All-Out War (Blog war, that is)

For or against the Administration?

As far as I can remember, this is the first post-Marcos midterm elections in our country that acquired the flavor of a referendum. Do you agree or disagree with how Gloria is running the country? Nothing makes this clearer than the slogans of Team Unity and Genuine Administration. "Isang boto laban sa nakaupo" is an attempt to capitalize on Gloria’s reputation as the most unpopular Pinoy president since dead old Ferdie. "Mas para sa kids mo" meanwhile echoes the worn old argument of pro-GMAers: who cares about corruption and morality as long as the economy is doing great?

Now that the dust is starting to settle (not withstanding the special elections in Lanao del Sur that was STILL marred by violence and irregularities), some political analysts, and paid hacks posing as analysts, are starting to dissect the results of the elections. As Che-Che Larazo said "Paano bumoto si Juan?".

"Protest vote" is fast becoming a popular term. Ex-mutineer Antonio Trillanes has landed in the "Magic 12", despite the fact that he was not allowed to go out and campaign for himself personally. As one news reporter noted (I can’t remember who, but I’m sure he/she was from ANC), imagine if he had a chance to do so.

Meanwhile, latest results show that Alan Peter Cayetano may yet buck every obstacle that has been hurled at his campaign. If he somehow manages to hold on to his Magic 12 spot, one of the harshest critics of the Arroyo regime will be living proof that a nuisance candidate and COMELEC sabotage can be defeated by the people’s will.

On the other hand, Mike Defensor, Chavit Singson and Prospero Pichay, despite being some of the top spenders this elections, find themselves out in the cold.  As some pundits pointed out, being so closely associated with Gloria (Defensor is Gloria’s chief of staff, Pichay is part of a clique along with JDV that rules Congress) is a "kiss of death".  Adel Tamano of the GO would never get tired of pointing out that cheating wouldn’t be enough to push the most unpopular candidates to victory.

But what about Team Unity’s domination in terms of local positions (i.e governor, congressman etc.)?

Some point out that "miracle victories" such as those of Fred Lim (Mayor of Manila), Grace Padaca (Governor of Isabella), Among Ed Panlilio (Governor of Pampanga, GMA’s province!), the sister of Nereus Acosta (Representative of Bukidnon, i think), Darlene Custodio (Representative of Cotabato) and Jesse Robredo (Mayor of Naga City), are also indicative of a protest vote. Since the GO was unable to field enough candidates to contest even 3/4s of all local positions in the last elections, statistically, a Team Unity majority was imminent. However, the above-mentioned people won over personalities closely associated with GMA: Garci, Manny Pacquiao, Lilia Pineda, the son of Luis Villafuerte, and Ali Atienza.

And if there is indeed a protest vote, why then have partylist groups, that are virtually the epitome of "anti-Gloria" , have less-than-spectacular performances? Bayan Muna, barring any major gains in the final days of counting, may lose its title as "#1". While Gabriela has catapulted from 1 to 2 seats (if the old formula will still be followed), Anakpawis dropped from 2 to 1 seats. KABATAAN and Suara Bangsamora meantime are on the brink of elimination. Even partylists that I normally wouldn’t want to be in the same planet with have fared badly: Akbayan has dropped from 3 to 1 seat. Sanlakas and PM will definitely join Suara and KABATAAN in the elimination chamber.

So what’s the real score? A thumbs-up for anti-Gloria forces, or a vindication of Gloria’s rule?

The answer is somewhere in between. If it was all about the people’s will, the result of the elections was definitely a "sampal kay GMA". The only TU candidates who might make it (Joker, Angara and Zubiri) are not that closely associated with Gloria. Heck, with the victories of the likes of Panlilio, and the defeat of Mr. E-VAT, Ralph Recto, one might say this is the first time the people flexed their voting power.

But we do not live in the ideal democracy one gets to read about in Sociology and Political Science classes. In a backward country like ours, a major factor that might even be bigger than the people themselves, must be considered. The factor? The much-touted "political machinery". Or if translated in layman’s terms, "pandaraya".

The most blatant cheating would be that against progressive partylists. As early as 2003, members of Bayan Muna, Anakpawis, Gabriela and even KABATAAN were being murdered, abducted or harrassed by the AFP. 4 years and 800 plus dead partylist members later, the AFP has fine-tuned its attempts to crush the above-mentioned groups. Not only have they fielded partylist groups that are simply a bunch of "tambays" put together, to increase the 2% limit, they have now actively forced whole barangays into voting for their favored partylist groups.

Outside of the partylist world, Cayetano may be the one who has received the worst of Gloria’s cheating. Even after "Pepito" was disqualified, COMELEC Commisioner Abalos himself spread the word that "Cayetano" votes should be regarded as stray votes.

And of course, there is the 12-0 win for TU in Mindanao that was achieved only because no real elections actually took place.

The defeat of Administration candidates has shown that the political awareness of the Filipino people has increased. They have become susceptible to "myths" of "economic progress" that never translate into the dining table. They have become immune to appeals for "peace" through voting for retention of the status quo.

In turn, the Administration has shown that it has a heightened alert against what it has feared the most: a politically-conscious Filipino people. And it has shown an heightened urgency in its reaction: 2004 needed someone to spill the beans on Garci and Gloria. This year, "Hello Garci" came more than a year earlier, and not a moment too late.

The two most decisive factors of our society are heading for a headlong collision. The only question is, when, and how?

I wonder which planet did the COMELEC and the PNP spend the election period in? The cleanest? Give me a break…

Even my own experience as a simple pollwatcher last Monday disproved that this was a clean and peaceful elections. In one precint in Sauyo High School (where I was assigned by Task Force Poll Watchers), the marks on the tally sheet indicated Bayan Muna got 5 votes, but they listed it as FOUR. I sarcastically asked the teacher how much votes where there and they said FOUR. Either they were stupid criminals, or talagang makapal ang mukha. In another, the 2nd tally sheet for partylist votes was missing while they even had an excess of the other tally sheets. According to the teacher, the COMELEC refused to listen to their requests for that certain tally sheet.

Which brings me to my next point as a simple pollwatcher. Is NAMFREL and PPCRV really up to the task? When i told some of their volunteers about such irregularities, they simply shrugged it off. I don’t want to accuse them of conniving with government cheaters, but that would only mean that they are INCOMPETENT.

Thankfully though, they reported the incident when several policemen barged into the polling center, in clear violation of the Election Law. They took pictures of the policement. But those were glaring violations. How about the subtle violations?

Correction. They didnt notice the most glaring violation of all: Chuck Mathay, a member of KAMPI (GMA’s party), gave his pollwatchers fake Liberal Party (the accredited opposition party) IDs. With those IDs, the KAMPI people took the election return copies that were intended for the Opposition. It didn’t just happen in my precint. It happened in almost all polling centers in the 2nd District of Q.C.

We then go to the news. My observation of shaving one vote from Bayan Muna is obviously not an isolated incident. When I checked my Friendster, i read one post from a pollwatcher in the Manila area that KABATAAN votes were being counted for ANAK partylist. Is it any coincidence that this is one of the partylists funded by the Office for External Affairs? And when I read the papers this morning, I took note of an article detailing how Suara Bangsamoro got 4,000 votes from one precint, and how it was halved by the Comelec during the municipal canvassing. Or how the 200 votes ANAKPAWIS got in a precint in Samar was counted as ZERO during the municipal counting.

One such case in Pampanga was averted by the watchful eyes of Fr. Ed Panlilio’s pollwatchers. I guess I have to thank God for that, hehe.

And I am not even mentioning the harrasment of such partylists, that stretched from the morning of May 14 to several years back.

Pollwatchers in Baesa, Q.C reported that streamers proclaiming "IBOTO ANG MAKA-DIYOS. ANG KOMUNISMO AY SATANISMO. HUWAG IBOTO ANG BAYAN MUNA, ANAKPAWIS, GABRIELA, KABATAAN at SUARA" were posted in many polling centers. Leaflets containing the same message were scattered all over. And this same incident was reported in many other places in the country: Nueva Ecija, Camarines Sur and Norte, Sorsogon, Samar, Quezon. Noteworthy is the fact that the message was exactly the same. Obviously, only one group is the mastermind behind this. A group which has a national scope in terms of membership, has sufficient resources, and has a glaring grudge against the 5 partylist groups.

I wonder who can they be?

Its the same group that used the threat of violence to intimdate voters into voting for Dato Arroyo, Gloria’s son who is running in Camarines as congressman.

Its the same group that was discovered by the International Observers’ Mission to have campaigned for Bantay partylist so forcefully and threateningly that in one case, in Nueva Ecija, people thought only one partylist was running this elections.

Its the same group who has pronounced that Bayan Muna and Company are communist fronts, thus proclaiming them legal targets of military operations.

Its the same group, whose pronouncements above, have made them the #1 suspect in the more than 800 extra-judicial killings in our country since 2001.

And finally, its the same group that has been quoted by many writers, from Conrado De Quiros to Raul Pagdanganan, as the only thing keeping Gloria in power.

Clean elections? Give me a break.

kasabay (yes, nagtatagalog ako ngayon, dahil kailangan kong magpractice at dahil naiinis nalang ako dahil may naaasociate akong negative sa mga english-writing bloggers) ng pagtaas ng ahitasyon, bangkay at kung ano-ano pang kabalbalan kaugnay ng eleksyon, tumataas rin ang bilang ng mga blogfriends ko na nagppost ukol sa angas sa ganun o ganitong aspeto ng buhay. global warming? baka may ugnayan ang pagkainis sa pollusyon dali ng mga bansa tulad ng Estados Unidos? pero sa iba pang kwento yan…

napaisip lang ako, paano kung may access ang karaniwang Pilipino sa internet? paano kung para tayong nasa sci-fi movie kung saan ang access sa computer at internet ay libre? kung saan may mga computer stations na parang phone booths sa kung saan-saan? malabong mangyari, pero gusto ko sanang mapagisip ang bawat isang nagbabasa sa blog ko…

Posted: June 22, 2011

badtrip talaga itong araw na ito. umaga palang sira na araw ko. kung tutuusin, bawat araw ata na mula ng magkamalay ako ay sirang sira. kasi pare-pareho. hindi ko tuloy maintindihan saan nagmula yang islogan na "life is beautiful" ng mga estudyante sa UP. eh tila impyerno naman eh. isipin mo, gigising ka bawat umaga para pumila ng tubig dahil ang mahal na ng tubig mula ng binili ng mga poreyners yung maynilad. swerte pa nga kung makakuha ako ng tubig, eh kadalasan hindi. eh di late ako sa trabaho para sa wala. at naku, trabaho? punyetang 100% employment rate na nabasa ko sa diyaryo. may trabaho nga ako, pang ilang buwan lang. kelan ba ako huling nakaenkwentro ng taong tumatagal sa trabaho niya? para yatang makikita ko nalang yan sa museum kasama yung salamin ni ninoy. buti sana kung makapasok ako sa museum, eh kulang na kulang sweldo ko. siguro kung kayang mabuhay ng tao na sili ang ulam at toyo ang kanin, nasa langit na ako. ewan ko ba, hindi ko maintindihan paano na hocus-pocus sweldo ko eh sabi naman sa Channel 4 ang ganda ganda ng ekonomiya. di naman ako maka-angal, baka matulad ako dun sa 5 kasama ko sa opisina nung nakaraang buwan. umangal lang dahil walang matinong banyo, tinawag ng mga komunista. ayun, nawala na sila na parang bula. teka, sabi ng katabi ko di daw dapat ako nagsusulat ng ganito, binabasa daw kasi ng kung ano-mang ahensya lahat ng dumadaan sa internet. mautak, kaya pala sila gumawa nitong mga computer booths. nakakairita pa, nakasabay ko sa LRT 12 ang isang mukhang anak mayaman. may sapatos eh. namimiss ko tuloy ung panahon na kaya ko pang bumili sa sweldo ko ng mga pekeng Nike sa Quiapo. pakiramdam ko naubos nung bata yung pera niya sa gimik at wala yung mga magulang nya para tubusin siya. kasi, napadaan kami sa Morayta Station. sakto, andun nanaman yung mga taga Bayan. bigla namang humirit yung bata ng, "hay naku, its like they are making so gulo for nothing, what dont they just make enjoy life ano?". kung hindi lang siksikan, sasakalin kung yung lecheng yun. palibasa, hindi niya nararanasan buhay ng mga tulad ko. palibasa, namomroblema siya paano makakuha ng matataas na grado, eh mga anak ko nga, namomroblema kung paano sila kikita para hindi magutom ang buong pamilya. palibasa, nakakapagrebyu para makapasok sa La Salle Diliman (pero madami pa ring aktibista dun ah, kahit na iniba na ang pangalan at boss), eh mga anak ko, makakapasok lang sa LSD kung magwewelga yung mga aktibista dun. andami ko pang gustong isulat, kaso oras na para sa trabaho ko sa gabi. pag sumablay ako, wala akong pambili sa shabu dahil yun nalang ang nakakabuhay sa akin sa 2 oras na tulog kada araw buong linggo.

End of Post.