Politician and public servant

“Politicians like to tell people what they want to hear-and what they want to hear is what won't happen.”

—Paul Samuelson

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

ANYONE engaged in the job of civil service is called a public servant.

A public servant works for central government and state governments, and answers to the government, not a political party.

There are public servants who behave more like politicians vice versa.

And there are politicians who prefer to be specifically called as public servants rather than their positions or titles.

Politicians are aware they are tagged as “schemers who try to gain advantage in an organization in sly or underhanded ways.” 

A politicians is the "one engaged in party politics, especially as a trade; one who promotes the interests of a political party," and thus it quickly took on overtones, not typically good ones: "one concerned with public affairs for the sake of profit or of a clique." 

Samuel Johnson defines it as "A man of artifice; one of deep contrivance."

The meaning of public servant and politician may vary in our series of analogical elucidations, but they may still be cousins in etymology.

 

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A true public servant doesn’t hanker for publicity when he performs his job or achieves something in office.

A politician, on the other hand, thinks the media should report (only) all the good things he has done and sweep the bad things under the rags. 

When he files his certificate of candidacy (COC) during the election season, a public servant right away reveals his plans and the desired position in government.

He doesn’t pander in suspended animation; his intention is purely to serve, nothing more and nothing less.

A public servant is motivated by the will and enthusiasm to hit the ground running on first day in civil service. 

He views publicity myopically as a distraction and eschews it as much as possible.

He knows that once he has accepted the government job, he will be open for public scrutiny and must walk within the corridors of transparency and accountability during his tenure.

 

-o0o-

 

A true public servant loves to work behind the scene, a silent worker and one who doesn’t give a hoot if he isn’t recognized by his peers, especially in public.

A politician, on the other hand, loves to always play political peek-a-boo or Trip to Jerusalem before, during, and after the filing of his COC, a gimmickry mastered by those who want to cling to power and, thus, confuse all and sundry by wearing different hats before finalizing their COCs.

A politician specifically regards elected political office as a career even if he is lazy by nature and ignorant about the basic principles of civil service.

Thus he loves the hooplas, the drum and bugle, the blaring of horns and glitter of lights, cheers and adulation from the madding crowd to boost his ego.

A "politician" broadly speaking can be anyone who seeks to achieve political power in the government.

In the week-long official filing of COCs for the My 9, 2022 elections, we have encountered a mix variety of public servants and politicians who provided the public enough entertainment amid the Covid-19 hullabaloo. 

What we’ve seen, so far, in the front page and prime time news these past days was a veritable display of political smorgasbord and hilarious maneuvers by political parties and their demigods led by no less than the president of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte, who accompanied his favorite pet, Sen. Bong Go, when the latter filed his COC for vice president, which, we all know, will be substituted in the eleventh hour.

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

What a feeling

“Every election is a sort of advance auction sale of stolen goods.”

—H. L. Mencken

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

WE have mentioned this more than a dozen times in the past: no candidate or Filipino politician for that matter will admit he lost after the election.

The moment he filed his certificate of candidacy (COC), a Filipino politician thinks he will win and ”there’s no way I will lose.”

October 1 was the start of the official filing of COC until October 8 for the May 9, 2022 election in time of pandemic.

Surrounded by excited and emotional followers and brimming with overconfidence, politicians march to Comelec-designated areas amid cheers, flying kisses, and taps in the shoulders.

They wave back to the well-wishers and acknowledge the adulation. 

Oh man, what a feeling.

It’s an ego-boosting event and they feel like they’re the knights in the shining armor and, thus, naturally, they’re “on top of the world.”

Once they have been eaten up by the “with-this- kind-of-reaction-from-the-crowd-there’s-no-way-I-will-lose” bug, their thinking will never change during the campaign and after the last ballot has been counted during the official canvassing.

It’s the naked emperor story being told and retold once again. 

 

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The danger looms immediately after it has been established they’re not going to win based on the outcome of a fair and honest election.

They will now start to bellyache and denounce the “sham” election and cry “we wuz robbed.”

A bedlam will follow suit and they’ll be back in the limelight as the media carry their antics and melodrama, this time as sore losers trying to convince their followers they’re victims of a highway robbery that never happened.

The truth is they lost plain and simple.

They just can’t accept defeat, they can’t accept reality because from the very beginning, they have allowed their bloated egos to get the better of them.

They approached the election with a one-track behavior and insanity: “I will win at all cost because I am popular; I am the best alternative; I am the people’s choice and God has chosen me to lead.”

They have been blinded by a false sense of pride and megalomania, and  unalloyed fanaticism from their fans has only worsened their predicament.

The slogan of the season should be, “filing of COCs today, filing of election protest tomorrow.”

 

-o0o-

 

I recently received this email from the NYC Health+Hospitals: “COVID-19 Pfizer Booster Shots Available to Eligible New Yorkers Who Received Two Pfizer Vaccine Doses.”

It says, “NYC Health + Hospitals is now offering booster shots of the COVID-19 Pfizer vaccine to the following eligible people who previously received the second Pfizer vaccine dose at least six months ago:

-People 65 or older

-People 18 to 64 who have either an underlying medical conditionor a higher risk of COVID-19 exposure due to their job (for example, health care workers) or where they live or frequently visit (for example, a homeless shelter)

-People living in a nursing home or other long-term care facility

Booster shots are available at all 11 public hospitals, by appointment or walk-in.

You will only be able to get a Pfizer booster shot if you received a second Pfizer dose at least six months ago.

Booster doses are currently not available for people who received the Moderna or J&J vaccine.”

As soon as I will realize that I am eligible, I will not think twice to get a booster shot. 

But I need to wait until November, or at least six months after I had my second dose of Pfizer anti-COVID-19 vaccine.

Thank you vaccine. Thank you medical science. I’m proud to belong in this generation where medical scientific breakthroughs have taught humanity to accept reality and live in moderation.

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

 

 

  

Money talks

“The greatest legacy one can pass on to one's children and grandchildren is not money or other material things accumulated in one's life, but rather a legacy of character and faith.”
--Billy Graham

By Alex P. Vidal

NEW YORK CITY -- WE learned an eye-popping lesson in the recent midterm elections that money really talked--and had “spoken” heavily.
Many competent and really deserving aspirants for a public office fell by the wayside or were badly clobbered by second-rate and amateurish rivals who brandished cash left and right like they won as grand champions in a multi-million cock derby.
Some of these lousy but moneyed candidates also got more attention from the press, while their more deserving rivals had to forage for recognition in order to be given a gargantuan space in the media.
Most of these good-for-nothing candidates also were recipients of fantabulous praises from paid media advertisements, newspaper columns, and blocktime radio programs.
Their poor rivals got nothing except being mentioned only in the news, yes, for being candidates in the elections. No mention of how good or great they are in certain fields, or how effective they would be if elected.

-o0o-

Qualifications had no match against the full force of money.
Doctorate degrees were waylaid by inferior and unremarkable reputations.

Even ex-convicts, ruffians, rapists, grafters, magicians, circus players awash with cash steamrolled those with outstanding and distinctive reputations in community but didn’t have enough moolah to match their rivals’ ferocious expenditures.
The power of money and how to make the impossible become possible; how to turn black into white vice versa; how to make people turn deaf, mute, and blind, is awesome.
No one should underestimate the capacity of money to turn a normal situation upside down; to buy loyalties; to create and propagate a bundle of lies; as payoff to mercinaries and hooligans; to sponsor a mayhem; as a bribe; to harass; to kill; and, yes, to buy votes.

-o0o-

We made a great deal of research on when did money start making the world go round.
In 101 Things You Need To Know…And Some You Don’t Know, Richard Horne and Tracy Turner give an explanation:
“Say you had twelve goats and needed a sack of grain and a pair of shoes. Before money was invented, you might offer one of your goats to a local farmer in exchange for the grain, and another goat to a cobbler in return for shoes. Hang on! A whole goat seems a lot for a pair of shoes. Oh, and the cobbler doesn’t need any goats. The farmer’s up for the deal if you can give him a cow. So you then have to find someone with a spare cow who wants goats? And how many coats make a camel!?”
Using money is a lot less complicated than this tricky bartering system, they explain.
No one knows who exactly came up with the idea, but they reportedly lived in China.
--It’s thought that cowry shells were used as the first ever money in China around 1200 BC. The first metal money appeared there 200 years later.
--Native American Indians also used shells as money. This is first recorded in the 16th century, but they were probably used long before that.
--The first coins were made out of silver. Unlike today’s coins, which are symbols of value, these silver coins were valuable in themselves because they were made from a precious metal.
--To avoid carting around heavy coins, the Chinese introduced paper money and used it from about the 9th to the 15th century (when they stopped the practice because of high inflation). Elsewhere in the world paper money wasn’t used for centuries.
(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo)

Presidential bets I will never endorse

"One of the reasons people hate politics is that truth is rarely a politician's objective. Election and power are."
--CAL THOMAS

By Alex P. Vidal

NEW YORK CITY -- EVEN if I didn’t believe this--and I would never agree--there were some predictions that our next president in the future would be either Lito Lapid, Manny Pacquiao, or Davao City mayor Sara Duterte.
We don't know how, why, and what was the solid or rationale basis other than praises for them for being “low key” public figures.
Among the three, Mayor Duterte, being the daughter of President Rodrigo Duterte, will most likely be the one to run in the future as her name has been mentioned in several surveys several times.
Being the presidential daughter, she also has the edge in the following: name-recall and a nationwide machinery owing to her fast-growing political party.
These predictions allegedly came from no less than some groups of municipal mayors and even village officials.
But among the so-called “mediocre” characters in public service today, only Lapid, Manuel Mercado Lapid in real life, has the charisma with the masa, they said.
"People don't care if he did not even finish high school. What matters most is he connects and this is something that other politicians with doctorate degrees and multiple titles don't possess," said an ex-mayor from northern Iloilo, who refused to be identified, saying he is "still a loyalist of Pareng Erap (Manila Mayor Joseph Ejercito Estrada)."
The municipal mayor said Pacquiao, a congressman from Saranggani and now a senator, "is only a media creation like other celebrities and showbiz misfits who trespassed the politics." The highest office they will reach is only the senate "never as president of the republic," he added.
I will never endorse and vote for these “big names” in politics only because they are popular. I'm looking for substance, not popularity.

CONGRESS

The website of the 16th congress of the Senate of the Philippines described Lapid, 63, "Leon Guerrero" in one of his action films, as "the lowly person of a silver screen hero" who started his political career as vice governor of Pampanga in 1992.
"Never did it occur to the lowly person of a silver screen hero that a man of his mettle would make a mark in the annals of this chamber, a place then forbidding of the not so lettered," stated his biography.
"Indeed, as a testament to a working democracy, a person with little formal education can be presented the opportunity of belonging to the group of select individuals mandated by the people to craft policies that would later on become laws and rules of conduct. For this reason, Senator Manuel “Lito” M. Lapid never passed off the chance to deliver well in this world of the erudite."
It added: "The six years of his first term as a senator were marked with achievements which left the cynics perplexed and his critics baffled, but nevertheless proved his worth as a working legislator. He was one of the top performing senators having placed 4th among his peers in the number of bills and resolutions filed in the 14th Congress alone. He fathered one of the meaningful social legislations of the 14th Congress, the Free Legal Assistance Act of 2010 which seeks to ensure that the poor may be afforded free quality legal service. This measure heralded other policy initiatives that look to bridge the great divide between the rich and the poor. Since then, he never wavered on making proposals that would uplift the living standards of the little people of the society whose caused he has been championing, being the "Bida ng Masa".

EXCELLENT

"Consistent with his excellent showing when he was then a neophyte Senator, he did what he could, not to disappoint the more than eleven million Filipino voters who granted him a fresh mandate in the 2010 National Elections. At the close of the 15th Congress, Senator Lapid filed 239 measures earning him the distinction as the fifth most prolific members of the Upper Chamber. He authored the Meat Labeling Act of 2011, Comprehensive Unilateral Hearing Loss Research and Development and Rehabilitation Act, Urban Agriculture and Vertical Farming Act, Corporate Social Responsibility Act, Kindergarten Education Act, and the Adopt-A-Wildlife Species Act, among others. As the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Games, Amusement and Sports, he saw to it that measures are in motion to sufficiently ensure the development of sports in the grassroots, seeing to it that the youth develop a keen interest on participation to sports competition.

COORDINATION

"He looks forward to further coordination between concerned government agencies so that appropriate support is afforded to the national sports development program. In his first year at the helm of the Senate Committee on Tourism, he has initiated initiatives to oversee the development of the tourism potential of the country and gather the tools to ensure the country’s success as it joins the tourism race with our Asian neighbors.
"With the aid of the people who believe in him and share the causes he seeks to uphold, Senator Lapid has proved that he is one who cannot easily be dismissed. Despite the unfair imputations against his competence, he has successfully struggled towards becoming one of the more productive legislators, slowly dispelling one criticism after another to distinguish himself as a dependable leader, a scholar of worthwhile ideals, a gentleman for the masses and a warrior for social responsibility."
(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo)

Watch out for election day ‘Judases’

“There is no act of treachery or meanness of which a political party is not capable; for in politics there is no honour.”
--Benjamin Disraeli

By Alex P. Vidal

NEW YORK CITY -- WE normally spend our first two weeks in college “changing and dropping” some of our enrolled subjects before the official classes begin.

In Philippine politics, traitors also adopt the same Draconian technique when they feel certain candidates in their parties have lagged behind and appeared to have no more chance at all of landing in the winning column.
They secretly “drop” and “change” some of the characters in their line-ups and, que horror, go as far as forging a devil’s pact with other parties.
“Changing and dropping” shift also happens if some candidates fail to deliver or chip in a large sum of cash intended for the campaign.
In politics, there is also no such animal as a free lunch.

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It’s not actually a case of all-for-one, one-for-all battle cry.
No money? No honey.
It’s a “go-out-on-your-own” or a “bahala ka sa buhay mo” dilemma if you have no contribution for the party machinery.
The sinister scheme is carefully and secretly discussed by key strategists in both opposing camps--or a third party-- and isn’t supposed to leak even to some of the candidates’ immediate family members.
When the treachery has been uncovered it’s too late for victims of “changing and dropping” tactic to make a drastic step or avert the inside hatchet job.
The discovery normally occurs on the day the voters will cast their votes and several hours thereafter when ballot boxes have been canvassed and results were starting to show the numbers and who are in the lead pack.
And also when supporters have discovered sample ballots with missing names of their candidates or the names of their candidates covered by stickers bearing the names of rival candidates from another party.

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Then a word war erupts among warring party members; the losers and the winners in the same party start to swap bombs accusing one another of being a Judas.
Because some of the candidates in the same party won and some lost, a civil war becomes inevitable; angry and frustrated party mates blowing each other to smithereens for the grand treachery.
It happened in the past gubernatorial, congressional, and mayoral races not only in Western Visayas but also in other parts of the Philippines.
In 1998, Iloilo City congressional aspirant Salvador “Buddy” Britanico and his party mate, mayoral candidate Geronimo “Jerry” Trenas, became “enemies” after the elections.
Before the elections and during the campaign sorties, they were like sweethearts--inseparable.
After the elections, they were like North and South Korea.

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I received my Overseas Voting Paper Seal from the Commission on Elections (Comelec) via The Special Ballot Reception and Custody Group c/o Philippine Consulate General 556 Fifth Avenue New York City, NY 10036 U.S.A. on May 1, 2019.
My Ballot I.D. No. is 91070187 and my Ballot Envelope No is AES-0516444.
Any day before May 13, 2019, I, and other US-based Pinoys, can cast our votes ahead of our countrymen in the Philippines.
Accompanying the envelop sent to me by mail was an instruction for voters (AES) and the official ballot containing the names of 62 senatorial candidates and 181 party list candidates.
This will be my second time to cast my vote away from the Philippines.
In 2016, I also cast my vote in the Philippine Consulate General here in New York during the presidential elections.
(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo)

Important warning to all feeble candidates

"If you can't stand the heat in the dressing room, get out of the kitchen." --Terry Venables By Alex P. Vidal AS local candidates prepare for a full-court press campaign sortie in the May elections, the searing heat brought by El Nino phenomenon threatens to cause some of them a terrible inconvenience, especially those with a bad history in hypertension and other physical symptoms brought by so much heat exposure. What happened to entertainer Chokoleit, who died shortly after a performance in Abra recently, could happen to any candidate who will hit the campaign period with a poor health and lack of adequate preparations to tackle the summer heat. Over fatigue and heat stroke could dash to pieces their dreams of serving the public.  If a candidate is sickly, it's better to avoid an extended heat exposure during the campaign period. Better still, he or she must quit before it's too late. After all, health is still wealth. A form of hyperthermia or heat-related illness, heat stroke is an abnormally elevated body temperature with accompanying physical symptoms including changes in the nervous system function. -o0o- Leading medical author, Dr. Mellisa Conrad Stoppler, said unlike heat cramps and heat exhaustion, two other forms of hyperthermia that are less severe, heat stroke is a true medical emergency that is often fatal if not properly and promptly treated. She said heat stroke is also sometimes referred to as heatstroke or sun stroke. Severe hyperthermia is defined as a body temperature of 104 F (40 C) or higher. Dr. Stoppler explained that the body normally generates heat as a result of metabolism, and is usually able to dissipate the heat by radiation of heat through the skin or by evaporation of sweat. However, she pointed out, in extreme heat, high humidity, or vigorous physical exertion under the sun, the body may not be able to sufficiently dissipate the heat and the body temperature rises, sometimes up to 106 F (41.1 C) or higher. -o0o- Another cause of heat stroke is dehydration. A dehydrated person may not be able to sweat fast enough to dissipate heat, which causes the body temperature to rise. Dr. Stoppler stressed that heat stroke is not the same as a stroke. "Stroke" is the general term used to describe decreased oxygen flow to an area of the brain. She said those most susceptible (at risk) individuals to heat stroke include: Infants; the elderly (often with associated heart diseases, lung diseases, kidney diseases, or who are taking medications that make them vulnerable to dehydration and heat strokes); athletes; individuals who work outside and physically exert themselves under the sun; infants, children, or pets left in cars. Dr. Stoppler added that heat stroke is sometimes classified as exertional heat stroke (EHS, which is due to overexertion in hot weather) or non-exertional heat stroke (NEHS, which occurs in climactic extremes and affects the elderly, infants, and chronically ill. Symptoms of heat stroke can sometimes mimic those of heart attack or other conditions. Sometimes a person experiences symptoms of heat exhaustion before progressing to heat strokes. -o0o- Signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion include: nausea, vomiting, fatigue, weakness, headache, muscle cramps and aches, and dizziness, explained Dr. Stoppler. However, some individuals can develop symptoms of heat stroke suddenly and rapidly without warning. Dr. Stoppler said different people may have different symptoms and signs of heatstroke. Common symptoms and signs of heat stroke include: high body temperature, the absence of sweating, with hot red or flushed dry skin, rapid pulse, difficulty breathing, strange behavior, hallucinations, confusion, agitation, disorientation, seizure, and/or coma. According to Dr. Stoppler, victims of heat stroke must receive immediate treatment to avoid permanent organ damage. First and foremost, cool the victim. --Get the victim to a shady area, remove clothing, apply cool or tepid water to the skin (for example, you may spray the person with cool water from a garden hose), fan the victim to promote sweating and evaporation, and place ice packs under the armpits and groin. --If the person is able to drink liquids, have them drink cool water or other cool beverages that do not contain alcohol or caffeine. --Monitor body temperature with a thermometer and continue cooling efforts until the body temperature drops to 101 to 102 F (38.3 to 38.8 C). --Always notify emergency services (911) immediately. If their arrival is delayed, they can give you further instructions for treatment of the victim. (The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo).

Surveys no match vs P1,000 per vote

“A vote is like a rifle; its usefulness depends upon the character of the user.” 

--Theodore Roosevelt

By Alex P. Vidal

NEW YORK CITY -- Most candidates in the Philippine elections share the hypocrisy of condemning the vote-buying as “evil”, but, which they actually also practice at the same time.
No candidate for a higher elective office will admit he or she is in cahoots with barangay officials (mostly the corrupt punong barangay and council members) when they buy votes done mostly on the eve before election day, or they will be disqualified if not go to jail for gross violation of fundamental election laws.
For several years now, however, Philippine elections--national and local--have been mostly decided by the amount of cash a voter will get in exchange for his precious vote.
The supposed tacit “market value”, according to sources, now ranges from P500 to P1,000 per vote.
If there are five voters in one family, that’s a cool P5,000, enough to feed five stomachs for a week in a modest household.
Times have changed and the methods being employed by corrupt candidates to hijack a fair and honest election have changed as well.

-o0o-

The gnawing reality is that candidates who “won” in surveys but don’t have enough wads of bills to be distributed during the crucial hours prior to the opening of voting centers will mostly likely find themselves in the tail end.
Being whipped in the surveys can’t be considered an end of the world for certain candidates as long as they have substantial financial preparations which is very crucial in the homestretch.
Even some candidates with name-recall edge now aren’t confident enough of bagging a sure win unless they prepare a certain amount to pay corrupt voters.
This aberration in the Philippines’ electoral system had been passed on or has been a common practice for most candidates from one administration to another since the Marcos years.
The first known and the most scandalous massive vote-buying in the Philippine election history occurred during the 1986 presidential snap elections.
Even fake P100 bills were used by administration minions to ensure that the strongman was retained in power only to be kicked out by a bloodless revolution shortly after being declared as the “winner” by a jukebox election commission.
Since then, the general electoral exercises were never the same again: the moneyed, or those with gargantuan wherewithal--political parties and individual candidates for major positions--would always dominate the elections thereafter.

-o0o-

The United Nations has spoken: Crimes against journalists and other media workers must not be tolerated.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that harassment and attacks are again on the rise even as he expressed alarm recently to the Human Rights Council there is a “shrinking civic space in every region of the globe and every corner of the internet.”
Guterres disclosed: “Activists and journalists are being targeted by surveillance, misinformation campaigns and threats of violence that too often result in actual violence. We must do more to defend defenders and end reprisals against those who share their human rights stories and we must hold accountable those who commit such acts.”
Over a thousand human rights defenders and journalists were killed in the last three years, according to the secretary-general.
Respect for human rights is just a game of words if there is no respect for people, he added.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNCHR) has also called for an independent and thorough review of all charges against Rappler chief executive officer Maria Ressa and other media professionals in the Philippines.
Rupert Colville, spokesman for UNCHR chief Michelle Bachelet, urged the Philippine judiciary to “safeguard their own independence by throwing out cases that are clearly politically motivated or are not in line with international human rights standards, including freedom of opinion and expression.”

Mosquito bite that could kill

"The people who cast the votes don't decide an election, the people who count the votes do." 
--Joseph Stalin

By Alex P. Vidal

NEW YORK CITY -- THOSE running for public office in the May 2019 Philippine elections shouldn't allow themselves to be distracted by the results of "surveys" commissioned by legitimate or shady outfits, especially those that have sprung to life only during the election seasons.
Whether they "lagged behind" or  were "leading", the results of these "surveys" do not necessarily spell doomsday or ensure a victory for any candidate during the day of reckoning.
If the results say candidate so and so is trailing by a certain percentage, it's only tantamount to a mosquito bite with no immediate life-threatening harm.
If the results show a certain candidate is "winning by a wide margin", it's only equivalent to a Shiatsu massage in a candidate's ego with no actual majestic trip to Shangri-La.
There were cases though when bogus surveys yielded positive results for narcissistic or egomaniac bets especially if the other camp doesn't do its homework and are snoring during the frenetic mind game.
This is where a mosquito bite can be fatal and deadly.

-o0o-

In fact, surveys--legit or not--are sometimes being utilized only by political spin doctors and PR wheeler dealers working for one candidate to out-psych the rivals.
In some cases, candidates who get favorable results or who stand to benefit from the lutong Macao survey had no idea or were never tipped off by their handlers who egregiously hammered out the inside job.
It's actually done as a form of mind-conditioning.
Some undecided voters would cast their lot with the "sure winners" (based on the surveys) even if they would have chosen another candidates--on the second thought--if they weren't influenced by the pesky surveys.
I've been covering local and national elections since after democracy was restored in the Philippines these past 30 years, and I could count only with my fingers candidates who emerged victorious after "topping" the surveys.
Most of these survey "winners" who had no inkling whether the surveys were meant for their self aggrandizement or really commissioned by independent professional groups, nearly suffered a heart attack when the election results showed they were waylaid by a mile.

-o0o-

The late Timoteo "Nene" Consing always made Mansueto Malabor eat the dust in various surveys during the mayoral contest in Iloilo City in 1992, but Malabor routed him in the actual election.
Former assemblyman Salvador "Buddy" Britanico clobbered the late former justice secretary Raul Gonzalez in the "surveys" for congressman in Iloilo City's lone district in 1998, but the former tanodbayan trounced him in the homestretch.
Danding Cojuangco was one of the topnotchers in as far as "winners" in the elections were concerned.
In the 1992 presidential elections, the former Marcos crony "beat" Fidel V. Ramos, the late Miriam Defensor-Santiago, Ramon Mitra, Jovito Salonga, and Imelda Marcos in various dizzying surveys that popped out left and right weeks before the election day.
Joe De Venecia, who never lost in "surveys" for president in 1998, lost by six million votes to Erap Estrada.
The late Fernando Poe Jr. routed Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in various surveys  but lost by a small margin during the 2014 presidential contest.
For the May 2019 bets, focus on your campaign and wait until after the biggest and final "survey" which is hours after all the ballots have been counted.

Poison politics

"In politics stupidity is not a handicap."
--Napoleon Bonaparte

By Alex P. Vidal

NEW YORK CITY -- The best season to lose friends and shatter a relationship with some relatives in the Philippines is during the election season.
During the elections, forget about kinship, fraternal affinity, pinagsamahan or past and present camaraderie; never mind the investment on utang na loob or debt of gratitude.
Don't look back at memorable events and circumstances that helped shape a good relationship and expect them to grow in the garden of politics.
Don't brag about kumare and kumpare ties shored up in the wedding and christening ceremonies as if they can be translated into a political commitment and loyalty.
What happens there will remain and even end there and should never be invoked when politics enters the picture.
Politics is a poison.
Politics will altogether eviscerate all that have been built fraternally by human virtues and goodwill.
In politics, as the old saying always reminds us, there is no permanent friends, only permanent self interests.

-o0o-

Haven't we noticed that some of the protagonists in the race for governor, congressman, mayor, and other local government executive positions in the coming Philippine elections are not strangers to each other?
If they are not classmates in the elementary and high school, they are relatives in consanguinity and affinity; kumpare and kumare (fellow godfathers and godmothers) in the wedding and bunyag (christening) ceremonies.
Some are neighbors and playmates since childhood; others "brothers" and "sisters" in fraternity and church; former business partners, former political allies and party mates, former "colleagues" in ideological, spiritual, and ethnic comradeship, former mentors and proteges, etcetera.
All of these relationships will have no weight and bearing once politics takes the center stage.
It has been proven in the past and it is about to be proven once again as the official campaign for the national seats kicked off; the local candidates are, as well, hell-bent to square off and unravel the cannonballs.

-o0o-

We also caution the Philippine National Police (PNP) not to allow the organization to be wittingly and unwittingly used as a tool in a political partisanship and persecution especially during the election season.
All the raids and arrests involving political personalities will always be greeted with utmost suspicion and skepticism especially if the involved parties are not known violators of law, or have no previous criminal records in the community.
If a political personality has been arrested because of the crime he had ostensibly committed even before he decided to run for a public office, throw all the books on him and haul him to jail.
But if he was arrested mainly because someone had tipped off the authorities that he may be concealing something that is unlawful in his possession, it may spark a red alarm in the area of politicking and may not be good for the image of authorities, especially if the arrest turns out to be a dud.
Ditto for the police raids involving allegations of illegal possession of firearms, illegal drugs, child pornography, investment scam, etcetera.
If they are legitimate raids, go get the bonkers and dregs of society.
If they are tainted with politics, abort, abandon, and stop it.

Debate of election candidates

"A good leader can engage in a debate frankly and thoroughly, knowing that at the end he and the other side must be closer, and thus emerge stronger. You don't have that idea when you are arrogant, superficial, and uninformed."

--Nelson Mandela

By Alex P. Vidal

NEW YORK CITY -- The upcoming debates among the candidates in the May 2019 Philippine elections will finally give the voters the opportunity to carefully choose their next leaders based on the following: 1. competence and qualification; 2. sincerity; 3. mental and emotional toughness; 4. character; 5. spirituality.
There are those who are competent and qualified like Eleanor Roosevelt, Einstein and JFK, but are half-hearted, confused, and downright insincere.
There are candidates who are sincere like Mother Theresa, Thatcher, Gandhi and Marcus Aurelius, but are afflicted with poverty of reason and common sense.
There are those who have been gifted with the qualities of all the aforementioned great men and women in history, but possess bad manners and are impaired by a dysfunctional character.
In a debate, the chaffs will be separated from the grains; the deranged, the anarchists, the ruffians, the mongerers, the jokers, the magicians, and the circus players will be unmasked.

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We are saddened to hear that Iloilo City's Hope Hervilla is no longer with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in the Philippines.
With her background as educator and mass organizer, Hervilla, a mainstay of the Central Philippine University (CPU), would've been the Duterte administration's big asset in the continuing promotion of social issues and advancement of the rights and welfare of the marginalized especially in the countryside.
Hervilla and fellow undersecretaries Mae Ancheta-Templa and Maria Lourdes Turalde-Jarabe, a former Gabriel secretary general, left the DSWD in November 2018 or two months ago.
So many other Ilonggo appointees have been actively but coyly working with President Rodrigo Duterte since 2016.
Their appointments vary and the scope of their job is either "confidential" or liaison in nature.

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Some of them work "silently" (or nobody knows they are the "eyes and ears" or "moles" of the president) and have eschewed public attention, but they know a lot of things about certain individuals who are directly and indirectly involved in politics and public service.
Compared to his predecessors, Mr. Duterte is patently unique when it comes to hiring subalterns or co-terminus minions who don't need to report physically in Malacanang.
While his predecessors like FVR, Erap, GMA, and P-noy tapped characters who have been enormously exposed to glamor of politics, Mr. Duterte chose the lesser-known henchmen and women.
These nameless factotums, so far, haven't disappointed their big boss; they have proven themselves to be worth of the president's trust and confidence.
Unlike the VIPS and the politically inclined provincial subordinates in the past administrations, most of the Ilonggo presidential appointees, because they don't have political ambitions, don't cultivate bloated egos.
Even if Mr. Duterte wasn't around during the recent Dinagyang Festival in Iloilo City, some of these Iloilo underlings made sure that the president's most favorite senatorial candidate, Bong Go, was with the right local public officials, the right crowd, and given the right or proper media exposure.

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The bombing of a Catholic Church in Jolo in Mindanao that killed 27 churchgoers was an insult to all faithful regardless of religious denomination.
Pope Francis had all the reason to get angry even as he exhorted Catholics and all over the world to pray for the victims--the dead and the survivors, their families, as well as the cuplrits.
Since Mindanao is still under martial law, we expect the government to at least identify the group responsible for the carnage and bring them behind bars without ifs and buts.

Obet Armada ‘missed’ the Comelec deadline

“Sometimes it's the journey that teaches you a lot about your destination.” -- Drake

By Alex P. Vidal

NEW YORK CITY -- Former Iloilo Vice Governor Roberto “Obet” Armada arrived in the Philippines on November 29, 2018 night from a one-month “spiritual journey” in the United States, thus he wasn’t able to “beat the deadline” for the last day of substitution and withdrawal set by the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) for the May 2019 elections.
Even if the now 54-year-old life insurance executive was able to land in Manila earlier, he still wouldn’t file his Certificate of Candidacy (COC) for congressman in the third district of Iloilo as replacement for candidate Emmanuel “Manny” Gallar contrary to the expectations of Armada’s supporters.
Board member and former Bombo Radyo Iloilo anchorman Gallar will now face fellow board member Lorenz Defensor, son of Iloilo Governor Arthur “Art” Defensor Sr.
Political leaders and supporters wanted Armada to run against Defensor instead of Gallar who was mistaken as only a “token” candidate.
They believed that Armada “would have strong chances compared to Gallar as he still has vast and solid followers and supporters particularly in Cabatuan, Janiuay, Lambunao, Pototan, Badiangan, Mina, Calinog, and Maasin.”

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Did he intentionally “escape” to the United States and wait for the Comelec deadline for substitution and withdrawal to pass before coming home?
“No,” was Armada’s quick answer when I asked him point-blank during our meeting at Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn on November 14, 2018, where he was accompanied by his Staten Island-based brother, Nestor, a retired industrial engineer and scientist.
“I have decided with finality not to join in politics again next year,” confirmed Armada, who was sworn as Iloilo governor by Department of Interior and Local Government Secretary (DILG) Secretary Ronaldo Puno during the “Capitol siege” on January 17, 2007.
When I asked him “how about after 2019?” He just smiled.
He went to the United States “not to escape the heat of political climate in Iloilo,” he swore, but “to find closure in this chapter of my life.”
A devout Catholic, Armada went to San Juan Capistrano Church in San Juan Capistrano in the Orange County, California on November 19th.

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It was there where Armada’s late “Mommy Thelma” heard mass on July 2, 2006.
“It was a beautiful Sunday. The sunny but cool California weather was an ideal time to be outdoors. The place was meaningful to her ... and my Dad. This was where she spent the last couple of hours of her life on that fateful day,” narrated Armada.
“I took the road where she traveled from the church and the time Zach, my Nephew who lives in the neighboring area of Rancho Palos Verdes, noticed that she was more than just sleeping at the backseat of the car.
The Journey for me was painful. But I'm glad that, at last, I will be able to find closure in this chapter of my life.”
The former vice governor, who had also served as vice mayor of Janiuay town in Iloilo, added: “It took me more than a decade to muster the strength to confront and reconcile with this ‘Tragedy!’ I know I was not an ideal son to her, perhaps by any standard I was way below being good. But I have done, in the last score of her life, what I could possibly do to make her happy, however short, when she was alive and well. I hope I have given her, with what I have become, the pride and honor she truly deserved. I hope.”

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Armada’s US trip was all dedicated to frolicking and visiting America’s historical and spiritual hubs from the East to the West Coast.
He also went into a pilgrimage in Philadelphia on November 17th and visited the chapel where the incorrupted body of St. John Neumann was placed in a glass.
Armada recalled that “Neuman died over a century ago. When his body was exhumed recently (30-40 years ago) it remained intact. He was the Archbishop of Philadelphia and made a lot of contribution in evangelizing most of the East Coast States. Coincidentally, he belonged to the Redemptorists (C.S.s.R.) Order. The 5th Saint along with Sts. Patrick, Alphonsus, Gerard and our school's Patron Saint, St.Clement.”

I ‘worked’ with Salvador Panelo for Mrs. Marcos

“Time moves in one direction, memory in another.”
--William Gibson

By Alex P. Vidal

NEW YORK CITY -- I was privileged to be one of the few journalists from outside Metro Manila allowed to enter the Westin-Philippine Plaza hotel where former First Lady Imelda R. Marcos was billeted several days after arriving on November 4, 1991 from a six-year exile in Hawaii.
It was Sol Vanzi, Mrs. Marcos’ former press aide, who welcomed and brought us to a room where we interviewed the late Dean Antonio Coronel, Mrs. Marcos’ mercurial lawyer.
Claiming she was “penniless”, Mrs. Marcos refused to pay her hotel bills (a $2,000-a-day suite) forcing the hotel management to evict the once most powerful woman in the Philippines.
She moved into a two-story, three-bedroom modest house in suburban Pasay city at the time when the Cory government filed the last of 80 criminal charges against her.
The following year when Mrs. Marcos ran for president in 1992, Vanzi helped arrange for our meeting with Mrs. Marcos at Hotel del Rio in Iloilo City.
Mrs. Marcos introduced us to some of her senatorial candidates under the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL) who were present, namely: Chiquito, Amay Bisaya, Rod Navarro, Salvador Panelo, Johnny Wilson, Rommel Corro, Vicente Piccio, Rafael Recto.

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When KBL barnstormed Antique, Capiz, Aklan, Sol Vanzi requested us to cover the event.
In Antique, I was with Atty. Panelo, now spokesman of President Rodrigo Duterte, when our service vehicle was stranded and left behind somewhere in the mountainous area with no electricity in Brgy. Hamtic at past 8 o’clock in the evening.
I told Atty. Panelo we were near the area where the late Iloilo provincial police commander, Col. Teodolfo Lao, and his men were killed in an ambush staged by the New People’s Army (NPA) in 1989.
Also in our team was a “Susan Herrera”, manager of ChinaBank Iloilo. There were about eight of us in the group.
Panelo asked me to negotiate with those living in the area to facilitate our return to Iloilo City because it was getting late at night and was very dark.
We approached a male resident, who was hesitant to help.
I talked to him in Kinaray-a, the dialect in Antique. He didn’t respond.
Then I heard Atty. Panelo tell the unidentified male resident in English, “My name is Atty. Salvador Panelo. We are stranded. Please help us. Invest with me.”
“Invest with me” was the line that refused to leave my memory for 26 years now.
The male resident did “invest” with Atty. Panelo who gave the man his business card.
To make the long story short, the man who “invested” with Atty. Panelo helped secure a passenger jeep for the group and we made it back to Iloilo City before midnight.

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Without offense meant, of the 164 senatorial candidates, Panelo wound up 125th.
He was ahead, however, of the 11 other KBL bets.
Former Iloilo fourth district Rep. Narciso Monfort, running under LDP party, beat Chiquito, a comedian who ran as Augusto Pangan, for the 39th spot.
Monfort garnered 2,483,459 votes while Chiquito, who landed 40th, got 2,408,185 votes.
Actor Tito Sotto, now the Senate president, topped the senatorial contest with 11,792,121 votes. He was followed by another action star Ramon Revilla Sr. with 8,321,278 votes.
Twenty four fresh senators were elected in that year. They were: Sotto, Revilla Sr., Edgardo Angara, Ernesto Herrera, Alberto Romulo, Ernesto Maceda, Orly Mercado, Neptali Gonzales, Leticia Ramos-Shahani, Heherson Alvarez, Blas Ople, Freddie Webb, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Teofisto Guingona Jr., Nina Rasul, Joey Lina, Nikki Coseteng, Arturo Tolentino, Raul Roco, Rodolfo Biazon, Wigberto Tañada, Francisco Tatad, John Henry Osmeña, Agapito Aquino.

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Mrs. Marcos, who is now in the news worldwide after being convicted for graft and corruption by the Sandiganbayan at age 89, finished in the 1992 presidential elections fifth behind Fidel Ramos, who edged the late Miriam Defensor Santiago; Danding Cojuangco, and Ramon Mitra Jr.
Mrs. Marcos, now representative of Ilocos Norte, garnered more votes than the late illustrious former Senate President Jovito Salonga and former Vice President Doy Laurel.
Every time I remember that roller coaster 1992 presidential campaign, I remember Rep. Imelda R. Marcos and Spokesman Salvador Panelo.

Pinoy election losers should learn from Americans

“No part of the education of a politician is more indispensable than the fighting of elections.”
--Winston Churchill

By Alex P. Vidal

NEW YORK CITY -- Instead of making a concession speech, a loser in the Philippine elections has always been known to be aching and crying, “We wuz robbed.”
And instead of inspiring or helping minimize the sadness of his emotionally distraught supporters after results of the electoral exercises have been known, the Pinoy sore loser would instigate the crowd and give them false hopes: “We will win in the electoral protest. The truth will come out.”
Instead of moving on with his life after a failed bid for a public office, the Pinoy election loser extends his hurtful rivalry by going after his opponent tongs and hammer in a tumultuous election protest, wasting the taxpayers’ money and productive time when the protest reaches the Electoral Tribunal.
Since Marcos “defeated” Tita Cory in the 1986 Philippine snap elections (Tita Cory became president when the “People Power” toppled the Strongman in EDSA), there were only two losers in the Philippine presidential contests that I remember who gamely accepted defeat: Jose de Venecia (who lost to Erap in 1998) and Mar Roxas (who lost to Digong in 2018).

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From senatorial to congressional down to gubernatorial, mayoral, council and even barangay elections, there have been and will also be “victims of electoral fraud” in the Philippines.
Nobody is defeated in a plain and honest competition; every loser is a “victim of massive cheating and vote-buying.”
The noise and annoying grumble normally come from losing bets who badly need jobs in government because the industry that they come from no longer provide sufficient income to sustain their skyrocketing expenses.
Some of them are the discarded showbiz and entertainment actors and actresses, basketball stars, folk singers and rock stars who live lavish lifestyles.
To bellyache, complain and stir the hornet’s nest after the elections have become the Philippines’ national trademark.
Come May 2019, expect more nitpickers, whiners and crybabies to make a scene and engage in melodrama after they have been rejected in the elections.

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What the Filipino losers--and winners, as well--must learn from their counterparts in America?
Humility.
Gracefulness.
Statesmanship.
In my coverage of the 2018 US Midterm Elections on November 6, 2018 here, the concession speech of Democrat Texas senatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke should be considered as one of the best in modern elections; it should stand up as the most emotional but down-to-earth and very sincere speech coming from a rising political heartthrob many progressives and Democrats thought would be the next Robert F. Kennedy.

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Let me share here Berto O’Rourke’s dynamic and magnificent speech:
El Paso has produced some really great teams over the years. I am very lucky I got to be part of one that came out of this community. For the last 22 months, I have been traveling every county in Texas. I have been there to listen to and show up for every one of us. I was inspired and I am as hopeful as I have ever been in my life. Tonight’s loss does nothing to diminish the way I feel about Texas or this country.
Getting to see all of you tonight and be with you reminds me why we set out to do this in the first place. We’re not about being against anybody. We’re not going to define ourselves by who or what we’re scared of. We are great people. Ambitious. Defined by our aspirations and the hard work we are willing to commit in order to achieve them. Every single one of us from a big city to a small town, the people of Texas will do the great work of the country.
I have now had the opportunity to talk with Sen. Cruz and congratulate him on his victory and wish him well going forward. What I pledged on behalf of all of us is that in this time of division, with the country as polarized as I can remember it in my life, all of this bitterness, if there is anything we can do to help him in his position of public trust to ensure that Texas helps lead the country in a way that brings us back together around big things we want to achieve, whether that is making sure we face any threat against this country or that we are there for every single person who needs a helping hand so we can let your full potential, the ability to see a doctor and receive medication you need, I want to work with him.
I will work with anyone to make sure we lead on that. You amazing public school educators who work so hard and do so much for so many of us, I will work with him or with anyone, anytime, anywhere, to make sure that the same way you have been there for us, we will be there for you. Not as Republicans or Democrats, but as Texans and Americans. I want to make sure that this community that raised me and made me who I am, where Amy and I are fortunate enough to be raising our kids who are here with us tonight, that we offer our experience, perspective, courage on the issues we know best. We will form something powerful, magical.
I have nothing to apologize for. I want to make sure that this proud community offers, has to give to our country and to ensure our best days are still ahead and the policies and laws we craft and the way we treat each other comes not out of fear, but out of confidence and strength in the kind hearts I have always known El Paso to have.
El Paso, I love you so much. I am so proud of you in the city and community and what you mean to the rest of the country. And what you have achieved tonight, along with so many other amazing people across the state. The kindness, generosity you have shown to me and Amy and our family, and to our campaign, it’s amazing. That is why my faith in this state and country is not diminished. We will continue to work and come together to make sure that we live up to the promise of potential of the country. I know that because I met you and listened to you everywhere you live.
I want to thank my family, beginning with Amy, who has borne the toughest burden raising our kids, supporting me, loving me, giving me strength and encouragement at every step, making sure we could finish this as strong as we started. I want to thank our children and my mom and sisters and my family, all of whom are here tonight, for being such great examples to me. I love you.
I want to thank this amazing campaign of people. Not a dime from a single PAC. All of you showing the country how to do this. I am so fucking proud of you guys. David, Jody, Chris, Cynthia, everybody who worked on this campaign, every volunteer and ambassador, everyone who knocked on doors, everyone who made phone calls, everyone who allow themselves to hope and believe, to be inspired by one another and to turn it into action and into votes, and to do something that no one thought was possible, to build a campaign like this one solely comprised of people from all walks of life, coming together, deciding what unites us is far stronger than the color of our skin, how many generations we can count ourselves an American, or whether we just got here yesterday, who we love, we pray to, whether we pray at all, who we voted for last time, none of it matters.
It is the greatness to which we aspire and the work we are willing to put into it to achieve it by which we will be known going forward. This campaign holds a very special place in the history of this country. Every day going forward. You have made that possible.
This team of which we are all members in some way is going to stay together and continue to aspire to do great things. It may be in individual races and communities. It may not have anything to do with politics. But each of us, sometimes together finding ways to make life better for one another in our communities. There are so many great candidates who will come out of this campaign whose work I look forward to supporting and following and cheering on. Know this: I am forever changed in the most profoundly positive way. I am forever grateful to every single one of you for making this possible. I believe in you and I believe in Texas and in this country.
I love you more than words can express and that love will persist every day going forward, making sure whatever we have created and changed, and all of us will decide what that means and how far it goes, that it leads something far greater than what we have today and that everything one of us continues to believe and made possible the greatness of the United States of America.
I am honored to have been able to do this with you and grateful. We will see you down the road. Thank you, El Paso. Thank you, Texas.
Thank you, every single one of you, for making this possible. I am so grateful. Thank you. Thank you.

Law allows ‘jokers’ to run

“I'm looking for the best person irregardless of political party, of race or religion, or color of their skin. Those things don't matter to me. I want someone who's qualified, who has a qualification to character and the integrity to do the things that have to be done to save this world.”
--Edward Brooke

By Alex P. Vidal

NEW YORK CITY -- When we laugh at the list of “nuisance” candidates (only the Commission on Elections can determine whether they are nuisance or not) who have filed their certificates of candidacy (COC) for the May 2019 Philippine elections, we actually ridicule our own law.
No matter how we treat their COCs with derision, mock them, and call them names, these “nuisance” candidates will continue to persevere knowing fully well that “the law is also on our side.”
They have the right to assert, “Hey, this election process is not only for the scholarly, the mighty, and the omnipotent. This is for us, too, the undervalued, the spurned, and the tossed aside aspirants for a public office.”
In a democratic country like the Philippines, everyone is free to dream and fail and fail to dream.

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Whether these “nuisance” bets are real-life insane or erudite punks is beside the point once the Comelec has accepted their COCs.
In the first place, “nuisance” candidates can be expunged only from the electoral race during the Comelec deliberation process for their inability to mount a serious campaign, or for lack of a registered political party, among other primordial reasons, not because they weren’t qualified to run.
Under the law or An Act Governing the Elections of Local Government Officials, these “nuisance” candidates are very much allowed to run as long as they meet the qualifications prescribed by law for public elective positions in the Philippines.
For local positions the qualifications are “mere” the following:
1. citizen of the Philippines;
2. on the day of election at least 23 years old for Governor, Vice-Governor, member of sangguniang panlalawigan, mayor, vice-mayor, sangguniang panglungsod in highly urbanized cities; while at least 21 years old for the said officials in component cities and municipalities; at least 18 years old for members of the sangguniang panglungsod, sangguniang bayan and sangguniang barangay and punong barangay; at least 15 years old and not more than 21 years of age for Sangguniang kabataan;
3. able to read and write Filipino or any other local language or dialect;
4. registered voter in the constituency in the locality;
5. resident thereof for a period of not less than one year immediately preceding the day of the election.

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Since 2009 when I started posting my photos on social media, a lot of my friends have noticed and mentioned to me that in almost 90 percent of my photos, my ears were always covered with either earphones or headphones.
I noticed this, too, but most of those photos weren’t prearranged. They were natural.
I use the earphones or headphones now especially when I travel far via the New York City subway.
I suspect I have Claustrophobia, or the fear of having no escape, and being closed into a small space.
It is typically classified as an anxiety disorder and often times results in a rather severe panic attack.
It is also confused sometimes with Cleithrophobia (the fear of being trapped).
I learned that Claustrophobia could be related to dysfunction of the amygdala, which is the part of the brain that controls how we process fear.
The phobia can also be caused by a traumatic event, such as: being stuck in a tight or crowded space for an extended period of time, experiencing turbulence when flying.
With the help of earphones or headphones, my attention is diverted into the music and “I won’t feel something” as I close my eyes when the fully packed train would sometimes be stuck in the tunnel (the Dekalb in Brooklyn to Canal in Manhattan area) for six to 10 minutes (the longest I have experienced, so far).

Questions for the man called ‘Bato’

“Did I offer peace today? Did I bring a smile to someone's face? Did I say words of healing? Did I let go of my anger and resentment? Did I forgive? Did I love? These are the real questions. I must trust that the little bit of love that I sow now will bear many fruits, here in this world and the life to come.” 

--Henri Nouwen

By Alex P. Vidal

NEW YORK CITY -- I saw on social media that retired Philippine National Police (PNP) director general Ronald Marapon “Bato” dela Rosa visited Iloilo City before the All Saints’ Day, and was interviewed by my media colleagues there.
I have long wanted to interview retired general Bato even when he was still the PNP chief.
Now that he has retired and is running for senator, I am more emboldened to interview him as a candidate Mr. Bato.
I hope we can meet soon--in the US, where he was once invited by his kumpare, Senator Manny Pacquiao, to watch the boxer’s fight in Las Vegas, or in the Philippines, where he is now busy “campaigning” for his senatorial bid--before, during, or after the May 2019 elections.
Since the possibility of this meeting, nay interview, remains hanging by a thread for the time being, I would like to pose here some of the possible questions I might throw at the bubbly 56-year-old senatorial candidate from Davao del Sur in the event I’ll be lucky to bump him anytime.

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Here’s some of my questions for retired General Bato:
--When you assumed as PNP director general on July 1, 2016, you reechoed the promise made by President Duterte, your No. 1 endorser, that you would arrest or neutralize all the drug lords in the Philippines in the first six months.
Records show that you failed to deliver that promise. Can you comment on this, sir?
--In tears, you vowed to resign if you can’t fulfill your promise to the Filipino people. You did tender your resignation belatedly, but President Duterte rejected it. He even extended your term as the PNP big boss.
What did you do in the remaining months that your term was extended to redeem yourself after you failed to bag the biggest crooks or the “barracudas” in illegal drug trade, who remain at large as of this writing, in the Philippines?
--After you retired as PNP director general on April 19, 2018, your patron President Duterte “gifted” you with a position as director of the Bureau of Corrections from April 30, 2018 until October 12, 2018.
In the six months that you were the big boss of the country’s biggest jail, where some of the most prominent convicted criminals, including the top drug lords, are detained, what changes--if there are some--have you introduced to improve the jail and management system in the country’s premier corrections facility that houses hundreds of hardened criminals?
--You are pushing for the restoration of death penalty, you said in your media interviews. Is your stand on this subject matter influenced by what you discovered in the Bureau of Corrections during the six months of your directorship? Do you believe that the National Bilibid Prison is over crowded and incapable of accommodating more inmates, and the only solution to this “problem” is exterminate those who have been convicted of heinous crimes?

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We already have an idea of your answer to this next question, but I must still ask this, nevertheless, in a hope that you can shed light on this very controversial issue especially now that you are “on your own” and seeking the blessings of the Filipino electorate for a very important position in the country’s highest legislature.
--Did the police engage in summary executions or extra-judicial killings (EJK) when you were the PNP director general? If your answer is NO, how do you explain the scandalous killings of thousands of suspected drug addicts in the slum areas and the murders of suspected illegal drug traffickers not yet charged formally in court?
If your answer is YES (which we know you won’t admit), will you pin the blame on the Commander in Chief, President Duterte and claim, as a defense, that you were only an underling and receiving orders as a “good soldier”? Or you will own the “command responsibility” and be open and willing to be subjected to any lawful and fair investigation?
And, if elected in the senate, are you willing to cooperate with the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), which investigates the cases of thousands of alleged EJK victims in the Philippines involving mostly “tambays” or poor suspected drug addicts and “small time” drug pushers?
Hoping to see you soon, General Bato.

‘My money, my future, my life’

“You learn more from losing than winning. You learn how to keep going.”
--Morgan Wootten

By Alex P. Vidal

NEW YORK CITY -- We see a lot of old and familiar faces gunning again for various positions in the May 2019 Philippine elections both in the local and national levels.
Some of them have now, at last, found major political parties to lean on when push comes to shove.
Without a decent or organized and recognized political party, any candidate in the Philippine elections will find himself shooting for the moon with his fingers.
Many of these names to be included in the official ballots of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) still don’t ring a bell for the hoi polloi even if they ran unsuccessfully at least four times in a row in the past elections.
And they are running anew; they aren’t losing hope.
Some of them behave and think like Sancho Panza, Don Quixote’s squire, who endlessly tilts at the imaginary windmills.

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We know some past losing candidates who have been spurned by their families that are against their continued hallucinations for a political lucky break.
Family insurrections erupt and marriages breaking up because "hard-headed" perennial losers in the clans refuse to call it a day and insist on running in almost all the elections--past, present, future.
Family funds went awry; the cookie jar intended for the children’s education, food, shelter, among other important family priorities, has been dried up.
The logical argument put forward by these “uncooperative” families was that if they were unsuccessful in the their first three attempts even in the lower positions, their chances of hitting a jackpot in the succeeding elections in the major positions would be nil.
The families argue that instead of wasting precious money for the campaign funds, the perennial losers should save it for their future and their children’s future.
Money, after all, doesn’t grow on trees.

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We have the most expensive elections in the world for a third world country.
A candidate for municipal councilor in a smallest town, for instance, will have to spend at least P200,000; a candidate for city councilor, even in a component city, will need to throw away at least P500,000, win or lose.
A candidate for vice mayor in a small municipality must have at least P5 million for his campaign expenses; a candidate for municipal mayor must shell out P10 to P15 million, win or lose.
A candidate for city mayor will have to bankroll at least P100 to P150 million for his campaign kitties, including the payola for corrupt village officials; a candidate for congressman must secure at least P300 million to tackle the election expenses in his district, win or lose.
The amount does not include moolas for vote buying (let’s not be hypocrites).
Not to mention expenses to be incurred by senatorial candidates which we all know could breach the P500 million mark in today’s “standard.”

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Life is extremely hard nowadays in the Philippines, which is being battered by an unprecedented inflation rate.
If you are a candidate in the May 2019 elections and you feel that your chances are like a dream in the Boogie Wonderland, it’s better to withdraw from the race or stay away from politics.
There’s no substitute for frugality in times of economic doldrums.
If we save our money, we can move around confidently and stress-free.
We can walk straight and smile knowing that we won’t be a burden to our family.
If we waste our “hard-earned” money in politics with no hope of recovering it (unless we commit graft and corruption once we are in power) immediately, it is tantamount to violations of our own human rights-- the fundamental right to live with dignity and self preservation.
We lose our self respect and become anti-social if we throw away something we earned through honest-to-goodness means and hard work only because of our misplaced ambition that is far from reality.

Don’t rely on social media

“The more social media we have, the more we think we're connecting, yet we are really disconnecting from each other.”
--JOHN ARTHUR

By Alex P. Vidal

NEW YORK CITY -- Social media like Facebook appears to be the most favorite platform of many candidates gunning for major seats in the Philippine elections on May 2019.
Just like in the 2016 elections, many candidates then relied heavily on the social media to propagate their programs and further tell their “friends” who they are and what are they capable of doing more once they are elected or reelected.
Some of those with edge in name recall didn’t find it hard to win with or without campaigning in the social media.
Some relatively unknown bets or newcomers, even if they spent a bulk of their free time advertising themselves as worthy candidates in the social media, ended by the wayside.
We also know of several prominent reelectionists who didn’t make it in the 2016 elections after giving their full time, trust and reliance on the social media
Reason?
They thought the social media is the end-all and be-all of the winning formula in the elections.
Wrong.
Not all of our (limited to only 5,000) “friends” in the social media can vote; not all are registered voters; not all of them will vote for us even if they belong in our provinces, districts, cities, or municipalities.
Not all of them are truly our "fans" with fanaticism or blind loyalty to us.

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Moral of the story: go out, move your butts, shake the hands of the people and visit places with rich voting population like public markets, churches, villages, terminal stations.
Participate in debates and media fora and actively speak in communities with large gatherings.
Go to the people directly, make eye-to-eye contact with them, touch their hearts and connect in their minds.
Social media can’t help elect any candidate.
We can’t convince the voters that we are genuine public servants, that we are good leaders and sincere aspirants for a public office by merely posting “selfie” photos, pictures of the food we eat in a popular restaurant and exotic vacation spots and countries we recently visited.
Social media is only good for pa-cute and pa-porma effect and doesn’t have the hard-wired power and influence to amaze or tantalize a true-blue and dyed-in-the-wool voter who genuinely cares for his province, district, city, and country as a whole.

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Like many fellow journalists in the Philippines and in other countries, we are closely monitoring the developments in the no-holds barred investigations being undertaken in the mysterious disappearance of our colleague, the brave Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was believed to be murdered and chopped to pieces when he entered the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey on October 2, 2018.
Here’s what we have gathered as of this writing (noontime, October 17, 2019 US Eastern time):
-There appeared to be a possible tie to the crown prince: Maher Abdulaziz Mutreb, a Saudi diplomat and intelligence officer, is among the men under investigation by the Turkish authorities as part of the probe of the disappearance and suspected death of Khashoggi. Mutreb is closely connected to Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman, a Saudi source told CNN.
-US-Turkey meetings: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and, separately, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, in Ankara. Each meeting lasted about 40 minutes. Pompeo did not make remarks after the meetings and has now left Turkey for Brussels.
-The Turkish investigation: Turkish investigators collected a large number of DNA samples from the Saudi consulate in Istanbul when they searched it Monday, Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency reported Wednesday, without saying where the information came from.
-What hasn't been searched: Turkish officials have not yet searched the Saudi consul’s residence in Istanbul and it is not clear when they will. Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said Wednesday the search would happen “once a joint consensus is reached.”
We monitor this shocking news regularly and are very much interested on what will happen to the probe because like Khashoggi, we also write critical stories in a hope to help our government and not to topple it.
We maintain that journalists are partners of our government officials in public service, not enemies.