The Numbers Have Declaired A New President...We Must Move On

I find the writer's article impressive as his choice of words were eloquent and his tone of voice is imposing and moving. He speaks well of the needed patriotic involvement as he hope for the new era of governance. Well I am not a Noynoy fan, in fact I did vote for him. I find the writer a bit tactless as he implicitly spoke with sarcasm against the candidates' supporters especially to Villar and ERAP.
I commend him for doing a great job of imposing some clarifications towards the people that our future does not lie only to one person. Synergism requires the cooperation, communication, commitment and support between of the populace and the leaders. He cited very well the hopes of the optimistic Filipinos for the new elected president.
I admired the writer for speaking his mind. He did well in exercising his freedom of speech.
The numbers have spoken and agree with him that even if my presidential candidate did not win, we are rest assured that Noynoy will now try to venture his influence as a leader wanting change. Noynoy’s six years of adventure in the Philippine Presidency would be a tougher one. I will be one of those staunch critics who shall be critical to watch our new government as I moved on.

Critique on the Concept Paper: “The Cocktail Party " by Nelson Navarro

Nelson Navarro’s concept of cocktail parties explains the Filipino version of cocktail parties apart from the Americans. He made an illustration of the comical indulgence of Filipinos in cocktail parties.
I agree with him that long before San Miguel Beer became the masses’ drinks, they already have known the powerful kicks of the tuba or the fermented water and some other potent drinks from the extracts of local fruits.
His way of laying down the concepts of Filipino cocktails depicts some harsh realities and scenarios as how they were observed. He is playful in his illustrations and choices of words to show the cynical settings and conveyance of disparity between the guests wherein those right brands and vintages of liquors were kept reserved until or unless you are among those “guest” that belongs to the class of highfalutin society as he also refer to other guest as the parasites that can spoil the party. These other party guests could be those gate crashers or low profiled invited guest who does not deserve those expensive liquors. So unsurprisingly, those Dom Perignons, Blue Labels, Hennessy-Paradis, and Perrier-Joubets are not really for the masses but or the Serious drinkers of the high society.
Needless to say, since these expensive liquors were not known for the general guests, it is then sane to say that the attention of the entire guest turned towards the very available food and dishes prepared. And no wonder the foods were usually consumed first rather than the drinks. And sometimes instead of these expensive wines, the very popular Coke is usually served.
Although cocktail parties were brought from the “cultural baggage” of the Americans, the Filipinos never really copied their model because unlike them, the Filipinos were fond of eating than drinking.
The expensive wines seems to symbolize the Spanish oppression way back from history with their imposed forced labor from their encomienda system and now it symbolizes the luxury or the material want that furthers the disparity between the masses and the high class society.

A Critique for the “Position Paper: Philippine Disaster Risk Management Act of 2008” by CDRC

The Citizen Disaster Response Center made a position paper not just to support the initiatives of enacting the “Philippine Disaster Risk Management Act of 2008” but is also pushing for a comprehensive and pro-people disaster management approach that will address the people’s needs. The paper was addressed to thee government by them as a concerned group warning them of the natural and man-made disaster that may arise in the Philippine setting. The very purpose of this paper is to inform the people that legislators are considering to amend the said Act. The paper also targeted some considerable points on the agenda of the policy makers to guide them upon their decisions of amending the said Act.
The orientation of the style conveyed by the writer/s is found to be serious and formal. Of course the paper has to be decent and noble and as for this paper it did. The style is literary with eloquence upon the writer/s’ choices of words to evoke appropriated renderings of the message to the renders and the target legislators. The writer/s conveyed an objective-impersonal type of writing which is apart from ones point of view.
This paper’s basic contents were conveyed in a persuasive appeal to further convince the agenda of legislatures and consider their points for inclusion. The CDRS represented the concerned people affected by this policy. The group wanted to imply that the said policy must provide some effective development for funding their resources to further support their effective development and efforts which they claimed to be based on voluntary cooperation that called for the grassroots concerned must be involved and addressed. The writer/s in behalf of CDRS implicitly imposes that the said policy which is subject for amendment considerations should be supporting the concerned NGOs like them who is far well-versed in the grass-roots of the said problems of disaster responses.
This paper employed a non-rational mode, a non-argumentative reasoning. It appealed not to reason but more directly to decisions and agendas of the policy makers. This paper wanted to point out particular instances and direct services that should be considered for the furtherance of the effectiveness of this particular policy but of course it must be also advantageous to them as NGOs to also further fundings for their programs.
The first paragraph described the Philippines as most natural disaster-prone countries and its geographical location that asserts its condition for occurrence of disasters. The second paragraph introduced as it is ascribing the other type of disasters, the man-made disasters. The fourth single-sentenced paragraph served as a prelude of the introduction with the assertion of preference for an urgent comprehensive disaster management system which was further supported in the fourth paragraph wherein the writer/s defined the current effectiveness of the existing policy. The fifth paragraph stated their stand to push an amendment of the “Philippine Disaster Risk Management Act of 2008”. From the sixth to the eleventh paragraph, in the light of some statements of preferences, illustration of some ideas to get into the policy makers considerations. A statement of preference was stated on the twelfth paragraph when there was an assertion of involving established religions and churches to include them in participation of helping the poor and needy affected by disasters. And at the last paragraph, still the writer/s appealed to the policy makers agenda that if they will consider this paper’s points on what should constitute this policy in order for the government to minimize costs and not to attend disaster on a full time basis.
There was an exhibition of honesty and sincere approach on the issue of addressing the amendments for the policy with the statements of the last paragraph and its last statement wherein it calls for cooperation among all other concerned groups.

2010 AutomatedElection

Truly the 2010 automated elections highlighted some unpredictable scenarios in Philippine politics. The latest election was historic since it is the electorates first time to move on apart from the manual casting and counting of ballots. The automated election zoomed the manner of counting and at the same time created a fuzz over the unpredictable trends of the candidates rise and fall of their popularity ratings. The fast tally of results made everybody hooked at their TV sets, radios and internets to look over the unpredicted fight between candidates.
The automated election has made the counting of nationwide votes faster because in just a span of two days the counting immediately bears millions as it proceeds. This scenario is very remarkable because as compared to the manual counting it takes several weeks or a month for the sluggish counting to proceed.
Yes, the automated election was successful but like any other elections, discrepancies and other problems are still found. People have been rendered to wait under the heat of the sun to vote in their precincts. They have been against the clustering of precincts wherein there are five precincts per PCOS machine. Some were impatient and perceived this kind of system as drudgery. I guess these kind of people never knew what it takes to take care of this heirloom of democracy of which our ancestors fought for the posterity. I mean, waiting for some kind of six to five hours is incomparable to six years rule of whoever that president is! For goodness sake! With no Shenanigans and run-arounds elections or suffrage is our right, our privilege. It is our power to choose the next leader who could make or break democracy and development in this country. this country have been put into double jeopardy when Arroyo succeeded and was elected into office. We can’t afford for a “triple jeopardy”! this is our chance to elect the next capable, able, accountable and responsible efficient leader! I can’t believe that the others were so oblivious.
I can’t blame some electorates and other Board of Election Inspectors (BEI’s) in Mindanao and other areas when they choose not to participate in the election because they were scared by violence and were afraid for some strayed bullets from the exchange of gunshots between the spoilers and the enforcers of the law. Those spoilers that could have been the pets of potential cheaters. These cheaters are capable for they have jeopardized our country.
There have been reports of failing PCOS machines, questionable initiatives of BEIs, failures of transmittal of results, and so on. Failure to vote is the most fatal when these people became impatient and indifferent as they were closer to being nihilistic. The others failed to vote because the PCOS machine didn’t recognized their votes but of exceeding the numbers of the supposed to be shaded candidates in their ballots and too much pressure upon shading their ballots.
The political trend between candidates as reflected in their unofficial tally of votes catches my attention. In the race for presidency Gibo ran short to the fourth place maybe because his party LAKAS-KAMPI is equivocal to Pres. Arroyo. I expected a Noynoy-Villar fight but it turned out that Villar and Gibo are the closer competitors while Erap and Noynoy are still game on for the presidency. I pity those people who still wanted to place an incompetent leader. The Noynoy-Erap fight could have been more exciting if the Mindanao’s voting turn-out is met.
Chiz Escudero, a popular figure who backed out his candidacy for presidency, made an impact to the Noy-Mar tandem when he endorsed the Noy-Bi tandem. The unofficial tally of vice-presidential results displays a neck to neck fight between Binay who comes first and Roxas who comes second. Reports about the factions within the Liberal party have caused Mar’s weakened fight wherein some LP members supports a Noy-Bi tandem.
Legarda whom Roxas sought as his strong competitor was taken third in the race. Roxas overlooked Binay as a threat. The SWS and Pulse Asia Survey from December to January validates the trend. Legarda’s interesting popularity rating suddenly became popular when she choose to run with Villar as the vice president of Villar’s ticket. Loren’s flamboyant display of being ‘balimbing’ caused her downfall when in this incident people cols have questioned her integrity because she was with the others who scrutinized Villar with his C5 road extension scheme and then suddenly she became Villar’s electioneering partner.
The scenario of presidential candidates like Villar and Gibo conceding their defeat is very remarkable. In just a span of almost two days with almost 85% of unofficial COMELEC figures of ballots counted and transmitted the populace now focuses thei eyes between tow candidates Noynoy and Erap. Noynoy is more advanced than the latter.
The twelve slots for senatoriables are a bunch of old, returning and re-electionist senators except for Guingona III, son of former vice president Guingona and Bongbong Marcos the son of the late President Ferdinand Marcos. Ralph Recto is also a new one. Marcos is remarkable when he transcended between the sixth and the seventh slot. Very interesting! But the first and second slot got the Santa Banana!
Truly the 2010 election have created some fuzz about the electioneering mantras, slogans and the underlying politicized agendas of the hopeful candidates. The automated kind of election has a lot more and long way to go to say that the Philippines election has truly changed for the better. Yes, it has zoomed the quick counts but the underlying question is, was their a guarantee that there was a clean and honest election?

The Cosmic Jacuzzi into Obscurity

Dilated eyes, shimmering lights and figures seduce the strangers like they were mesmerized to see a huge billboard at the middle of the bridge with a naked celebrity soaking on a bubbly bath. And yet they already accustomed to this cosmic Jacuzzi became oblivious to its muddled water. The decadence found in the streets falsifies the picturesque convenience it offers. It seemed so full of unfamiliar temperaments that wander through social debauchery that succumbs to a huge disparity between the abundant and the needy. This fast-phase sea of faces haphazardly cares to this spectacle. Kudos! to those who sees through its underlying decadence and its cunning directors and administrators who wears faultlines with pride. Lights, camera, transaction! Everyone is obscure. Numbers of people, each with there problems failed to check that the wiring of the areas’ communication is sagging and the technical mechanics became faulty. The spectre of these haunting audiences wanting affluence became so impressed of personalities’ demagoguery that undermines the conducts of accountability and true democracy. The ruling personalities are so transfix that their fingers traces the outlines of the society’s bridge as they float. The People were like frog boiling in the muddling water of this cosmic Jacuzzi, still and jerks a little bit but some were numb and never flinches. They were seduced as they float face down! Change was summoned to come and rescue the sinking other worldly residents but there is so much more for the city’s buzzing and flashes of lights. CDO is a beautiful sight, so endearing with the sounds turned off and the people chose to be blind.

Filipinos are not Juan Tamad and Juan Tamad is not the Filipinos

“Si Juan Tamad Ang Diablo at Ang Limang Milyong Boto” is truly a play that was made and was performed to raise awareness and incite involvement not just for the youth but also for the general Filipino population. Isla Filipinimon featured the modern typical Filipinos at the height of political electioneering. This play is an insinuation that there is something wrong in our political system that is affected by these succinct negative Filipino traits which were conveyed through relevant serious jokes. These political jokes are subject to cynical qualities or disposition of Filipinos that are corollary to the failures of the Philippine politics.

I, as apolitical science student find this play very relevant to convey the inquisitions of how was our political system has been going. This play is a relevant tool to play sarcasm on the harsh political realities of Filipino politics and then slap these on our faces.

The statement of Juan Tamad that went like: “Mag-vitamins nga kayo! Kung gusto ninyo akong mag-register puntahan n’yo ako sa bahay ko”, showed the utterance of the unintelligible laziness. The vitamins has nothing to do with the slow bureaucratic process is and Juan Tamad is not a special person who can demand the COMELEC employees to have a special treatment for him. There is a conveyance of a fallacy of Tu Qouque, which is clear when the COMELEC officials throwed back the guilt at him a statement that goes like: “Eh paano po kasi ngayon lang pokayo nagparegister sa araw pa ng last registration , eh hindi po kayo ma-accommodate lahat”. The funny truth is that this is the clear consequence of mañana habit which was still observed during the last registration of voters for the coming May 10, 2010 elections.

The scene in the last day of registration portrays the palakasan system. Through Juan’s argumentum ad misericordiam and special pleading, he was able to win the favor of a certain COMELEC girl officer upon using his charms as he winks the opportunity to have someone who can process his voter’s registration papers. One could have an assumption that such palakasan and other forms of same favoritism exist in our bureaucratic system. It may also imply that these unethical transactions may exist not only on one government office but also in other offices. A further implication may suggest that there are other forms these unethical transactions in our bureaucratic system like in the forms of: bribery, corruptions, red tapes and under-the-table-transactions that concomitantly must call for the attention of the Filipino electorates to reflect on our society. One must start to question why do they exist? What or who made them exist? I think the answer is clear because obviously, “walang manloloko kung walang magpapaloko” and “walang magpapaloko kung walang manloloko”. The change in our democratic system must start within us.

The problem with our attitudes every election is that we usually regarded every campaign speech as mere appearances of every candidates for elections. Why not take some time listen intently and contently to every word they say? See for oneself that you may find the very substantial chunk of what they have to say in every relevant issue concerning our nation. The diablo is right when he said that elections are like “peryas” or amusement parks. It goes when the “politicos “ were having rallies that seemed like amusement parks, their political campaign as spectacles and the electorates are the spectators of whose going to be hitting another “kandidato”.

There was a serious joke upon the portrayal of the four candidates in Isla Filipinimon which could be true in the literal sense. The character of Bungisngis represents those political personalities that run for office during elections that uses his influences to compel the voters to vote for him. When the character showed his gun, it is clear that he represents those election personalities that love to use violence in all means to win. Mariang Batibat is the another character in the play that represents those election personalities that were trying to flirt with the masses through speaking for herself as a simple candidate who wanted their support and possesses sympathy for the masses but on the contrary she goes out in the public displaying her extravagance. Sigben on the on the other hand is the representation of those fresh politicos who belonged to the lineage of a very prominent political family or dynasty who brags with his foreign acquired education with all those accents during his speeches which could amaze those electorates who are not so well verse of the English language. He displays all his “karisma” to fool to gain the peoples support. Many people believed that it is “karisma” who can bring a candidate into victory. This statement possesses a light of an argumentum ad ignorantium that even intensifies the ignorance as manifested in some irresponsible and immature electorates.

The most striking candidate is the character of Elsa Mananambal who vies to venture chance against these popular candidates even though she got no huge resources for her campaign. She possesses all those servant traits of a leader but she is unpopular for she got no money and appeal. She appeals to the people with statements that provoke emotions that are somehow leading to an argumentum ad misericordiam just to convey all she has to say as a candidate. It is very sad to say that we have those kinds of potential leaders but they haven’t got any resources.

The play conveyed and portrayed the harsh realities of Filipino politics especially during elections. It wants to open the hope that for every Filipino society to avoid and must change the negative perceptions of the international community that posed a hasty generalization that the Philippines has no hope for change because it has been plagued with all those traditional politicians called as the “trapos”. The international community even viewed the Philippines as one of the corrupt country in Southeast Asia as accordingly : The Philippines is ranked as the fourth most corrupt country in Southeast Asia out of 16 surveyed by over 2,000 expatriate businessmen, according to an annual poll. But this statement posed a fallacy of skewed sample (cited from Inquirer.net available at:http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20100309-257646/RP-is-4th-most-corrupt-country-in-Southeast-Asiapoll.Date of access May 1, 2010). This also calls for every Filipino not to allow such a fallacy of converse accident that not just because Philippines is left behind development, all Filipinos will be labeled as lazy.

The play has broken the genetic fallacy of the character Juan Tamad which accordingly was deemed to never ever have the chance to change his attitude of laziness. This can also serve as an example that Filipinos can change if they have the political will to stop being so indifferent, being lazy and being so uninvolved. Let us not nurture the crab mentality and let us not yield into having that “ningas cogon” mentality. Let us persevere and continue to guard the results and the outcome of our votes. Let us continue to check on the leaders that we have voted for even if we did not vote for the candidate who has won the post.

Filipinos are not Juan Tamad and Juan Tamad is not the Filipinos. It is just that we continue to nurture the diablos into our system. These diablos are those traits that hinder our goal for development like: mañana habit, crab mentality, ningas cogon mentality, palakasan system, utang na loob, bahala na system etc. Santa Banana!! We are the new breed of new electorates that our nation really needs. “Timbangin, sukatin at bantayan ang mga kandidato na tatakbo hanggang sa maka-upo sa pwesto”. We should say to ourselves: “Boto ko ang magbabago ng bayan ko”. This may fall into the fallacy of the future but it is us who composed this nation so then it is from us where the change should start from. Let us not just voice out our concerns towards the government or just mutter upon it because it may all fall into drudgery but act upon it!! Go out of your couch potato!! Don’t just what Juan Tamad did in the play. Our nation would not want to have more Juan Tamad! Go out and vote!

What About Media Mileage?

Philippine politicians nowadays have been fond of venturing their candidacy by making their own political ads and appeal to the people. Well then, there were organizations that make political advertisements to appeal to the judgments of the electorates to truly check on the every candidate that they will vote for. I happened to view a political ad that speak against those politicians and personalities who always seeks media mileage to be popular for the voters.

Huwag tayong magpapabola sa mga taong hindi naman karapatdapat umupo sa pinakamataas na posisyon ng bansa. Hindi porque palagi nating nakikita ang isang tao o kandidato sa TV o kung saan man public relations campaign ay sila na ang pinakamagaling.

(Let’s not be suckered by unqualified people who are vying for the highest office in land. Just because we see them on TV it does not make them the right people for the job.)

This is a statement of preference because this is already an interpretation of the way how people must venture the future of the nation on one responsible leadership through the most important democratic instrument which is through the right to suffrage. Truly this statement is imposing an oblique statement towards any celebrities or personalities who has been venturing a lot of their money through media mileage and expensive political advertisements. These statements seemed to be hitting upon some other politicians and personalities who have been fooling our electorates through their overall projection as the ideal future leader towards change and development. One can have an assumption that all our leaders have been investing their resources to earn sympathy and the trust of the electorates by having political advertisements. And these statements may imply that the electorates must be cautious and responsible upon choosing the right future leaders of our country and should not be impulsive on the images and emotive appeal of every politician’s political advertisements.

Vote intelligibly and read through your candidate’s credentials contently! Vote wisely!!

Here is the link of the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZCMn3USk6w&feature=watch_response_rev