‘Protect myself’

“When language fails, violence becomes a language; I never had that feeling.”

—Elie Wiesel

By Alex P. Vidal

NEW York City-based Philippine Consul General Elmer Cato has called on authorities “to do more” to ensure safety in the Big Apple after more members of the Filipino community were recently assaulted in the city.

The latest was a 53-year-old customer in McDonald’s badly mauled by a 30-year-old black assailant, and a 73-year-old elderly violently pushed to the ground and manhandled by a notorious criminal while on his way to church, all in Manhattan.

While Cato’s appeal was good and necessary, I realized it’s only tantamount to a drop in the ocean.

What I’m saying is, even if Cato will make the appeal on a daily basis, the “authorities” can never save the more or less 270,000 Filipinos of the three million Asians living in New York if the street brutes—the so-called “Asian haters”—will continue to physically assault us anytime and anywhere in the Big Apple in particular.

The new battlecry should now be, “protect myself” at all times.

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I have adopted this “psychological defense” for myself since last year after I became a victim of harassment in March 2021; and I exhorted my fellow Pinoys living in New York and other parts of the United States to do the same. 

I told myself “never again” in order to conquer my fear. I needed to suppress the fear in order to survive in this urban jungle. For me it has become a case of “survival of the fittest and the best.” 

Unlike the other Filipino victims who were mostly elderly, I was lucky to  “escape” unscathed inside the subway train because of presence of mind.

No one else except me, or us as individuals, can protect ourselves against any harassment or treacherous physical mugging at night and in broad daylight. 

When we walk in the NYC streets, it’s a case of “you take good care of yourself because if you don’t…” 

I am actually one of the most vulnerable individuals because I walked around the Manhattan area, the most densely populated of New York City’s five boroughs, from the workplace every morning from Monday to Friday and evening from Monday to Friday when I reported for work.

Because of the distance of my two workplaces, which are all in the Midtown and Upper Manhattan, I skipped the subway and walked if it is winter and spring.

As a lover of city life, I crisscrossed the entire Big Apple for two to four hours during my free time—from First Avenue to Fifth Avenue (crossing the Second, Third, Lexington, Madison Avenues vice versa).

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All over the United States, attacks mostly against Asians increased by leaps and bounds even after my case and the cases of other Filipino victims in 2021 were reported in the media and went viral.

No less than President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, among other officials in the higher authorities, have condemned the violent assaults against Asians in various statements and rallies, yet the New York City Police Department (NYCPD) with 35,000 cops deployed all over New York City, couldn’t stop the brutality that happened mostly in public places.

There were 131 hate crimes targeting Asians in New York last year compared to 28 in 2020 and just one in 2019, according to NYPD statistics. 

The increase has continued so far this year, with ten offenses logged in January and February compared to four in the same period last year.

But for many Asian Americans, those alarming statistics do not capture the true scope of the violence that has rocked their community. 

Asian New Yorkers have faced a long string of unprovoked attacks by strangers, many of which were not classified as bias crimes. 

Even some of the most high-profile assaults and killings, such as the death of the woman shoved in front of a train, have not been designated as acts of hate.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo.—Ed)

I wish those who have problem communicating would just shup up!

Rowena Guanzon a liability in Robredo’s campaign

“For we must be one thing or the other, an asset or a liability, the sinew in your wing to help you soar, or the chain to bind you to earth.”

—Countee Cullen

By Alex P. Vidal

COMBATIVE Rowena Guanzon has become an eyesore in the presidential campaign of Vice President Leni Robredo, who is surrounded and endorsed by quality personalities from the academe, diplomatic circle, religious sector, lawyers’ groups, showbiz, music and entertainment, youth and civic organizations, overseas workers, and Filipino diasporas. 

Every time the former Commission on Elections (Comelec) commissioner opened her mouth to unceremoniously lash at former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. in particular, Robredo lost some potential voters.

Her recurrent and incessant vitriol and admonishments of Marcos Jr. were already unnecessary and overkill.  

She already shamed Marcos Jr. in her hard-hitting but ill-fated “dissenting” opinion in the disqualification case filed against Marcos Jr. when she was Comelec commissioner. 

Outside Comelec—now as a retiree and a private person—Guanzon continued to lambast the leading presidential candidate like he is a descendant of Pol Pot, who orchestrated the Cambodian genocide.  

Instead of hating Marcos Jr. after listening to Guanzon, some potential Robredo voters were disappointed and pitied the only son of the late former President Ferdinand Sr.

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We have always made it clear that we are against any form of character assassination as a method of political campaign in any election.

We can always convince our family and friends to vote for certain candidates by promoting the candidates’ values and character; by echoing and propagating their “impressive” plans and programs for the country and their platform of government; and emphasizing their competence and leadership.

This is peaceful, ethical, moral, decent, dignified, healthy, fair, straightforward, educational, pro-active, and positive campaign. 

We encourage this method and we exhort all candidates to adopt it.

We don’t persuade others to support and vote for our candidates by fomenting hatred, spreading lies, belittling the capability and destroying the reputation of their rivals.

It is toxic, belligerent, unethical, immoral, indecent, indecorous, unfair, impolite, unhealthy, divisive, counterproductive, and hostile campaign. And we reject this style completely.

When negative or toxic campaigners call Vice President Leni Robredo “gaga” or “mango” (dumb) and former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. “magnanakaw” or “makawat” (thief), they don’t help prop up the image of their chosen candidates. 

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Let’s be careful with the words that come out of our mouths, especially when we put down or smear others in order to deodorize ourselves or collect pogi points for our candidates “Thou shall not bear false witness against thy neighbor.”

The antagonistic behavior and hostile acts produce negative energy and the same energy will unceremoniously pull down the candidates.

Either the negative energy will backfire and damage the entire party, or it will generate multiplying bad lucks in the remaining days of the campaign period.

Both the camps of Marcos and Robredo carry these heavy baggages in their campaigns. 

When their respective endorsers invent false accusations and spit slurs and venomous tirades in TikTok, campaign rallies, media interviews and public fora, they turn off a lot of voters, especially the undecided. 

Tell me who your friends (campaigners) are and I will tell you who you are.

If the candidates want to attract positive energy and good vibration, they must stay away from hateful campaigners like Rowena Guanzon, Apollo Quiboloy, Larry Gadon, to name only some.

They are plain and simple political campaign liabilities. 

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OSCAR best actor Will Smith should go to jail for being a brute. 

It’s unbelievable that the police did not arrest him for smacking comedian host Chris Rock during the recent 2022 Oscar telecast.

Smith must be having a personal issue; he definitely needs a psychological evaluation and anger management.

We salute Rock, a really talented and professional entertainment personality who did not lose his composure during the very tense and unpredictable moment.

Rock did not react violently and was able to carry himself calmly and managed to go on with his hosting job like a true gentleman despite Smith’s brutish behavior. 

(The author, who is now based in. New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo.—Ed)

TikTok videos attack poll bets like Russian bombs

“Nastiness and mockery and meanness sometimes seem as if they're spreading like a contagion.”

—Jake Tapper

By Alex P. Vidal

TikTok videos meant to disparage and ridicule political personalities, especially those running for Philippine president, are now a dime a dozen.

Anyone with a digital communication gadget will almost instantly be greeted with a black propaganda item aimed at particular candidates as they scroll down their social media accounts these days.

The TikTok videos, spliced and carefully arranged to mock and malign mostly Vice President Leni Robredo and Senator Manny Pacquiao, have become so plentiful as to be valueless; they have become actually “overkill.” 

They have suddenly spread and almost unstoppable like Russian missiles that killed civilians and destroyed hospitals and elderly facilities in Ukraine.

It is so obvious they came only from one source—from one political camp with plenty of money to burn for the dirty tricks department.

Sad to say that election in the Philippines has sunk to this low that contending parties have given more premium on character assassination and gutter campaign rather than promoting the candidates’ programs and plans once they are elected. 

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WE all don’t want it to happen, of course, and we wish and pray each passing day that World War III will not have its genesis in the Russo-Ukraine conflict now on its fifth week, or more than a month now.

As long as there is no ceasefire, the threat of a possible World War III will continue even if some people weren’t anymore paying attention to the bloody invasion that has killed more than a thousand civilians and displaced some four million Ukrainians fleeing to neighboring countries.

World War III shouldn’t happen and world leaders must do everything to prevent it.

But while Russia appeared to be “losing” the war against the durable Ukraine since February 24 (thanks to the support of the United States and the NATO), the tension and fear of a possible bigger battle that might involve nuclear weapons will continue to mount.

What will happen if World War III will commence as an offshoot of the Russian invasion of Ukraine? We will all die. No one will survive. Nuclear weapons will erase all countries from the face of earth in seconds.

No OFW will be given the opportunity to be with their loved ones if the most horrific episode—World War III—will occur, which should never take place, God forbid.

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The big question should be, are there signs or so-called handwritings on the wall that would validate some fears that Vladimir Putin’s brutal invasion in Ukraine that resulted in a carnage would deteriorate into  World War III similar to the events that formalized the World War II?

Before World War II, Adolf Hitler invaded Poland after the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact; Japan invaded Manchuria in 1931; Italy invaded Abyssinia in 1935.

They were followed by the remilitarization of the Rhineland in 1936, and the Spanish Civil War, which started in the same year; Anschluss with Austria and the Sudeten crisis of 1938; Operation Barbarossa and Pearl Harbor in 1941, which prompted President Franklin Delano Roosevelt or FDR to ask the U.S. congress to declare a state of war against Japan.

If the aforementioned events are mere coincidences, let’s hope they are just coincidences: Before Russia attacked Ukraine, it also invaded earlier Georgia, Crimea and eastern Ukraine; it carpet-bombed Aleppo; it used exotic radioactive and chemical agents against Russian dissidents on British soil.

Russia interfered in the U.S. elections and initiated massive hacks of computer networks; it murdered Boris Nemtsov and blatantly poisoned and imprisoned Alexei Navalny.

All these events occurred one after another before Putin wrecked Ukraine by falsely accusing the independent state of crimes to justify the bloody and military attack that has threatened the world food supply after the United States and NATO retaliated with severe economic sanctions. 

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo.—Ed)

Rich Pacquiao ‘allows’ rich junior to box

“A father is a man who expects his son to be as good a man as he meant to be.”

—Frank A. Clark

By Alex P. Vidal

IF I were Senator Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquiao, I would not allow any of my children to join boxing.

Boxing is normally the chosen sport of poor boys who risk their lives and limbs in the ring to escape from dire straits.

The Pacquiaos aren’t poor. The children don’t need to risk being hurt in this violent contact sport to eat three square meals a day.

Unless their father didn’t make it big as a prizefighter, or failed to earn enough for his retirement and wants his children to pick up the cudgels and continue his legacy both for fame and money, there is no sense for any parent to “compel” the kids to follow his footsteps as a boxer especially when there are opportunities for the kids to excel in other fields of endeavor.

But we learned that Pacquiao, who is running for Philippine president in the May 9 election, is actually against the decision of his 21-year-old son, Emmanuel Jr. to box.

“It pains me to see him box because I know how hard it is,” Pacquiao was quoted by Mirror, a UK-based publication.

This came after Emmanuel Jr. recently won his amateur debut representing  Wild Card Boxing Club in San Diego, California.

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Even if it’s the son’s decision to become a boxer, the father Pacquiao—and also the mother—still have the authority and power to prevent it if they’re against it; the wealthy parents have the final say what’s best for their children, who grew up with a silver spoon, other than watching while they participate in a dangerous and cruel undertaking.   

But since Emmanuel Jr. has already logged his first win, it’s now a case of water under the bridge; the decision to let him box and probably pursue and duplicate the father’s stardom, if necessary, has been permitted by the family.

The list of Filipinos who seriously became boxers primarily to escape poverty is long. Some of those who captured world titles did not amass a wealth like Pacquiao, who was already 42 when he decided to quit, but they never allowed their children to choose boxing as a permanent livelihood. 

-o0o-

I WAS among the millions of people worldwide who watched and listened “live” on TV to the powerful speech of US President Joe Biden in Warsaw, Poland March 26 where he emphasized that Russian President Vladimir Putin “cannot remain in power” after launching his brutal invasion of Ukraine—a closing, off-the-cuff message issued in the final moments of Mr. Biden’s tour of Europe that the White House swiftly walked back.

It was the first time I heard the President speak like a true leader of the free world, which, I think, was very necessary in this crucial moment when the Russian invaders haven’t yet captured the Kyiv.

It was also Mr. Biden’s impromptu call for an end to Mr. Putin’s reign—a month after he launched a deadly and destructive war with neighboring Ukraine; it was his first time broaching the subject. 

Top administration officials, including Mr. Biden’s secretary of state, have stressed that they were not advocating a change in Russian leadership for weeks.

The line sent ripples throughout the U.S. foreign policy community, before the White House quickly clarified that Mr. Biden was not calling for regime change in his speech, contending that the president’s point was that Mr. Putin cannot be allowed to exercise power over his neighbors or the region. 

“He was not discussing Putin’s power in Russia, or regime change,” an official said in a statement.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo.—Ed)

‘Waslik poder’

 

“The greater the power, the more dangerous the abuse.”

—Edmund Burke

By Alex P. Vidal

BOTH Rep. Arnie Teves of Negros Oriental and former Philippine National Police (PNP) director general Camilo Cascolan understand what “waslik poder” is since they are Visayans.

When you take advantage of your position and connection to corner juicy projects and appointments in government—especially if you don’t deserve to get the projects and the appointments—your act can be categorized as “waslik poder.”

People in power who circumvent the law or take an easy route by applying arm-twisting tactics to gain favors or illegally seize something in their advantage can be stricken with the disease called “waslik poder.”     

When you become STL operator or franchise holder of gambling operations like e-sabong (online cockfighting) while at the same time holding a high position in government, or acting as PNP chief, it’s pure and simple “waslik poder.”

We have no idea when did Cascolan, who received a civilian position under the Duterte administration after retiring from police service in 2021, acquire his franchise to operate e-sabong.

-o0o-

As a former PNP chief, his acquisition of franchise of the controversial gambling operation definitely leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

He could have used his position and influence to hack out the favor, and it smacks of lack delicadeza.

Ditto for Rep. Teves, who had been tagged by Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) board member Sandra Cam as alleged STL operator in Negros, and now as franchise holder of e-sabong by gambling organizer Charlie “Atong” Ang.

Under the law, you can’t be a government official while at the same time gambling operator. We haven’t independently confirmed that Teves really operates lotto or e-sabong, but, at least, that’s what Cam and Ang had alleged.  

There are several characters who know how to wield power and influence by taking advantage of their closeness and connection with the high and mighty in Malacanang. 

Their actuations, in most cases, have led to abuse of power.

Teves, whose son, Kurt Matthew, was recently caught together with his two bodyguards in a CCTV mauling a subdivision security guard in Parañaque City, is reportedly at odds with Atong Ang, who told a senate hearing recently that a group of e-sabong franchise holders was trying to sabotage his own e-sabong operation and plotting to kill him.

-o0o-

I met now 50-year-old Mayor Vitaly Klitschko of Kyiv, Ukraine in the World Boxing Council (WBC) Conventions in Tokyo in 2002, Moscow in 2003, and Manila in 2007.

He was then in his 30s and standing six feet and seven inches. I looked like a midget at five feet and nine inches in our photos together. 

I also met some of the promoters and world champions from Russia when Ukraine and Russia weren’t yet at odds politically and militarily.

I also happened to referee in the past a WBF flyweight championship fight involving Russian dynamo Alexie Makmotov and Samson Dutchboygym.  

I couldn’t forget how the Team Russia reacted when I stopped the fight by TKO in favor of Dutchboygym: both the manager and the trainer looked at me with firm faces (ohh, the Russians!). 

I realized they weren’t mad at me after we had a group picture together.

Going back to Mayor Klitschko, he and brother, Wladimir, both former world heavyweight champions, have been in the frontline defending Ukraine from the Russian attackers.

“We understand it's our land, we understand it's our future, it's our freedom," Vitali explained in an interview with CNN. "We're ready to fight for that, but we need support from (the) whole democratic world."

"We need support and help from our allies, we need a lot and it's almost never enough," Wladimir added.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo.—Ed)

Is talkative Atong digging his own grave?

“I am very talkative.”

—Zareen Khan

By Alex P. Vidal

THERE is a saying that less talk, less mistake; no talk, no mistakes.

The late mercurial former senator Roding Ganzon once said, “Less talk, less mistake; no talk wala utok (no brains).”

Because he talked—and exposed himself in a video posted on social media—too much, gambling sensation Charlie “Atong” Ang may have incriminated himself in the controversial disappearance of 34 sabongeros or cockfighting aficionados and, in the process, dug his own grave.

Weeks before he was tagged by a witness in the senate hearing on the disappearance of the sabongeros mostly in Metro Manila, Ang appeared on a recorded video he posted on social media where he berated the “cheats” in online sabong he and several others separately operate through a franchise, calling them “mga gago (all dumbs).”

Those who had no idea why he was fuming mad in that video became curious. 

When the Chinese mestizo former casino buddy of former President Erap Estrada mentioned e-sabong and how the “mga gago na yan” allegedly conned some bettors and created a fake broadcast monitoring system to “sabotage” his e-sabong operation, it’s when some quick-minded netizens began to connect his belligerence to the case of the missing sabongeros.

-o0o-

He couldn’t conceal his anger and talked endlessly even if unnecessary. It’s like throwing himself under the bus for being loquacious.

His behavior and temper may have placed him in a kingsized trouble—both with the families of the abducted sabongeros and the other e-sabong franchisees he had lambasted and accused of conniving to put him down.  

In between the release of Atong’s angry video in the social media and the appearance of an “eye-witness” pointing to him as the alleged mastermind, he mentioned the names of other e-sabong licensees who may have plotted to destroy his name and even kill him during the Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs hearing.

Atong has become a man who knows too much; a talking head who appears to be too big for his breaches and has picked enemies left and right. 

-o0o-

Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson’s quick response to resign from Partido Reforma to run as independent after the party officially endorsed his rival, Vice President Leni Robredo, is a good example of delicadeza.

Although his chances to win against odds in the May 9 presidential election are nil, he continued to earn the respect of independent thinkers because of the way he handled himself in the face of such crisis.

Instead of being humiliated, Lacson faced the issue squarely and called spade a spade admitting it was the party's president and former House speaker Pantaleon Alvarez who informed him Wednesday that the party's slate in Davao del Norte, led by Gov. Edwin Juhabib—party secretary general—chose to endorse another presidential bet. 

"Considering it is at the behest of these top-tier officials that I was recruited as a member and the party's standard-bearer and thereafter elected as its chairman, I believe it's only decent and proper—consistent with my time-honored uncompromising principles—to make this decision," Lacson said.

We salute the good senator for his resolve, open-mindedness, sportsmanship and statesmanship amid the recent blow to his candidacy. 

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo.—Ed)

  

  

Conversion is no longer a defense

“Those who imagine polygamy to be handy cover for promiscuity are apparently off the mark. If polygamists share one quality, it is that, polygamy aside, they are extraordinarily strait-laced.” —Molly Ivins

By Alex P. Vidal

WE know a lot of Christian husbands who embraced Islam not because they love the religion, but because they wanted to escape the law against polygmy, or the practice or custom of having more than one wife or husband at the same time.

Even before the Supreme Court (SC) has ruled that converting to Islam to marry a second spouse is bigamy, it has become a common practice for some philanderers to abandon Christianity to justify their second marriage, not because of faith.

A popular lawyer, a former radioman, a notorious politician, an actor, and a former regional director, to name only a few we personally know. They all deserted the Christian faith to embrace Islam for fear their first wives would send them and their news partners to jail.

The latest SC decision has pointed out that under the Code of Muslim Personal Laws or Presidential Decree No. 1083, any valid subsequent marriages require the original wife’s knowledge.

“A party to a civil marriage who converts to Islam and contracts another marriage, despite the first marriage’s subsistence, is guilty of bigamy,” SC said in a 17-page decision penned by Associate Justice Marvic Leonen and released on Monday, March 21. “Likewise guilty is the spouse in the subsequent marriage. Conversion to Islam does not operate to exculpate them from criminal liability.” 

The decision added: “Further, a married Muslim cannot marry another. In exceptional cases, a married Muslim man may do so if ‘he can deal with them with equal companionship and just treatment as enjoined by Islamic law.'” 

-o0o-

Restrictions on the practice of polygamy reflect common Muslim teachings, rooted ultimately in the sacred texts of Islam, according to an article in Scholarly Commons. 

“Scholars of Islamic theology make clear that Islam regards marriage as an essential institution, and it encourages all faithful fit adults to marry.

Marriage, the Qur’an teaches, builds alliances among groups and families, produces and nurtures legitimate children, protects and supports orphaned or abandoned women, and most importantly provides an essential means for husband and wife to provide material, physical, emotional, and spiritual support for each other,” the article says.

The strong assumption and preference of the Qur’an is for monogamy,

not celibacy, and for monogamy, not polygamy.

In Why Two In One Flesh, it was emphasized that polygamy is only an option, not an obligation, for Muslims. 

“The only two Qur’anic verses on point aim to restrict rather than encourage polygamy—which most (though not all) scholars believe was a common practice in seventh-century Arabia where the Prophet Mohammed lived,” explained the Why Two In One flesh.

One Qur’anic verse reportedly allows polygamy but only in the narrow context of protecting female orphans from the abuses of their guardians: “If you fear that you shall not be able to deal justly with the orphans, marry women of your choice, two or three or four; but if you fear that you shall not be able to deal justly (with them), then only one.”

A second verse, however, says the Why Two In One Flesh, questions whether justice can in fact be done to all women in a polygamous marriage:

You are never able to be fair and just as between women, even if it is your ardent desire. But turn not away (from a woman) altogether, so as to leave her (as it were) hanging (in the air). If you come to a friendly understanding, and practice self-restraint, God is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful.

In the Hadith, added the Why Two In One Flesh, the second most important sacred Muslim text after the Qur’an, the Prophet refused to allow his cousin Ali, who had married the Prophet’s daughter Fatimah, to take a second wife for fear of harming or hurting her. “Fatimah is part of me,” the Prophet said; “whatever hurts her hurts me, and whatever harms her harms me.

-o0o-

SMOKER? If we are smoker, we know that this habit can be hard to kick. If we have been thinking of quitting or have tried before, let's not give up. It is never too late. Let's take advantage of the options available. People who make a plan and get support can succeed.

LET'S PREVENT THE SPREAD OF FLU by doing the following: 1. Staying away from people who are sick--and staying home when we are sick; 2. Covering our mouth and nose when we cough or sneeze; 3. Washing our hands frequently; 4. Don't touch our eyes, nose, or mouth.

Let's eat colorful fruits and veggies daily for a delicious way to get our vitamins: ORANGE--sweet potatoes, mango, carrots. PURPLE--grape juice, eggplant, plums. Red fruits and veggies may help reduce the risk for several types of cancer. Let's try cranberries, tomatoes, beets, and berries.

Life is always far beyond us to understand fully. It takes sadness to know what joy is, noise to appreciate silence and a cross to have a glimpse of heaven. Life is almost always unfair, but life loves the person who dares to live it.

Walking with God is the best adventure, finding God is the best achievement, and having God as companion is the best source of happiness.

LET'S CUT OUR CALORIES by doing these simple things: Using skim or 1 percent milk instead of whole 2 percent; choosing water-packed tuna instead of tuna in oil; using "light" or fat-free or dried fruit instead of chips or candy; trimming fat and skin from meats; having one half cup of rice or pasta instead of 1 cup; skipping dessert.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo.—Ed)

I sympathize with Bongbong

“Any mind that is capable of real sorrow is capable of good.”

—Harriet Beecher Stowe

By Alex P. Vidal

IF not for those surveys showing Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. “leading comfortably” over his closest rival, Vice President Leni Robredo, the only son of the late former Philippine President Ferdinand Sr. would be experiencing sleepless nights, if not depression, now that there are strong indications the “yellow magic” in 1986 might be duplicated and repeated by the “pink magic” in 2022. 

Marcos Jr., an intelligent and charismatic man, never lost in the surveys. 

Since last year, he dominated almost all the surveys from the Social Weather Station (SWS) and Pulse Asia, among other polls. Thank you surveys. 

A survey generally is defined as the act of examining a process or questioning a selected sample of individuals to obtain data about a service, product, or process. 

In the May 9 presidential race, the surveys are data collection collect information from a targeted group of people about their opinions, behavior, or knowledge of the candidates.

Common types of example surveys are written questionnaires, face-to-face or telephone interviews, focus groups, and electronic (e-mail or website) surveys.

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Election surveys, however, in the age of social media are different.

Shortly after the turn of the 20th century, the Philippines was the first country in Asia to hold elections, and many Filipinos continue to participate enthusiastically in the political process, noted the Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs. 

For a country where suffrage is a right rather than an obligation, data from the International Institute of Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) indicates that a sizable majority of Filipinos vote, ranging from 64 per cent in 2007 to 90 per cent in 1987. 

The International IDEA database also shows that the average turnout in Philippine legislative and presidential elections from 1945 to 2010 was slightly higher (at 78.4 per cent and 77.8 per cent, respectively) than the Asian average of 70.8 per cent and 75.6 per cent, respectively.

Surveys showing he had 52 percent approval rating was more than enough to make Marcos Jr. feel good—if that is the intention of his publicists and spin masters who don’t want to see him down in the dumps.

Again, thank you surveys. At least Marcos Jr. will have something to hold on to in these crucial moments.

-o0o-

But if we place ourselves in the shoes of Marcos Jr., we might be surprised to discover and realize it’s the worst place to be in with barely five weeks before the May 9, 2022 election.   

By imagining the person who beat you for vice president in 2016 as the same person who’s now breathing down your neck, is already torture. 

If she was able to put you away in 2016 when she wasn’t yet in power, what’s the assurance she can’t do it again in 2022 now that she has the complete “resibo” (receipt) as a performing and service-oriented vice president?  

Publicly, Marcos Jr.’s demeanor tells us he’s intrepid, unmoved by the mind-boggling crowd that has been phenomenally forming as sea of humanity in the head-turning rallies of his rival, Vice President Robredo.

Privately—or when he is alone with his wife in the bedroom—Marcos Jr. must be thinking and worrying like the late death convict Leo Echegaray, who wasn’t sure if he would be saved by President Erap’s  last-minute call while waiting for the lethal injection.

What if those phenomenal pink crowds that have recently made headlines for Robredo will translate into actual votes on May 9?

Will the surveys that have almost cemented my “sure” victory still matter? 

Can these surveys still do wonders for me on May 9?

My sympathy goes to former Senator Bongbong Marcos Jr.

-o0o-

After four weeks, five top Russian military generals have been reportedly killed while trying to overrun Ukraine. 

The immoral, unjustified, illegal invasion Vladimir Putin thought would be executed quickly has extended and more misguided and disoriented Russian soldiers have been killed. 

Meanwhile, desperate Russian mercenaries have been killing innocent Ukrainian children, women, elderly. 

The genocide is being monitored and televised in the age of technology. Everything has been recorded for all the world to witness. The war criminals will be indicted for brutal war crimes if they can survive the heroic resistance from the Ukraine people.  

Sooner or later, good will triumph over evil. God works in mysterious ways.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo.—Ed) 

 

The right to escape from humiliation

“Self-pity comes so naturally to all of us. The most solid happiness can be shaken by the compassion of a fool.”

—Andre Maurois

By Alex P. Vidal

EVEN if we succeed in bringing the horse to water, there’s no guarantee it will drink.

Or, as the exact quote says, even if we bring the horse to water, we can’t compel it to drink.

In the case of the Commission on Elections (Comelec), which sponsored the PiliPinas Debates 2022 The Turning Point on March 19 at the Sofitel Harbor Garden Tent in Manila, it failed to bring Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to water; therefore, there was no chance to make the leading presidential candidate drink.

Of the 10 presidential candidates invited, only Marcos Jr. didn’t attend because he prioritized to be in a rally in Marikina City.

It wasn’t the first time Bongbong dodged a nationally televised “live” debate, so he isn’t stranger to the snub.

His no show in the debate on March 19, however, has elicited adverse public reaction, and many people who didn’t buy his alibi, viewed it as “act of cowardice.” 

Marcos Jr. must’ve been aware debates, regardless of format and length, were always stacked against him; he probably felt like a rabbit being surrounded by wolves ready to scorch or swallow him whole.

In the past debates since the start of the official campaign period for the May 9 election, most candidates always wanted his meat. 

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Rivals loved to pick him for a chariot race and he would almost always end up flat on his back. 

The nightmares must’ve traumatized and jolted Marcos Jr. to smithereens, especially when they speared him with searing issues about his family’s unexplained wealth, and when they peppered him about the ghost of Martial Law authored by his late father, former President Marcos Sr. 

To assuage his unhappy fans who wanted to see him tackle the other candidates in the debates, Marcos Jr. might spring a major surprise in the last two presidential debates in this series scheduled on April 3 and 24. 

But if Marcos Jr. will decide to altogether ignore the remaining debates, he is within his rights to do so; his decision won’t place him in a collision course with the Omnibus Election Code. 

There’s no law that penalizes those who skirt the Comelec-arranged debates.

If he deems it unnecessary to clash with his rivals in a “live” televised forum for fear he would only end up mentally bruised and humiliated, or the debates would incriminate him in the many controversial issues attached to his family’s “legacy” that might be raised during the debate, Marcos Jr. has all the reason to escape and protect himself from embarrassment and humiliation.

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BECAUSE of too much excitement over big rally crowds and surveys, followers of both leading presidential candidates Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and Vice President Leni Robredo think the victory of their respective bets is already in the bag.

Their strong basis? Mammoth crowds in various out-of-town sorties that seemed unstoppable and ready to give Robredo a resounding victory on May 9, and “consistent” survey results showing Marcos Jr. leading by a mile over his nearest rival.

Other contestants, who have nothing to brag about in as far as progress in their campaign is concerned, have dismissed the elements of big crowd and survey dominance to be hogwash. 

The big crowd was made possible because the “pink” has joined forces with the “reds” that infiltrated the rallies, many of them have argued.

The surveys could not be the basis to determine the sure winner because they involved only some 2,000+ respondents compared to the 63 million registered voters who will cast votes, they insisted.

And besides, the real surveys will be on May 9, they added.  

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies.—Ed)

Is Imee laying down the groundwork for protest?

“We have to distrust each other. It is our only defense against betrayal.”

—Tennessee Williams

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

THERE is more than meets the eye in the recent yakety-yak of Senator Imee Marcos regarding the alleged breach of security in the Smartmatic, the provider of the automated elections system (AES) and vote counting machines (VCMs) for the May 9, 2022 election.

Pointing only to Facebook posts but without any concrete evidence other than the social media, the sister of presidential candidate Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., made a very serious allegation that a  Smartmatic contractual worker took out an official laptop and leaked its contents.

Did she foresee her brother’s defeat and she is now laying the groundwork to be used as the basis when the Marcos camp files an electoral protest after May 9?

Since nobody has raised the furor until Senator Marcos revealed it in public and in the executive session, she said, after seeing those Facebook posts, some people might speculate that the Marcos camp is now jittery and panicky about the chances of Marcos Jr. 

After May 9, in case her brother will lose, will Sen. Marcos tell us: “I told you so. There’s a breach of security in the Smartmatic. Remember when I warned you all about this before the election?”

 

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She insisted the matter was discussed during an executive session among senators, poll executives, and law enforcement operatives.

"Nasa Facebook eh, makikita ninyo sa isang XSOS na nasa Facebook, nandun nakalatag kung ano-anong impormasyon," said the Ilocos lawmaker, who is head of the Senate Committee in Electoral Reforms. "May mga password, user word. Sabi nila, bulok na at non-usable but nevertheless, the wealth of detail and the depth of knowledge is a little bit alarming.” (It's on Facebook, you will see a wide array of information on the XSOS Facebook. There are passwords and user words. They said the data is old and unusable but nevertheless, the wealth of detail and the depth of knowledge is a little bit alarming.)

She claimed this could effect election results. 

What if Bongbong Marcos Jr. will win and his defeated rivals will invoke Senator Marcos’ casus belli?

 

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Sen. Marcos’ fears are actually valid. Anyone who has seen the alleged Facebook posts from a purported hackers' group called XSOX, might think and feel the same way. 

It so happened her brother is running for president, thus others might accuse her of making a mountain out of a molehill.

But according to a report from CNN Philippines, Smartmatic has clarified that no such breach happened.

"Hindi po 'yun totoo (That is not true)," CNN Philippines quoted Smartmatic spokesman Christopher Louie Ocampo as having told reporters. "Ang Smartmatic po, to be very clear, ay hindi po involved sa (is not involved in) processing or storing of personal data of any voter for the 2022 elections. Anyone can make this document and post it on Facebook and say this can possibly affect the 2022 elections.”

CNN Philippines also quoted Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez as having also expressed confidence that the 2022 election systems have not been compromised.

"From the very beginning, sinasabi natin (we are saying) that Comelec is fully in charge of the elections," Jimenez said, according to CNN Phlippines. "We are confident that even in this particular case, walang naganap na hacking (no incident of hacking occurred) and therefore there will be no impact of that alleged hacking to the election results for 2022."

The National Bureau of Investigation is said to be also looking into the incident.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo.—Ed)

 

 

 

Trust Comelec

“Someone who thinks the world is always cheating him is right. He is missing that wonderful feeling of trust in someone or something.”

—Eric Hoffer

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

IF we don’t know how to trust the Commission on Elections (Comelec), we have no business participating in the normal electoral process, especially if our primary motive is to cast aspersions on this major state institution even before the election.  

It’s healthy to doubt and question something that demands logical explanation, but, sometimes, the only way to make something trustworthy is to trust it first.  

Like any other government offices, Comelec isn’t perfect. 

It has its own share of shortcomings and faults. 

If we inject malice in anything the Comelec does, including its mistakes, we will end up suspicious and cynical about everything that it does even if it is orderly and above board.

Even if Comelec will do its job well, it can still suffer from a negative public perception if we treat it as an adversary rather than a reliable agency empowered by law to safeguard our votes and ensure the holding of a peaceful and honest election.

 

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Comelec’s reputation and integrity will depend primarily on its performance and transparency, or how it exercises its power to supervise a nationwide election without being stymied by pressures and controversies. 

How damaging are the accusations of irregularity and criticisms leveled against the poll body, however unverified and unproven, also matters.

If Comelec is the most powerful agency during the election period, it is also the most favorite whipping boy by cynical voters and other Doubting Thomases.

Even if some political parties have become disillusioned and pessimistic, it is important that we continue to uphold and respect the majesty of Comelec’s authority, and have faith in its capability as a chief pillar of democracy during the election period. 

 

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As the election day approaches in the Philippines, there has been noticeably a sudden mushrooming in the social media of spliced Tiktok videos containing a compilation of hilarious scenes mostly involving presidential candidates, Senator Manny Pacquiao and Vice President Leni Robredo.

The intention of those who uploaded the videos was obviously to ridicule and humiliate Pacquiao and Robredo as part of the black propaganda campaign related to the May 9 election.

Did it come from their rivals? 

If yes, then why was Pacquiao, who has not been doing well in the surveys, targeted?

It’s understandable if Robredo would be targeted by the dirty tricks department as she has been one of the two leading presidential candidates who might even pull a major surprise on the day of reckoning.

But why include Pacquiao? What will the authors of those waggish and comical Tiktok videos get if they further embarrass and humiliate the former boxing champion? 

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo.—Ed)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rep. Gorriceta’s choice

“When you have to make a choice and don't make it, that is in itself a choice.”

—William James

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

MANUEL L. Quezon’s famous quote, “My loyalty to my party ends where my loyalty to my country begins” can’t be applied to Nacionalista Party (NP) stalwart and Iloilo second district Rep. Michael Gorriceta’s recent refractory when he endorsed Vice President Leni Robredo, who isn’t a member of NP.

Gorriceta’s decision didn’t sit well with NP provincial chair, Dr. Ferjenel Biron, who is Iloilo campaign manager of former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. of Team Unity.

Biron, a former Iloilo fourth district representative, apparently isn’t happy when party members—incumbent local officials or candidates in the May 9 election—become “rebellious” and don’t support Marcos and vice presidential candidate Sara Duterte-Carpio.

It’s like Popeye who felt offended when one of his subordinate sailors openly defied him. 

Biron probably thinks “if you don’t support my presidential and vice presidential candidates, it’s better to cut and cut clean.” 

In simple platitudes, get out of the kitchen if you can’t stand the heat. It’s impossible for trust to grow in the garden of suspicion when there is no fertilizer called loyalty to cultivate it.

 

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“Trust is a big word for me. Loyalty and trust, for me, are everything,” Tommy Mottola once reminded us. “It's the core of what I'm about and what the people around me hopefully are about. It's a certain thing that gives you a sense of security. It's the biggest factor in everything I do.”

First, no one can tell if Gorriceta, a former mayor of Pavia, is indeed a loyal partyman, except him. 

Second, if he is loyal and wants to terminate that loyalty because he is enamored to someone else outside the party, it doesn’t follow that his move is tantamount to patriotism, or loyalty to his country.

When one political figure shifts support or picks a presidential candidate from another political fence, what he feels about his country has nothing to do with his act. 

It’s about his values, character, quality of choice, and principles as an individual.

President Quezon’s classic quote must’ve been intrinsically metaphorical. 

In Gorriceta’s case, loyalty to his party ended when he professed support for Vice President Robredo, who is the chief rival of the candidate his party endorses and supports, plain and simple.

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In my opinion, the Philippines’ P12.7 billion helicopter deal with Russia is unnecessary and immoral given the state of economic despair the Filipinos are up against in the post-pandemic quarters of 2022 and thereafter.

Unnecessary because we can use the amount to finance our urgent needs in health, agriculture, education, infrastructure projects. 

Immoral because Russia is now an international pariah cut off from the world’s major financial institutions for the brutal invasion of Ukraine.  

Palace officials were still insisting the government was poised to honor its deal with Russia over the procurement of 17 Russian-made Mil Mi-17 heavy-lift helicopters, despite the reluctance or refusal of other countries to comply with such contracts in light of the Ukraine crisis.

The deal is being enforced while many Filipinos, who lost livelihood and employment during the lockdowns, are reeling from financial crisis and battered by successive fuel price hikes even as global benchmark oil prices were reported to be trading around $115 a barrel, up from around $80 a barrel at the end of last year.

This developed as the United States imposed a ban on oil imports from Russia, the world's third biggest producer, as retaliation for Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, and Britain also said it would phase them out, reported the Reuters.

The helicopter deal should be scrapped and the money be safeguarded for the next administration. 

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo.—Ed)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Leni, Bongbong backers hate each other

“All the war-propaganda, all the screaming and lies and hatred, comes invariably from people who are not fighting.”

—George Orwell

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

WITH due respect and apology to the camps of other presidential candidates, it’s now getting crystal clear that the May 9, 2022 race may be a down-the-wire finish between Vice President Leni Robredo and former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.

We seldom hear supporters of candidates Senator Manny Pacquiao, Mayor Isko Moreno, Senator Panfilo Lacon, and labor leader Leody de Guzman insult each other intensely in the social media and in the campaign rallies.

It’s always the raucous pro-Leni and pro-Bongbong supporters sinking their teeth against each other in no-holds-barred word war and mudslinging.

The heated rivalry could be catastrophic if both sides were thrown inside a cage while toting hatchets and revolvers.   

In some instances, these supporters from the opposing sides blasted each other like followers of Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin.

Lies and propaganda, psych war, loyalty check, spying, dirty tricks, bribery, treachery and turncoatism are part and parcel of a political combat.

He who loses his cool and tarry-hoots excessively loses both the battle and war.     

Take for instance when pro-Leni supporters bragged about the “70,000 crowd” that filled the Paglaum Stadium in Bacolod City in a recent mammoth pink rally. 

 

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Marcos supporters wasted no time to dispute the “overblown” number claiming the stadium could accommodate only 3,000 people. 

“Liars and idiots,” an angry lady Marcos die-hard screamed in her social media account “liked” by 617 friends.

“Gaga (dumb). You counted only the seats. Most people in the crowd were standing in the football field,” retorted a famous bakeshop owner from Iloilo City and a Leni volunteer.

The lady Marcos die-hard and the male bakeshop owner were former friends and classmates in a university in Iloilo. Their feud started as a “lambingan” or display of tenderness in 2016 during the rivalry of Rodrigo Duterte and Mar Roxas for president.

Their animosity deteriorated after Duterte beat Roxas by a mile. 

“Pareho kamo ni Mar mo mahinhin (You’re effeminate like Mar),” the lady Marcos die-hard ribbed the Leni supporter in their 2016 fracas.

“Ikaw ya pareho kamo ni Digong damol guya kag basura dila (And you’re like your Digong, thick-faced and with a garbage tongue),” replied the male Leni supporter.

It’s so funny that the fiercest quarrel during the election isn’t among the six top candidates for president, but among their impatient and hot-tempered supporters.  

While the contenders have forgotten politics and became friends once again when the election was over, their combative and truculent supporters may have burned their bridges and shattered their friendship permanently.   

 

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Let’s brace ourselves for another nightmare: the soaring to record highs of retail gasoline and diesel prices, which can be felt in many countries across the world since last week, including the Philippines, as a result of the ongoing firefight in Ukraine.

Governments from Brazil to France have reportedly considered pumping up subsidies or trimming taxes to shield consumers from the financial strain.

The moves reflect the economic and political risks governments see in the current energy spike, which has been driven by a rebound in fuel demand since the darkest days of the coronavirus pandemic and supply disruptions in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. 

Analysts said if prices keep rising, they could take a bite out of economic growth, force lower consumption, and in some cases trigger political unrest. 

Reuters reported that “in past years, rising fuel prices have caused deadly protests in countries including Kazakhstan, Iran and Zimbabwe.”

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo.—Ed)