Photo Credit: pcij.org/blog

While traveling from Manila to Leyte this week, I noticed the shameless, inordinate amount of campaign posters that cluttered along the national highways. Of course this is very understandable- election day is fast approaching and candidates would like to grab as much attention as they can.

But what if these very same candidates who swore to help the Filipino people violate very simple traffic rules like plastering their faces over traffic signs? I’ve seen this all over Bicol region and in Samar right after we got off the boat in Allen. Large campaign posters were all over the place that we couldn’t even read the sign at the intersection. We had no way of knowing whether we were going to Northern Samar or Calbayog City and it was quite hard to find someone to ask because it was 9.30 in the evening and the streets were already deserted.

Never mind that long distance travelers get lost in the middle of nowhere driving on bumpy roads devoid of traffic signs, as long as these candidates get to put their names and faces on prime spots, it’s always okay for them.

Have we already lost our minds?

I don’t know how long will the Comelec will keep on tolerating Villar’s campaign tactics. Barely a week ago, he  shelled out some three million pesos of “financial assistance” to 42 kids during the Rockatropa concert. He was cautious enough not to go up on stage to present the gifts but his daughter did it in his place. We’re not idiots. We know where the money came from and we know it was blatant vote buying in broad daylight. For some reasons, this all happened when the entire Comelec was on the process of blinking and unblinking its eyes.

Last Friday, in one of his campaign travels in Batangas, Villar did it again. He gave out P20 bills to kids who “needed to buy camote” for food. His reason? They are kids, they can’t vote and they were hungry, what’s wrong with giving them money to buy camote?

Seems like faultless logic, isn’t it? It’s just that I have a bit of a problem with the whole thing. First is that the “camote fund” could influence the parents’ voting preferences. This is indirect vote buying and Villar is getting away with it again. Second is that our very rich and famous candidate is simply skirting around Comelec rules. He is violating campaign regulations but he manages to get away with it by mere technicalities. And third is that he does all these in the name of helping the poor.

Comelec should buy a new set of teeth to have a sharper bite.

One of the most annoying things about Aquino’s candidacy was the frequently repeated story of how Noynoy never meant to run for the presidency but was forced to do so because of the public clamor for him to carry on the legacy of his parents. During the EDSA 1 commemoration ceremony the other day, Aquino’s representative Rafa Lopa repeated this story yet again.

I always think of three things whenever I hear or read this story. First is why on earth would Noynoy do something he didn’t plan to do? I can’t help but get the impression that Noynoy is the kind of person who doesn’t plan on his own but simply accommodates the wishes of the people around him. This doesn’t strike me as smart at all.

Second is that no, it wasn’t so much of a public clamor for Noynoy to become president but a general outpouring of sympathies for the passing of Tita Cory. These are two separate things. Some political strategists read the funeral crowd wrong and tried to translate it into something political. Noynoy’s dwindling statistics in the surveys are too much of a coincidence. The Cory magic is wearing off because it was, after all, Cory magic, not Noynoy’s.

Third is my vague suspicion that LP camp is blowing this story up to make Noynoy look innocent and fresh. Well, I think it’s not working as they hoped. Presenting Noynoy as an unlikely candidate doesn’t make him look cute. It makes him look gullible and easily manipulated by the big guys behind LP.

Now they’re bickering like grade-schoolers.

Presidential candidates Manny Villar and Noynoy Aquino have one more thing to argue about: the ownership of the “hindi ako magnanakaw” slogan. As far as I can remember, it was Aquino who uttered it first on his TV ad that was released some time in the first or second week of January this year. When Villar uttered the exact phrase at the Inquirer Presidential debate in UP, Aquino was quick to notice and comment about it.

Personally, I think Aquino was nitpicking unnecessarily. Instead of wasting his time accusing Villar of pirating his slogan, he could have used the incident to turn the tables against his opponent by claiming that Villar himself is endorsing his candidacy. That would have been outrageous and memorable. There was no need for him to get “historical” about who used the slogan first because, frankly, he just sounded silly and childish. So what if he said it first?

Aquino’s reaction begs the stupid question: should we now register our slogans? Because if we should, then maybe I should go to the Comelec first thing tomorrow morning to register the phrases “Vote for me,” “Thank you,” and “Good Morning.” That way, I would be able to complain against anyone who use those phrases without my permission.

The issue of copying a candidate’s slogan underscores the subtle fact that our election has now been downgraded from our lofty democratic  ideals to a mere marketing campaign where branding and product positioning reign supreme. Now we don’t talk about character and competence anymore. We only favor the ones who grab our attention by making the most catchy campaign. This is both sad and alarming.

Forgive me for sounding so unpatriotic but reading the broadsheets daily, I can’t help but feel like I’m beginning to lose faith in the integrity of the Commission on Elections. If there is one word that describes the entire Comelec, it’s INCONSISTENCY. They’re so fickle minded, they change their stand on issues every now and then and they can’t seem to come up with a definite list of winners in previous elections.

Today, we get the biggest shocker of all- it was Lapid who won the gubernatorial seat in Pampanga, not Pineda, not Panlilio. And the frustrating part of this scandal is that Lapid can’t claim the victory because he wasn’t part of the recount complaint. His fault? He accepted his defeat without question and didn’t contest the poll results.

At this point, the plot thickens. The total number of voters didn’t match the previous counts. Comelec has a lot of explaining to do but it seems that they are running out of time. It’s election time again.

But more than the issue of who really won the 2004 elections is the question of what these all means to all the future candidates running for public office in the Philippines. I’m under the impression that anyone can now ask for a recount as long as he can pay the necessary fees. Doesn’t anybody think this is a bad precedence for all politicians? What if everyone files for a recount? It would be a nightmare for Comelec.

What does that make of our government then? If recounting ballots is tolerated, I am truly afraid that the day will come when the proclamation and inauguration of winners will be rendered temporary (and eventually useless) until all (dissatisfied) parties have filed for recount, motion for reconsideration, and motion for execution. And while the Comelec takes its time recounting, our cities, districts, and provinces will be governed by temporary politicians who can’t make definite projects because they are not sure they’ve won anyway.

That, I’m afraid, is the perfect recipe for corruption.

The Philippine Daily Inquirer recently ran a story on the disqualification of LP candidate Richard Gomez for a congressional seat in Leyte, saying the actor “became the latest LP member to suffer defeat in the hands of the Comelec.”

The news insinuated that Arroyo allies are getting in while LP candidates are being taken out, citing what happened to Governors Padaca, Panlilio and Mendoza who were unseated from their posts by the Comelec. I am not a huge fan of Mrs. Arroyo but I think it’s an overstretch to consider Gomez’s disqualification as something that had anything to do with his party and the “manipulations” of Arroyo’s camp.

I am a resident and a voter of Ormoc City and as far as I know, Richard Gomez never really stayed in Ormoc for longer periods of time. Yes he frequently visits the place, his plane tickets could prove that, but I doubt if he even knows his way around the city or if he knows the towns within the district he is seeking to represent.

I concur with Comelec’s statement that he lacks substantial ties with Ormoc City and that he can’t be expected to be cognizant of the needs of the locality should he win the election. Just because he is involved with local religious activities, giving speeches and doing wedding sponsorships doesn’t mean he knows the place well enough to represent it in Congress.

One of the the biggest issues that made the headlines in the Philippine broadsheets this past few days is the leakage of the draft committee report on the ethics complaint against Presidential candidate Manny Villar. While his allies are frantically defending him, questions about who leaked the draft are starting to surface. Senator Zubiri made it clear that the person who did it has to face the consequences of his actions.

But more than finding the culprit behind this premature leak of information is the question of political integrity and the culture of mud slinging in Philippine politics. While this may look like a welcome information to the voting public who need all the information they can get about the candidates, it shouldn’t escape our notice that this is a blatant disregard for confidential information that should be kept within the walls of the Senate, at least until such time time when it is ready for press release.

We all need that information. We need to know the truth behind the C5 scandal and why Villar isn’t saying much about the issue. But can’t that information come out without making it look like political mud slinging? We need facts that people can’t brush off as black propaganda. Right now, Villar’s camp is proclaiming that the issue is a ploy to discredit him and tarnish his image in the eyes of the public. Somehow, this weakens the argument and almost reduces it to a bad gossip. This makes the Filipino people wary of any exposés that happen on the eve of the elections.

Kind of like the Dacer-Corbito case that always hounds Lacson every election period. After the polls, the case goes to oblivion, only to be revived in the next election period. Do we always wait for the elections before we spill the beans on our leaders’ misdeeds? Frankly, that cycle sickens me.

I wonder how this will eventually play out. NBI fugitive Jason Ivler has just been arrested by NBI operatives today. It turns out that he’s been hiding in the basement of his mother’s house all along. Initial reports indicate he didn’t leave the country and sent an email to his mother from Hawaii. Mrs. Aguilar has a lot of explaining to do in the coming days.

But what actually struck me was the human resource involved in hunting down Ivler. Our government went as far as coordinating with the Interpol just to track down this one suspect. They even arrested and deported an innocent guy from Qatar in their frantic search.

There are thousands of unresolved murder cases in the Philippines every year. Most of those who are killed aren’t sons and daughters of high ranking officials. Their cases remain unsolved, the suspects remain at large. No Interpol involvement, no media coverage, no swift delivery of justice.

One thing I learned from this: our law enforcement officers CAN be efficient when they want to.

The University of the Philippines’ College Admission Test (UPCAT) results for school year 2010- 2011 are now available online and are posted within UP Diliman Campus.

Please visit this link to get to the full list of passers who will be admitted to the Philippines’ premier state university this coming school year.

Five days ago, an incident happened at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport when a Saudi Arabian national wearing a pilot’s uniform breached airport security measures. The security guard let him in without properly checking his ID.

When questioned, he said he was waiting for his father to arrive from Saudi Arabia but he couldn’t explain his uniform to the security personnel. He was about to be brought to the immigration center when he passed out for no reason at all.

In New York’s JFK International Airport, a terminal was evacuated on Saturday because of what the officials say as a security breach. A person entered a secure area without proper screening. Everyone was asked to go through a re-screening process to ensure flight security.

The difference between the two incidents? It looks like the Americans take their airport security more seriously than Filipinos. We caught a guy going to a restricted area wearing a pilot’s uniform and it didn’t cause a lot of commotion. A NAIA official even admitted having security lapses in the past.

Why do we tolerate this?