in real estate (probably) and most especially if you have tenants to pay for part of the mortgage :-)

But I believe in all these things, Someone, somewhere up there, guided and helped me with everything that had happened (perhaps to teach me a lesson not to mess with MFs (the mutual fund variety :-) and to keep praying and thanking Him for the *biyaya*.