"The one sure way of participating in the process of nation-building is to vote on the election day."
--Mohit Chauhan
By Alex P. Vidal
NEW YORK CITY -- PHILIPPINE elections can be compared to the games of chess and marathon.
At least a week earlier, some candidates, more or less, may have already known if they had chances of winning or their defeat was imminent.
Some of these clues were in the reported endorsement of prominent and dominant religious groups that specialize in block voting, which is usually being disclosed days earlier; cash shortfall that rendered the last-hour full-blown media blitzkrieg incapacitated, cold response and gloomy reactions from barangay leaders familiar with the ground operations, sudden collapse or shifting of support of previously secured voters based, credible eleventh hour surveys, among other telltale signs of doom.
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If a chess player is down by a piece--a knight, a bishop, a rook, or a pawn--and his remaining pieces are exposed to ambuscade in a dizzying variation, he knows that he has two options left: to resign or wait to be mated.
A marathon runner expecting to arrive in the finish line in the last two miles knows that the runners in front of him in the final five miles earlier who disappeared from his sight like comets may have already sprinted and crossed the finish line.
In elections there are no lucky punches like in boxing; no last two-minute Hail Mary goals like in hockey; no three-point miracle shots like in basketball; no hat-trick goals like in soccer.
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Our choices of the candidates running for various local and congressional positions reflect our character and values as voters.
The senate race is very important.
Some senatorial candidates maintain a myopic mindset insisting we need to elect them because once they become senators "they plan to continue in helping provide more food and medical assistance to the poor."
Some of them claim to be "very sincere to serve the poor" and their sincerity can be allegedly best confirmed "even if you open our hearts with a knife."
A senate job is about legislation, not about distribution of relief assistance to the poor.
We have the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), an office under the executive branch that will perform and is already performing the obligation.
A senator creates and introduces a bill that would become the law of the land after being approved by the president.
Thus what we need are quality legislators; we need to elect quality, competent, and the right candidates suited for the right job.
We don't send a carpenter to extract a tooth or a truck driver to perform a surgery.
(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo)
Showing posts with label #PhilppineElections. Show all posts
Showing posts with label #PhilppineElections. Show all posts
Friday, May 10, 2019
Wednesday, October 31, 2018
A silent river doesn’t mean there are no crocodiles
“In politics, nothing happens by accident. If it happens, you can bet it was planned that way.”
--Franklin D. Roosevelt
By Alex P. Vidal
NEW YORK CITY -- Mayor Oscar “Oca” Garin Sr. of Guimbal, Iloilo in the Philippines did not want the people to further speculate why he filed his certificate of candidacy (COC) for the same position targeted earlier by his daughter-in-law, Dr. Janette Loreto-Garin, and incumbent Rep. Oscar “Richard” Garin Jr., thus he decided to withdraw.
Mayor Garin was aware the people weren’t convinced he really was interested to go back to congress when he has already found the oasis of happiness and satisfaction in his farm as a plain and simple “Oca Manguguma” when he is not in the municipal hall.
People who have been watching the clan’s political dynamics knew that as an astute political tactician, “Tatay Oca” would never allow anyone to read their plans, much less influence the course of their future as a vortex dynasty.
Until the eleventh hour, “Tatay Oca” will continue to keep the aces up his sleeves and won’t let other card players predict his game plan.
Let’s not count the political maestro out yet.
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His move to withdraw, already expected by both his critics and admirers since day one, will pave the way for his son to run for reelection against the clan’s favorite election whipping boy, Gerardo “Gerry” Flores, a retired police general and former mayor of Miag-ao, Iloilo.
The clan, which has been politically dominant in the first district for more then 30 years now, is supporting Iloilo fourth district Rep. Ferjenel “Ferj” Biron, who is running for governor against Iloilo third district Rep. Arthur “Toto” Defensor Jr.
Even if he has already gotten the patriarch’s imprimatur, Biron shouldn’t neglect the “Baywatch.”
Don’t think that there are no crocodiles just because the river is silent, sir.
While he is still alive and active in politics, the patriarch Garin is expected to find ways how to worm his way to become the next vice governor and eventually governor, the only two integral positions missing in his public service arsenal.
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A candidate for Iloilo City councilor has reportedly agreed to settle his debt to a female former city hall casual employee in the amount of P30,000 for fear the casual employee might “spill the beans” during the campaign period.
The candidate, who badly needs a job because of his mounting financial obligations, did not want the issue to be used against him during the campaign period as it might cripple his chances to win.
“I already sent him several demand letters but he all ignored them,” protested the former casual employee from Brgy. Dulonan, Arevalo, Iloilo City.
She agreed to lend money to the candidate with a promise that he would pay it from September to December 2017.
The former casual employee described the candidate for city councilor as “sickly” and was once hired by the Mabilog administration as casual employee after he lost in the 2016 elections.
“Nagpakitlooy sia nga mahulam kuarta kay gina dialysis kuno sia, but when it was time for him to pay he gave me a lot of problems,” the former casual employee cried.
When the candidate for city councilor did not honor his obligations, she sought the help of barangay authorities in Dulonan, Arevalo.
The former casual employee said her decision to demand payment from the candidate for city councilor “has nothing to do” with the recent decision of Mayor Jose “Joe III” Espinosa III to fire her and several other fellow casual workers.
The candidate for city councilor will reportedly start paying her in November 2019.
“Kon indi gid man sia magbayad ipa sa Diyos ko na lang ini tanan,” she wrote to me.
-o0o-
0 SUPER SNEAKY WEIGHT-LOSS SECRETS: 1. Never food-shop without gum 2. Ditch your tupperware 3. Give your guy the first bite 4. Sip from only one type of glass 5. Dish it out 6. Eat after happy hour 7. End your workout with protein 8. Love pretzels 9. Lose the serving dishes 10. Drink after-dinner coffee. SOURCES: Cornwell University Food and Brand Lab; Nutrition and Metabolism Specialist Jana Klauer, M.D.
EIGHT THINGS GUYS NOTICE ABOUT LADIES INSTANTLY: 1. How thick their hair is 2. If their smile is genuine 3. The size of their group 4. The pitch of their voice 5. Their hip-to-waist ratio 6. Their glowiness 7. What's fake about them 8. Their eyes. SOURCE: Daniel Amen, MD, author of The Brain and Love
SIX WORST THINGS A LADY CAN SAY TO A GUY: 1. You're so much better than all the other jerks I've dated 2. Can you really afford that? 3. So we're running a little late. Relax 4. He's a great guy--you should be friends with him 5. She made me promise not to tell, but...6. Don't be silly--I haven't done that in ages (Cosmopolitan, November 2009 issue)
--Franklin D. Roosevelt
By Alex P. Vidal
NEW YORK CITY -- Mayor Oscar “Oca” Garin Sr. of Guimbal, Iloilo in the Philippines did not want the people to further speculate why he filed his certificate of candidacy (COC) for the same position targeted earlier by his daughter-in-law, Dr. Janette Loreto-Garin, and incumbent Rep. Oscar “Richard” Garin Jr., thus he decided to withdraw.
Mayor Garin was aware the people weren’t convinced he really was interested to go back to congress when he has already found the oasis of happiness and satisfaction in his farm as a plain and simple “Oca Manguguma” when he is not in the municipal hall.
People who have been watching the clan’s political dynamics knew that as an astute political tactician, “Tatay Oca” would never allow anyone to read their plans, much less influence the course of their future as a vortex dynasty.
Until the eleventh hour, “Tatay Oca” will continue to keep the aces up his sleeves and won’t let other card players predict his game plan.
Let’s not count the political maestro out yet.
-o0o-
His move to withdraw, already expected by both his critics and admirers since day one, will pave the way for his son to run for reelection against the clan’s favorite election whipping boy, Gerardo “Gerry” Flores, a retired police general and former mayor of Miag-ao, Iloilo.
The clan, which has been politically dominant in the first district for more then 30 years now, is supporting Iloilo fourth district Rep. Ferjenel “Ferj” Biron, who is running for governor against Iloilo third district Rep. Arthur “Toto” Defensor Jr.
Even if he has already gotten the patriarch’s imprimatur, Biron shouldn’t neglect the “Baywatch.”
Don’t think that there are no crocodiles just because the river is silent, sir.
While he is still alive and active in politics, the patriarch Garin is expected to find ways how to worm his way to become the next vice governor and eventually governor, the only two integral positions missing in his public service arsenal.
-o0o-
A candidate for Iloilo City councilor has reportedly agreed to settle his debt to a female former city hall casual employee in the amount of P30,000 for fear the casual employee might “spill the beans” during the campaign period.
The candidate, who badly needs a job because of his mounting financial obligations, did not want the issue to be used against him during the campaign period as it might cripple his chances to win.
“I already sent him several demand letters but he all ignored them,” protested the former casual employee from Brgy. Dulonan, Arevalo, Iloilo City.
She agreed to lend money to the candidate with a promise that he would pay it from September to December 2017.
The former casual employee described the candidate for city councilor as “sickly” and was once hired by the Mabilog administration as casual employee after he lost in the 2016 elections.
“Nagpakitlooy sia nga mahulam kuarta kay gina dialysis kuno sia, but when it was time for him to pay he gave me a lot of problems,” the former casual employee cried.
When the candidate for city councilor did not honor his obligations, she sought the help of barangay authorities in Dulonan, Arevalo.
The former casual employee said her decision to demand payment from the candidate for city councilor “has nothing to do” with the recent decision of Mayor Jose “Joe III” Espinosa III to fire her and several other fellow casual workers.
The candidate for city councilor will reportedly start paying her in November 2019.
“Kon indi gid man sia magbayad ipa sa Diyos ko na lang ini tanan,” she wrote to me.
-o0o-
0 SUPER SNEAKY WEIGHT-LOSS SECRETS: 1. Never food-shop without gum 2. Ditch your tupperware 3. Give your guy the first bite 4. Sip from only one type of glass 5. Dish it out 6. Eat after happy hour 7. End your workout with protein 8. Love pretzels 9. Lose the serving dishes 10. Drink after-dinner coffee. SOURCES: Cornwell University Food and Brand Lab; Nutrition and Metabolism Specialist Jana Klauer, M.D.
EIGHT THINGS GUYS NOTICE ABOUT LADIES INSTANTLY: 1. How thick their hair is 2. If their smile is genuine 3. The size of their group 4. The pitch of their voice 5. Their hip-to-waist ratio 6. Their glowiness 7. What's fake about them 8. Their eyes. SOURCE: Daniel Amen, MD, author of The Brain and Love
SIX WORST THINGS A LADY CAN SAY TO A GUY: 1. You're so much better than all the other jerks I've dated 2. Can you really afford that? 3. So we're running a little late. Relax 4. He's a great guy--you should be friends with him 5. She made me promise not to tell, but...6. Don't be silly--I haven't done that in ages (Cosmopolitan, November 2009 issue)
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