By: Amiel Aguilar Cabanlig

The Neiman Foundation for journalism at Harvard University has conceded to the emerging power of the blogsphere. The foundation explains that they are sharing the Web’s ethos, and it’s the job of the JOURNALIST to adapt…”Soon the word citizen journalist were joined in marriage and brokered by technology and nurtured by convenience as news organizations and their staff needed to produce content,” says the foundation. This is the era when technological change catches up with the times. Neiman adds now is the moment, as social media transforms how people receive news and information.

The campaign period is about to commence in a few weeks. Noynoy Aquino will launch his bid in northern Tarlac, his home province, and Manny Villar Jr., in southern Laguna province. Joseph “Erap” Estrada will kick off his campaign at Plaza Miranda in Manila’s Quiapo district and administration bet Gibo Teodoro, a former Defense secretary, in Antipolo City, east of Manila. These gents still are leading popular surveys for presidential candidates.

With this, the blogsphere is festooned with a colorful spectrum of various political colors ranging from indigo to yellow. The Pinoy Buzz (owned by a Victorina council member) is unwavering in his support for Dick Gordon, while another council member vouches for the sincerity of Eddie Villanueva. Meanwhile, the jaundiced site of Barrio Siete (probably infected with hepatitis-K) and Ellen Tordesillas are so blinkered with yellow that it would terrorize other bloggers who resist tying the golden ribbon to their URL.

The members of the so-called “Black and White” movement would haul over the coals anyone not wearing YELLOW (whatever happened to the black and white shirts). Even the vociferous FM DJ could not escape the hostility of these yellow bullies who was warned by the yellow camp about talking negatively about Noynoy...

… And these are the very same people who claim to be stanch advocates of “liberty”-Unless we have forgotten, liberty, taking the word in its concrete sense, consists in the ability to choose.

The blogsphere is no different from traditional media when it comes to the harrying yellowists. Recently the Philippine Daily Inquirer concocted a Presidential Forum at the U.P. Diliman Theater. A famous campaign operative of a presidentiable bluntly told a Philippine Daily Inquirer staff; “Can you guarantee us, that you won’t spin the debate in favor of Noynoy?” Readers are becoming more and more skeptical to PDI’s signs of malignant jaundice… According to the PDI, the key question that the organizing committee faced was: Can columnists known for fearless views serve as fair-minded members of a debate panel?”

So how do we know that the blogs and newspapers we read are not “spinning” stories to favor their candidate?

This brings me to point out the importance of enacting the Freedom of Information bill authored by Sen. Allan Peter Cayetano. Once enacted, would make MANDATORY the posting in the web of important information especially those associated with graft and corruption- Even the statement of assets and liabilities (SALN) and government contracts would readily be available to bloggers . Verification of such stories used to be the major concern of traditional media and the Achilles' heel of the blogersphere. Geneva Overholser of Anneberg School of Journalism says “too often, those of us who’ve been about building communities seem to assume a kind of “how dare they!” attitude towards bloggers.

Now, all and sundry are entitled to post their own opinions in the World Wide Web - no matter how ludicrous their views may be. With the rivulet of information readily available with a click of a mouse, we can effortlessly weed-out worthless information and save constructive ones. Citizens are becoming vastly more powerful consumers and shapers of news. With the possible enactment of the FOI BILL, the less likely the jaundiced yellowists can torment the “Gordonites”, “Villarites” and “Gibonites”- Neither can traditional media men “spin” the public into jumping on to the yellow bandwagon. The more THEY practice this abysmal art of “spinning” of information to manipulate the public, the sooner THEY will fade into IRRELEVANCE…

With everything said let me share a quote from C. Wright Mills; “Freedom is not merely the opportunity to do as one pleases; neither is it merely the opportunity to choose between set ALTERNATIVES. Freedom is, first of all, the chance to formulate the available choices, to argue over them -- and then, the opportunity to choose.”

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If the Sexbomb Dancers’s “May Itlog…” video left you scratching your head, perhaps this new instructional video can change that.


An instructional video s by (It’s better automated) I.b.a. Na Ngayon, the COMELEC’s revamped election website aimed to educate people about the electoral process, and disseminate canvassing information, features comedian Ramon Bautista and DJ Mo Twister assisting a confused grandmother as she votes using the new automated system.

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"It is a big mystery why these candidates are committing financial suicide by deciding to spend so much money for so little in lawful income they could receive once in office. But the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism’s (PCIJ) database of the statements of assets and liabilities and net worth (SALN) filed by the five presidential candidates who have served in public office points to a bigger mystery: Rather than sliding to poverty because of fortunes they might have lost on elections, these candidates in fact managed to grow their wealth and net worth by small to phenomenal amounts over the years."

A billionaire and four other millionaires lead the pack of those who want to serve as the 15th president of the Philippines, all invariably swearing by an anti-poverty platform, and with some purposely harking on their poverty roots to spin and curry favor with majority of voters who are poor.

The costs and benefits of running and serving as president are a skewed equation. Various election and policy experts say that to run a decent campaign and win, a presidential candidate might have to fork out sums running from P2 billion to P6 billion. And yet the new president, if he keeps honest, would earn only P60, 000.00 a month or at most P4.68 million in six years, before tax. The total six-year income for the new president would add up to just P3.18 million, after tax.

It is a big mystery why these candidates are committing financial suicide by deciding to spend so much money for so little in lawful income they could receive once in office.

But the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism’s (PCIJ) database of the statements of assets and liabilities and net worth (SALN) filed by the five presidential candidates who have served in public office points to a bigger mystery: Rather than sliding to poverty because of fortunes they might have lost on elections, these candidates in fact managed to grow their wealth and net worth by small to phenomenal amounts over the years.

And the biggest mystery of all: The spike in these candidates’ declared net worth typically came after an election year—while they were serving in office and should not have benefited from other business or financial transactions. Too, the spike in their net worth even defied the slump in the local and global economy because of the financial crisis that visited in 1997 and again in 2008.

Indeed, the PCIJ’s extensive inquiry into the wealth of Benigno Simeon Cojuangco Aquino 3rd, Jose Marcelo Ejercito (Joseph Estrada), Richard Juico Gordon, Gilberto Cojuangco Teodoro Jr. and Manuel Bamba Villar Jr. yielded curious results.

By all indications, expensive election campaigns had not made a serious dent on the personal wealth of these candidates.

For sure, their declarations suggest a tendency by some for token compliance with the law on SALN, a serious obligation of good governance on those who will serve as president. They enrolled only minimal data on their assets and stocks, some reported the same amounts to the last centavo for years, or did not disclose other assets and business and financial interests in their name or that of their spouse and family members that are registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A separate set of reports on campaign spending and contributions they filed with the Commission on Elections (Comelec) showed a consistent tendency by these candidates to understate their campaign expenses and shield the identities of their major campaign donors.

Net worth
According to their SALN, the five candidates for president all belong to the country’s affluent minority, and have built their wealth on real estate, stocks and inherited assets.

Aquino (member of House of Representatives, 1998 to 2005, and senator since 2007) started with a net worth of P8.42 million in 1998, grew his wealth to P11.98 million in 2002, raised it further to P13.47 million in 2005, and ended 2007 with P13.94 million.

Estrada (movie actor, mayor of what is now San Juan City in Metro Manila 1968 to 1988, vice president 1992 to 1998 and president 1998 to January 2001) reported a net worth of P1.18 million in 1985, grew this to P3.82 million in 1992, and filed his last SALN in 1999 before his ouster from Malacañang at P35.86 million.

A PCIJ investigation in 2000 showed that Estrada, his spouses and children were listed as board members and beneficial owners of 66 corporations, mostly formed after he became vice president, including a dozen established during his 18-month stint as president. The recorded assets of 14 companies alone totaled more than P600 million as of the year 2000.

As well, since 1998, individuals or companies appearing to be fronting for Estrada or his family members acquired 17 pieces of property in swanky subdivisions in Metro Manila, Tagaytay City and Baguio City.
According to official zonal values and PCIJ’s estimates, these properties added up to about P2 billion by 2000.

Gordon (mayor of Olongapo City 1992 to 1995, 1998 to 1999 and 2004 to 2007, Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority administrator 1995 to 1998, Tourism secretary 2001 to 2003 and senator since 2004) started with a net worth of P8.3 million in 1992, grew it to P11.87 million in 1995, P22.38 million in 2002, P24.92 million in 2005 and ended it at P26.52 million in 2007.

Teodoro (member of the House of Representatives 1998 to 2006, staff in the Office of the President in 2007 and Defense secretary from 2008 to 2009) started with a net worth of P80.17 million in 1998, slid to P75.54 million in 2002, did not file in 2003, grew it to P102.62 million in 2005 and closed it at P232.43 million in 2008 owing to a surge in the value of real-estate “inheritance” in Sampaloc, Manila. In 1998, Teodoro reported having “interest in 11 lots” in Sampaloc, Manila.

Villar (member of the House of Representatives 1992 to 1996 and 1998 to 2003 and senator since 2004) started with a net worth of P75.43 million in 1992, grew it to P310.92 million in 1996, P481.5 million in 2002, P750.82 million in 2005 and closed it at P1.05 billion in 2008.

Real assets
By the declarations in their SALN, all five candidates for president own several big pieces of real estate and landholdings.

Aquino reported owning shares of stocks in the Cojuangco family-owned Hacienda Luisita that he said were worth an unchanging P718,430 from June 1998 to June 2007, but which rose in value to P761,144 in December 2007.

While his son, reelectionist Senator Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada, reportedly owning 12 pieces of real property (a house and lot, four residential lots, a farmlot, a townhouse and five condominium units) over the years, Joseph Estrada had been consistently paltry with details of his real property assets. The vast real estate holdings of Estrada have had to be uncovered by the PCIJ in 2000.

Gordon was the most detailed about the type, value and nature of his real property holdings. In his SALN, he reported that these were worth P6.89 million in 1992, rose to P12.40 million in 1995, P34.2 million in 2002, P35.52 million in 2006 and ended at P45.43 million in 2007.

In 1998, Teodoro declared three pieces of real property: a condominium unit in Makati City that he said he purchased for P30 million, a residential house in Makati City that he said he built for P10 million and “interest in 11 lots” in Sampaloc, Manila, that he valued at P14 million. His total real assets as of 1998: P54 million.

Until 2004 or for six years’ running, Teodoro enrolled the same unchanged values for his real assets in his SALN. But in 2005, he upped the values of the same three pieces of real property: Makati condominium, P32.5 million; “interest in real estate” in Sampaloc, Manila, P26 million; and Makati City residential lot, P25 million, for a total of P83.5 million.

In 2007, his mathematics failed. Teodoro enrolled a wrong total for the value of the same real assets at P100.97 million, even as he reported only the following details: Makati City condominium, P32.5 million; interest in real estate in Sampaloc, Manila, P26 million; and Makati City residential lot, P25 million. Based on only these assets, the correct total should have been just P83.5 million still.

A big surprise came in 2008, when Teodoro suddenly racked up the values of the same three pieces of real property, albeit with still an erroneous total value. He reported this time that his Makati City condominium unit was worth P39.98 million; interest in real estate in Sampaloc, Manila, P125.74 million; and the Makati City residential lot, still P25 million. His SALN in 2008 reported a total value of the assets at P205.04 million, when the right sum should have been only P190.72 million.

Villar disclosed the following real assets in his SALN from 1992 to 1995: residential property in BFRV Las Piñas City (Metro Manila) that he said he “purchased” for P2.8 million, residential property in BF Vista Grande purchased for P115,000; residential property in BF International, Las Piñas City , purchased for P65,000; residential property in Putatan, Muntinlupa City (also in Metro Manila), purchased for P521,370; residential property in San Nicolas, Cavite, purchased for P412,360; and residential property on Naga Road in Las Pinas City purchased for P800,000.

The total value of these six declared real assets of Villar as of December 1995 added up to just P4,713,730. In 1996, however, he stopped listing his pieces of property and instead reported that these were worth only P4.09 million.

From June 1998 to December 2001, Villar enrolled the same unchanged value for his pieces of real property, minus the details: P4.59 million.

From June 2004 to June 2007, Villar did not report any amount for the real assets he owned. In December 2007, he resumed reporting his real assets, this time with a bigger value of P19.52 million. He reported the same unchanged amount as the value of his real assets in December 2008.

Villar did not list among his real assets the vast residential estate on Shaw Boulevard in Mandaluyong City (also in Metro Manila) of the late senator Salvador “Doy” Laurel, the last of the Laurels to preside over the Nacionalista Party.

According to Villar’s staff themselves, the house, which now serves as NP headquarters, was acquired by Villar at about the same time that he inherited the mantle of the NP from Laurel in 2003.

Cars, cash, stocks
In terms of other assets, stocks top the list for most of the five candidates. In addition, they reported variably small to fabulous pieces of cars, jewelry, books and art works that they own.

Aquino reported only in December 2007 that he had jewelry worth P300,000. It was only in 2001 that he declared owning a car worth P850,000. In 2004, his motor vehicles assets grew to P2.05 million, rose to P.5.05 million in June 2007 and slid to P3.95 million in December 2007 because he said he “acquired (a) 650I Coupe for P4.8 million” but sold his Isuzu Trooper for P850,000.

He reported that his stock investments’ value was static at P5.05 million from June 1998 to December 2002, slid to P4.96 million the next year and grew again in June 2007 when he reported “money market placements” of P2 million, on top of his stock portfolio of P4.75 million.

Aquino’s “cash on hand and in bank” declarations showed very little progress. In June 1998, he declared having cash on hand worth P523,918 and cash in bank of P1,838,150. Six months later, he grew these amounts to P823,918 and P2,147.996, respectively.

Curiously, his cash on hand stood at the same amount of P823,918 until June 2007, even as his cash in bank peaked at P6,149,408 in December 2004, before dipping again to P2,910,827 in June 2007. Aquino reported in December 2007 that he had “receivables” of P323,918, cash on hand and in bank of P2,910,163, including P400,000 worth of “firearms.”

Gordon reported owning jewelry worth P200,000 in 1998, and grew this to P500,000 by December 2007, apart from P555,000 more in appliances and home furnishings. Like Aquino, he did not report any value for his books.

The various motor vehicles that Gordon declared he owned from 1992 to 2007 fluctuated in value from P2.38 million at the start, rose to P4.35 million in 1997, slid to P1.77 million in 2001, and further down to P839,000, and finally P120,000 in 2007, apparently because of imputed depreciation costs.

In 2007, he said that his motor vehicles’ value had risen to P1.32 million, the combined value of a 1987 Mustang that he bought in 1992 and a 2005 Fortuner.

The same roller-coaster swing marked Gordon’s cash on hand values: From P1.02 million in 1992, these dipped to P655,000 in 1994, climbed to P1.8 million in 1995, dipped again to P725,000 in 1997, soared again to P4.9 million in 2000, slipped again to P1.02 million in 2003 and closed 2007 at P1.32 million.

The stock investments Gordon declared tracked an up-down movement. He began with only P52,768 in 1992 (he said these were stocks in Philex Mining, First Philippine Holdings, Atlas and San Miguel Corp.).
This swelled to P2.65 million in December 1995 and jumped to P5.77 million in December 1999. He reported the unchanged value for his stocks portfolio in the next six years or until December 2005. In 2006 and 2007, Gordon said his stocks had thinned slightly to P5.77 million.

Most transparent
Of the five candidates, Gordon is the most detailed and forthcoming in his SALN declarations.
He has disclosed over the years that his stock investments included the following:

STOCKS YEAR ACQUIRED PESO VALUE

Philex Mining Corp 1973 P 36,652
First Phil Holdings, Inc 1973 8, 778
Atlas Consolidated Mining Co. 1973 3, 543
San Miguel Corp. 1973 to 1999 910,139
Lepanto Consolidated (P34.00 per share)
Central Azucarera de Don Pedro P405, 000
Jollibee Foods Corp. 2, 659, 604
Aboitiz Equity Ventures 31, 200
Pilipino Telephone Corp. 1, 014, 000
Petron Corp 23, 000
Meralco 116, 250
Filinvest 371, 250
C&P Homes 111, 250
Kepphil Shipyard Inc. 75, 978


Teodoro, meanwhile, owned the biggest amount of jewelry, starting with P10 million in 1992 and closing at P11.9 million in 2008.

The value of motor vehicles he owned charted a rise-fall path: From P3 million (same amount from 1992 to 2003), it tripled to P10.35 million in 2003, dipped by half to P4.3 million in 2005, quadrupled to P17.47 million in 2007 and rose further to P19.55 million in 2008.

As strange is the sudden surge in Teodoro’s stocks portfolio since 2007. In 1998, he first declared owning stocks valued at P5.20 million. He enrolled the same amount, to the last centavo, in the next seven years, or until 2005. He did not submit his SALN in 2003, however.

In 2007, though, Teodoro’s SALN enrolled a bigger entry for “stocks [equity paid]” of P11.85 million. The next year, 2008, this grew further to P11.93 million.

Teodoro’s SALN seem to repeat the same values year after year. His “cash on hand and in bank” stood at the same amount of P7,961,731.82 in 1998 and 1999; and P8,946,268 in 2000 and July 2001.

The amount increased slightly to P9.9 million in 2002, but dipped sharply to P5.76 million in 2004, and on to P5.36 million in 2005. Curiously, again in 2007, Teodoro’s cash pile doubled to P10.06 million, before sliding back to P8.5 million in 2008.

Stingy with data
Villar, the wealthiest of the five candidates, is the stingiest with details offered in his SALN.

For instance, in June 1992, he offered a general entry of P200.8 million to represent the value of his stocks, and P715.9 million, “other assets.”

In 1993, Villar reported having “cash on hand and in bank” of P134 million, and in 1994, P153.8 million.

The Villars are known to have a number of family-owned corporations in the real estate sector, including Vista Land and Lifescapes Inc. that raised several billion pesos at its initial public offering in 2007.

Villar, however, does not list Vista Land in his SALN among his business and financial interests. What he had disclosed are shares in companies with controlling interests in Vista Land, notably Fine Properties Inc. (since 1982) and Adelfa Properties (since 1986).

He has also declared his interests in M.B.Villar Co. Inc. (since 1989), Macys Inc. (since 1989), Mooncrest Property Development Inc. (since 1991) and C&P Homes (since 1994).

Fine Properties and Adelfa Properties are majority shareholders of Vista Land that counts Villar’s sons Manuel Paolo Aguilar Villar, 34, and Mark Aguilar Villar, 32, among seven board directors. Manuel Paolo is also treasurer of Vista Land.

A huge, publicly listed homebuilder, Vista Land had posted a core net income of P3.015 billion for 2008, up by 42 percent from previous year’s P2.123 billion. In disclosure reports to the stock exchange, Vista Land reported revenues from real estate sales of P10.436 billion in 2008 or 27 percent more than the P8.224 billion it earned in 2007.

By 2008, the firm’s total consolidated assets stood at P52.252 billion, up from P44.44 billion in 2007.

Peso values only
All that Villar offered in his SALN over the years are the peso values of his stocks. For instance, he reported stocks worth P189.57 million in 1995 and P190.3 million in 1996.

For five years from 1998 to 2003, he declared the same amount, to the last centavo, of the stocks he said he owned: P200,837,890. Again in 2007 and 2008, Villar reported the same amount, to the last centavo, of his stocks: P208,684,740.

What has fattened enormously is Villar’s cash pile. The “cash on hand and in bank” of Villar tripled from P33.6 million in 1995 to P125.5 million the next year. The 1996 total doubled to P274.9 million in 2002.

Villar gave no details of his cash on hand and in bank from 2003 to June 2007.

Six months later in December 2008, he reported a new amount that was four times more than his 2002 disclosure: P818.45 million, or about 80 percent of his total net worth of P1.05 billion in 2008.

The big strides in Villar’s net worth occurred even as he said he did not incur a single centavo of liabilities or loans from 1995 to 2008.

Liabilities
Unlike Villar, the four other candidates for president reported liabilities.

Aquino listed his income tax payments as his liabilities starting 1998, and in 2005 incurred a loan of P5.1 million from an unnamed agency. His liabilities increased to P2.37 million in 2007.

Estrada reported zero liabilities in 1987 but every year thereafter increased it from P5.95 million in 1987 to a peak of P22.07 million in 1993, and in his last SALN in 1999 reported it at P12.95 million.

Gordon disclosed his liabilities at P2.46 million in 1992, soared to P23.10 million in 2002, dipped to P19.20 million in 2006 and peaked at P29.29 million in 2007.

Teodoro reported no liabilities in 1998 to 1999 but from 2000 to 2002, placed his liabilities at the same amount of P7 million. In 2003, his liabilities rose to P9.4 million, dipped to P6.1 million in 2004, peaked to P24 million in 2007 and declined to P17 million in 208.

He did not file his SALN in 2003 and 2006. Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism

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If the scheduled May 2010 elections were held today, Senators Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. and Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada would come out on top of the senatorial race, results of the latest Pulse Asia preelection survey showed. “Currently leading the senatorial race is Sen. Revilla whose overall voter preference of 51.9 percent translates to a statistical ranking of first to second places, putting him in a virtual tie with Senator Estrada [50.4 percent], who is ranked first to third,” Pulse Asia said.


Following Revilla and Estrada, both movie actors, in the upper half of the winning 12 were Sen. Pilar Juliana “Pia” Cayetano (ranked second to fourth with 46.8 percent) and former Sen. Franklin Drilon (ranked third to sixth with 43.2 percent). Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago (41.2 percent) and Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile (39.7 percent) were tied from fourth to sixth places.


Other probable winners are former senator and National Economic and Development Authority Director General Ralph Recto (34.4 percent), former Senators Sergio Osmeña 3rd (31.6 percent) and Vicente “Tito” Sotto 3rd (30.5 percent); Sen. Manuel “Lito” Lapid (29.7 percent); Rep. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. of Ilocos Norte (26.3 percent); and Jose de Venecia 3rd (24 percent), the whistle blower in the national broadband scandal.

Also within striking distance of winning a Senate seat, Pulse Asia said, are Rep. Rozzano Rufino “Ruffy” Biazon of Muntinlupa City, Metro Manila (19.8 percent), Rep. Teofisto Guingona 3rd of Bukidnon (19.7 percent) and lawyer Alexander Lacson (19.1 percent). The three of them ranked from 13th to 15th.

Pulse Asia said that about one in 10 Filipinos, or 10.9 percent does not support any of the senatorial candidates for the May 2010 elections—much higher than the December 2009 figure of 3.4 percent.

“This is possibly due to the use of a sample ballot listing 62 names for the senatorial race [now],” it added.

Lapid and Rep. Ana Hontiveros Baraquiel of Akbayan party-list were the only two senatorial candidates who had their voter preference improve significantly between December 2009 and January 2010.

Lapid got an improvement of plus 6.6 percentage points and Baraquiel, 6.2 percentage points.

Meanwhile, support for several senatorial candidates declined during the period, with the biggest drop recorded by Santiago (minus 10.2 percentage points).

The latest Pulse Asia survey on senatorial candidates was conducted from January 22 to January 26, 2010 using face-to-face interviews of 1,800 representative adults.

It has margins of error of plus or minus 2 percent for the national level and plus or minus 6 percent for Metro Manila, plus or minus 4 percent for the rest of Luzon and plus or minus 5 percent each for the Visayas and Mindanao. BY ROMMEL C. LONTAYAO

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Only in Quezon City!

(STUPID = Smart Talented Unique Person In Demand)

by: Amiel Aguilar Cabanlig

Recently, actress Ara Mina who is running for the 2nd district (Quezon City’s biggest district) of Quezon City guested in the show of Mo Twister, IMO. Ara Mina was given a barrage of cushy questions that even a 5^th grader could have answered with flying colors. Unfortunately, Ara Mina answered Mo’s questions with ludicrous answers; Even my 5 year old nephew couldn’t help giggling at her dim-witted answers. But what really makes Quezon City politics peculiar is that Ara Mina still tops all the surveys!

I’m sorry to say this, but after the interview with Mo, I feel that the Quezon City celebs running for office are a bunch of yo-yos and I feel sorry for Quezon City… And yes, IMO’s subsequent guest Arnel Ignacio didn’t do justice to celbs either. Martin Luther King Jr. once said that nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity. To top it all, the stupid candidates in the City of the Stars are cocksure while the more intelligent and sincere candidates are full of doubt!

Mo Twister blog says I Thank God I don't live in Quezon City. “I can't control my excitement for the upcoming elections! Unfortunately, some of my excitement does often turn to worry. I worry because we have regularly voted in the wrong people (happens every time), and then we get stuck with them for what seems like an eternity. They come from all walks of life and from unique industries but no industry is more highlighted than show business.

This year, as usual, there is a long list of celebrities vying for a variety of spots--from councilor all the way to a Presidential re-election. My question is: have you ever voted for a celebrity politician? If this is your first time to vote, I'll modify it to would you vote for a celebrity politician?” Mo Twister adds “The reason why I love Ara Mina is because at the end of the clip, she says she is against the Anti-Pornography Bill. That a girl! (That's sarcasm in case you didn't smell it).”

I suggest that the Quezon City celebrities follow this Hollywood cliche; Open mouth, insert foot. Do not engage mouth until brain is in gear. 'Tis better to keep silent and be thought a fool, than open one's mouth and remove all doubt. We've heard these cliches since childhood, but thankfully for our entertainment value, many celebrities missed out on such valuable lessons. Some of what they say is funny, some is just plain sad… Finally, a bit of advice from Forrest Gump- Stupid is as stupid does!

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“Nonetheless, the mahirap [poor] tack seems to be working, going by an analysis of the latest survey results. Emboldened by these findings, Villar’s propaganda juggernaut is taking the offensive with this formula—which strikes some observers as the equivalent of class warfare…Name recall” is what communication professionals call this phenomenon—and politicians willingly give up fortunes, theirs as well as the public’s, to grab this edge. Villar’s rivals evidently failed to anticipate that he was gaining an important advantage over them…While the senators were angrily debating the SCOW report, most of the other presidential aspirants—notably Aquino—chose to keep a low profile. They let Villar occupy center stage… As the poet and writer Oscar Wilde said, “There is only one thing worse than being talked about and that is not being talked about.”

There’s a Sucker born every Minute

Phineas Taylor Barnum was a 19th century American businessman and entertainer. It was he who popularized the term “showman,” which was also used to describe what he was best at.

Several famous quotations have been attributed to him, rightly or wrongly. “I don’t care what they say about me so long as they spell my name right,” is one of them.

The gurus of mass communication, self-styled or otherwise, have gone on to give that memorable P.T. Barnum quotation a twist, “any publicity is good publicity.”

The theory seems to be grounded on fact. Case in point: Manuel Villar.

The latest surveys show him neck and neck in the presidential race with Noynoy Aquino, making up for the ground he lost months back when Ninoy and Cory’s son was persuaded by his Liberal Party mates to throw his hat in the ring.

A more recent opinion poll showed Villar in a “statistical tie” with Aquino.

In unveiling their survey results, the pollsters invariably commented that Villar was able to whittle down Aquino’s lead while the C-5 controversy was heating up again in the Senate.

Experts in “deconstruction” will likely detect a measure of frustration in that particular comment. Widespread was the expectation that the report of the Senate committee of the whole (SCOW) would prove fatal to Villar’s presidential bid.

His political ambitions would not survive the SCOW’s conclusions that Villar had intervened in the design and execution of the C-5 Road extension project to benefit his real-estate companies and that therefore he deserved censure for blatant conflict of interest.

The SCOW findings gave heart to Villar’s political rivals and other quarters that never saw him as fit for the presidency in the first place. The brouhaha, however, produced an altogether unexpected effect—“unexpected,” especially by those who failed to reckon with P.T. Barnum’s insight.

The more his adversaries in the Senate and elsewhere pressed their case against the Villar, the larger the media mileage he got. Best of all, the publicity cost him nothing—not that it would have mattered to a candidate who seems so ready to throw his money around.

For a couple of weeks or so, not a day passed when Villar’s name and face did not land on the front page of the national dailies or the top-story lineup of radio and TV newscasts. While the accompanying text tended to cast him as the epitome of bureaucrat-capitalism, it did not apparently matter to the bulk of news consumers.

All that mattered to this segment of the populace was that Villar was being talked about a lot. And when the pollsters came around asking them about their preferences, the name of the most prominent newsmaker of the day came to mind automatically.

“Name recall” is what communication professionals call this phenomenon—and politicians willingly give up fortunes, theirs as well as the public’s, to grab this edge.

Villar’s rivals evidently failed to anticipate that he was gaining an important advantage over them. While the senators were angrily debating the SCOW report, most of the other presidential aspirants—notably Aquino—chose to keep a low profile. They let Villar occupy center stage.

Even during those days when he chose not to show up at the Senate, Villar managed to keep the public’s attention focused on him.

As the poet and writer Oscar Wilde said, “There is only one thing worse than being talked about and that is not being talked about.”

When Villar did show up on the Senate floor Tuesday, his refusal to grant his colleagues the courtesy of interpellation ensured that only his attempts to refute the charges against him would lead news reports.

The constant repetition of the charges against Villar has had the effect of embedding his name in the popular consciousness—especially among those segments of the population who have neither the skills nor the inclination to grasp what his detractors are saying about him.

What Villar is accused of involves such complicated issues that trying to understand them tends to give even the well-educated a headache. He allegedly violated so many laws and ethical standards that lawyers would be hard pressed explaining them in a language the man in the street can easily understand.

And this is obviously why the billionaire Villar has opted to portray himself as an offspring of the same kind of grinding poverty that afflicts so many Filipinos—especially those who belong to what statisticians euphemistically call “Class E.”

Villar has been playing up his purportedly humble roots as the son of a fishmonger—although, as noted in earlier editions of this column, the business of selling fish requires the sort of capital not ordinarily available to the truly poor.

Nonetheless, the mahirap [poor] tack seems to be working, going by an analysis of the latest survey results. Emboldened by these findings, Villar’s propaganda juggernaut is taking the offensive with this formula—which strikes some observers as the equivalent of class warfare.

To be sure, the presidential election is still three months away. And as the saying goes, “There’s many a slip betwixt cup and lip.”

Nevertheless, the Villar campaign offers many valuable lessons for students of mass communication—especially on how to turn the proverbial sow’s ear into a silk purse.

By the way, P.T. Barnum is also supposed to have also said, “There’s a sucker born every minute.” Like the legendary showman, the senator evidently knows where to find them. By Dan Mariano

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"Villar’s followers said that his continuing rise in the surveys showed that the C-5 controversy was being ignored by the public... Aquino had another interpretation, however. He said that the people had not yet fully grasped the issues involved in the C-5 scandal and that Villar’s ratings would drop once the people knew the “truth” behind the controversy."

Senators Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino 3rd and Manuel “Manny” Villar Jr. tied for the lead in the presidential race, results of the latest Pulse Asia survey showed. The race for vice president, however, was less crowded, according to the poll results.

Pulse Asia reported that the two leading contenders for the presidency in the May 2010 elections were virtually deadlocked with Aquino getting 37 percent voter preference and Villar, 35 percent. The two candidates were considered tied because of the survey’s plus or minus 2 percent margin of error.

The 12-percentage point improvement made by Villar of the Nacionalista Party (NP) in just three months and the 7-percentage point decline registered by Aquino of the Liberal Party made the deadlock possible.

Former President Joseph “Erap” Estada, who was third in the ranking with 12 percent, also experienced a 7-percentage point decrease in voter preference.

Villar’s improved public perception was observable even if one of the issues that hit the headlines when Pulse Asia did the survey was the Senate Committee of the Whole seeking to censure him over the controversial C-5 road extension project.

His sustained marketing offensive may have been the driver of his rise to the top of the survey, according to Pulse Asia head and Professor Ronald Holmes.

Apparently, the new Villar votes only affected Aquino and Estrada as “voter preferences for the other presidential candidates [did] not register marked changes between the two survey periods.”

Meanwhile, the other candidates who were mentioned in the survey got one digit voter preferences: former Defense Secretary Gilbert “Gibo” Teodoro (5 percent), evangelist Eddie Villanueva (2 percent) and Sen. Richard “Dick” Gordon (1 percent).

Still four other standard-bearers got less than 1 percent each while less than one in 10 Filipinos (6 percent) does not have a preferred presidential candidate at this time.

Pulse Asia said that in terms of geographic areas, Aquino (38 percent) had the lead over Villar (24 percent) in Metro Manila. In other areas, they “register[ed] virtually the same preference”: Balance Luzon (Aquino, 37 percent; Villar, 36 percent); Visayas (Aquino, 41 percent; Villar, 38 percent); and Mindanao (Villar, 36 percent; Aquino, 33 percent).

Aquino leads among Class D (40 percent) respondents and among the elderly who were 65 years and older (42 percent). Villar got the lead in the 25 to 34 age group (42 percent). Voter preferences for the two leading candidates were essentially the same across other socioeconomic classes and age groups.

Pulse Asia said that a presidential candidate with a clean record or not being corrupt (24 percent) was the top reason why voters would choose him as the country’s leader.

Other reasons cited were the ability to do something (16 percent), helping others (11 percent), being a good person (9 percent) and experience in governance (6 percent).

Huge lead

The vice presidential contest is not as tight as that for president.

A near majority of the voters (47 percent) would vote for Sen. Manuel “Mar” Roxas 2nd if the May 2010 elections were held at the time of the survey.

Roxas, in the latest Pulse Asia survey, enjoyed a sizeable lead over Sen. Loren Legarda (28 percent) and Mayor Jejomar Binay of Makati City (13 percent).

The other vice presidential candidates got at most 2 percent voter preference. Seven percent did not have a favored vice presidential candidate.

Roxas led in Luzon, including the National Capital Region (Metro Manila) and the Visayas. Voter preferences for him and Legarda were essentially tied across the Mindanao areas surveyed.

Significant movements
He also had sizeable leads among the upper socioeconomic classes ABC (54 percent) and D (49 percent) and across the various age groups.

According to Pulse Asia, among the vice presidential candidates, only Roxas and Legarda registered significant movements in voter preference between its December 2009 and January 2010 surveys.

Roxas posted an increase of 8 percentage points and Legarda suffered a decline of 9 percentage points.

Pulse Asia’s January 2010 preelection national survey was conducted from January 22 to 26, 2010 using face-to-face interviews of 1,800 representative adults 18 years old and above.

It had a plus or minus 2 percent error margin at the 95 percent confidence level. Margins of error varied as to geographical area surveyed were plus or minus six percent for Metro Manila, plus or minus 4 percent for the rest of Luzon and plus or minus 5 percent for each of the Visayas and Mindanao.

Aquino also on Wednesday said that he had expected the slide in his lead over his rivals for the presidency but he remained confident that he would keep that lead until election day.

“All of them are hitting me just to be noticed. What is surprising is that I am still leading in the surveys,” he told a press conference at the Senate, apparently reacting to the latest Pulse Asia survey.

A recent survey by the Social Weather Stations gave Aquino a lead of just 7 percent, compared to 19 percent in early December 2009.

Villar’s followers said that his continuing rise in the surveys showed that the C-5 controversy was being ignored by the public.

Aquino had another interpretation, however.

He said that the people had not yet fully grasped the issues involved in the C-5 scandal and that Villar’s ratings would drop once the people knew the “truth” behind the controversy.

“A toll road project became unviable because a parallel road along C-5 was constructed by the government. Who would use the toll road if there was a free road beside it?” Aquino asked.

He maintained that if the people would look at the C-5 scandal in this light, the ratings of Villar would go down.

Aquino said that he would reveal this “truth” to the people, while stressing that he would not be focusing on C-5 during the entire campaign.

He added that Villar’s ratings had been propped up by Villar’s advertisements. The Liberal Party said that Villar outspent Aquino 7 to one in advertisements when all of the preelection surveys were conducted.

Aquino expressed confidence that he would maintain his lead up to election day, saying that the mobilization of his army of volunteers still has to make itself felt in the campaign.

“I would like to assure everyone, especially our supporters, that as the formal campaign period starts, we will work harder to make sure that we remain on top of the fight,” he said. EFREN L. DANAO

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Just like many businesses and organizations, gangs are using Facebook and Twitter to dessiminate information and interact with the masses.

Police are keeping tabs of suspected gang member’s Internet activities and its leading to arrests, convictions and taking illegal drugs and weapons off the streets.

From TheNewsTribune

When a gang member was released from jail soon after his arrest for selling methamphetamine, friends and associates assumed he had cut a deal with authorities and become a police informant.

They sent a warning on Twitter that went like this: We have a snitch in our midst.

Unbeknownst to them, that tweet and the traffic it generated were being closely followed by investigators, who had been tracking the San Francisco Bay Area gang for months. Officials sat back and watched as others joined the conversation and left behind incriminating information.

Law enforcement officials say gangs are making greater use of Twitter and Facebook, where they sometimes post information that helps agents identify gang associates and learn more about their organizations.

“You find out about people you never would have known about before,” said Dean Johnston with the California Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement, which helps police investigate gangs. “You build this little tree of people.”

In the case involving the suspected informant, tweets alerted investigators to three other gang members who were ultimately arrested on drug charges.

Tech-savvy gangsters have long been at home in chatrooms and on Web sites like MySpace, but they appear to be gravitating toward Twitter and Facebook, where they can make threats, boast about crimes, share intelligence on rivals and network with people across the country.

“We are seeing a lot more of it,” Johnston said. “They will even go out and brag about doing shootings.”

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“Their dire prognosis is premised on the notion that the automated system was designed and adapted under the Arroyo administration. They conveniently ignore the fact that the law, which mandates automated polls, was shepherded through Congress by the likes of Sen. Richard Gordon and Makati Rep. Teodoro Locsin Jr.—neither of whom can be called a Palace puppet...Critics of automation issued their doom-and-gloom forecast after field tests of the PCOS machines encountered glitches. That the minor technical hiccups were quickly remedied was evidently never considered by the system’s detractors.
It is this sort of irrational faultfinding that makes more thoughtful observers to ask: Do the critics actually prefer the old manual method of counting votes?”

The PCOS machines that the Commission on Elections is set to use for the country’s first automated polls have come under close scrutiny—and well they should.

PCOS is short for “precinct count optical scan,” and proponents of poll automation promise that it will speed up the tally of votes in the May general elections.

The speedy automated count, they add, should frustrate the usual cheats who for decades have manipulated election results in this country in favor of candidates who have the means to buy their way into public office.

In a very real sense, election automation could be the last chance for Philippine democracy. If the PCOS machines fail to live up to public expectations, the entire notion of elections would suffer fatal injury. It is the sort of scenario that will play into the hands of political extremists.

Whether or not the PCOS machines would be able to accurately reflect the genuine voice of the people, we will find out in a little over three months. But the system seems to be coming on stream as scheduled.

The entire nation’s hope for an honest and orderly political exercise is pinned on the 82,200 PCOS machines, which the Comelec has ordered from the private consortium composed of Smartmatic International Corp. and Total Information Management.

The entire system costs taxpayers P11.7 billion—a sizable figure, no doubt; but a reasonable investment when the aim is to finally achieve the quality of elections we have long deserved.

But while the system is still being fine-tuned, the usual naysayers and bellyachers have popped out of the proverbial woodwork to predict what they call a “looming failure of elections.”

Their dire prognosis is premised on the notion that the automated system was designed and adapted under the Arroyo administration. They conveniently ignore the fact that the law, which mandates automated polls, was shepherded through Congress by the likes of Sen. Richard Gordon and Makati Rep. Teodoro Locsin Jr.—neither of whom can be called a Palace puppet.

Critics of automation issued their doom-and-gloom forecast after field tests of the PCOS machines encountered glitches. That the minor technical hiccups were quickly remedied was evidently never considered by the system’s detractors.

It is this sort of irrational faultfinding that makes more thoughtful observers to ask: Do the critics actually prefer the old manual method of counting votes?

Vigilance is certainly a democratic virtue, but thoughtless nitpicking gives rise to the suspicion that the detractors of election automation harbor sinister motives.

Poll automation may have given additional ammo to the administration’s implacable foes, but it has also inspired others to offer themselves to the electorate.

Automation is the single biggest factor that should level the playing field for political aspirants who have neither the wherewithal nor the inclination to manipulate elections.

Javier’s bid
Case in point: Ed Javier, a broadcast journalist who is running for congressman in the First District of Parañaque.

Born and raised in the old district of Don Galo, Javier has an impressive track record of youth and civic leadership. For years, many of his town mates had been urging him to run for public office—and for years too this La Salle graduate laughed off the suggestion.

He had worked as a senator’s chief of staff, and his close encounters with politicians made him develop a dim view of politics in general.

Javier—currently one of the co-hosts in the AM radio talk show Karambola—understood the vast potential elective office offers for well-meaning aspirants to do much good.

Javier, however, just could not see himself competing for votes against traditional politicians steeped in the ways of dirty, sometimes violent, polls. That is, until automated elections became law.

Understandably, the nation’s concern over poll automation is focused on the presidential contest. In truth, the new system has been widely welcomed at the grass roots. It is in the local political contests where automation could have a bigger, far-ranging impact.

This is the reason that contests, such as those in the First District of Parañaque, have drawn greater than usual involvement of ordinary citizens. In automated polls they see their chance to finally have their voice heard.

This is how Javier explains the unexpected level of support he has been getting from the residents in his district. In a recent survey, he registered a voter-preference rating of 38 percent, which puts him five percentage points ahead of his closest rival.

Javier is up against a couple of powerful opponents. One is a former vice-governor of Laguna and son of a former mayor of Parañaque. The other is the
younger brother of the city’s incumbent mayor.

Needless to say, both of Javier’s rivals have the resources and the machinery to wipe out the chances of an outside contender. In contrast, Javier is the son of public school teachers.

Javier’s high survey rating, however, is turning conventional political wisdom on its head—perhaps because the promise of clean elections via automation is seen to give even political tyros like Javier a fighting chance. Dan Mariano

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