My Favorite AI contest is gone..already.

This is so sad. 😦

Jannel Wheeler, one of my favorite female AI contestants this season, has been voted off the show already.

Admittedly, I like her mostly because of her looks. Her face is just angelic. But beyond that, I absolutely loved her rendition of Estelle’s American Boy.

I didn’t expect her to be voted off Idol this early. I expected her good looks and okay voice to carry her up to the top 12.  But, I guess I was wrong. :l

***

That leaves me with only Casey James to root for in American Idol.

He reminds me of last season’s Jason Castro. But I think his voice is better (for me) and his choice of songs has been terrific so far. Also, I actually see his ‘thing’ with Kara cute and charming. :))

Choosing NoyNoy over Gibo

It’s been quite difficult for me, as a college student, to openly express myself as a NoyNoy Aquino supporter to  my friends. (I really want Dick Gordon to become president but I don’t think that he can win, hence Aquino)

When I tell them that I’m a supporter of NoyNoy, I would either be met by one of these two  reactions: 1, a distinct shaking of their heads as if to say “Why?” or 2, they’ll tell me that they’re for Teodoro and they’ll start telling me that Gibo is smart, competent, and that he is the best man to lead our country out of the financial crisis.

You know what? I fully understand them for liking Teodoro.

Gibo is probably the smartest and most idealistic among all the presidential candidates.  He was a brilliant legislator. He was an excellent lawyer(worked for the law office of Estelito Mendoza for 7 years). He topped the bar exams(!!). And he has a Master’s degree from Harvard(!).

As a student, I perfectly understand how educated Gibo is– it’s kind of hard not to. He speaks in such an articulate manner that you tend to believe everything and anything that comes out of his mouth.

On the other hand, NoyNoy Aquino’s academic resume pales in comparison when compared to Teodoro’s: no law degree, no Masters degree, no MBA. Just an AB Economics degree from the Ateneo de Manila University.

The way he speaks in public is far from spectacular. In fact, when you listen to him speak, the thought of “walang dating siya magsalita” would probably creep in your mind over and over.

He speaks mostly in Tagalog, his voice is terribly monotonous, and his ideas are mostly Okay-— no grand ideas or solutions to solve our problems.

That’s why when you compare Gibo to NoyNoy, you more or less get the idea on why Gibo is such a strong draw among college students. If Gibo is the image of an idealistic person who has the ability to save our country, NoyNoy, in contrast, is an image of a political opportunist who relies on the legacy of his parents, who knows nothing about running our country.

Most often than not, the logic of college students stop there. Gibo is brilliant, authored a lot bills when he was a congressman while NoyNoy did not do much when he was a congressman and a Senator and his only claim to fame is his parents. So logically and idealistically, Gibo na.

But for me, the argument on who to vote for president doesn’t end there.

True, we need a competent president to guide us. Crisis tayo ngayon. I know, I’ve heard that line again and again from Gibo supporters. But it doesn’t mean that we should only take into consideration the level of  intelligence and achievements a candidate has in voting for him.

Because for me, the coming elections means much much more than just competence and intelligence. As much as the two are very important traits for the person who will be running our country, I find two other traits that are far more important than the other two:  character and integrity.

Why character and integrity?

First, we have to the know the major problems our society face today. The first being the problem in our economy.

The world is still reeling from the economic crisis that hit us last year. Add to that the problem of our budget deficit that is ballooning to epic highs every year. This makes it a tough problem that we have to address soon.  With this in mind, some will easily say that we need a president who will hit the road running: someone who is seasoned enough to face the tough economic challenges that lie ahead of us.

But I say, as much as our economic problems need our attention, we have to focus more on a problem which is far worse than our current economic problems: the problem of graft and corruption.

Corruption, as I see it, is one of the main problems of our nation. If you can fix corruption, you can fix a lot of problems in our country.

You see, it isn’t our leaders who are the sole cause of corruption. Corruption can be blamed on the “system” that we have today.

Putting our personal needs first before the needs of our nation, vested interest,  the lack of accountability from public officials, the lack of justice, lack of transparency in government transactions, the apathy of  citizens, fatalism–you combine these and you get a “system” that is corrupt, dysfunctional, and inefficient.

Take note, our government officials aren’t the only ones who are part of the “system”, we are also part of this corrupt “system” of government.

By paying “kotong” to police officials, we become part of the system.  By accepting corruption as part of our culture that cannot be solved, we become part of the system. By tolerating public officials who are shamelessly steal money from public coffers, we become part of the system.

Sadly, this “system” that we are all a part of, literally kills our fellow Filipinos.

It kills the people who die of hunger. It kills the sick people who have no access to our health care systems. It kills people who are exposed to unbelievably polluted environments. Most importantly, it kills the innocent people who go against the “system”.

I repeat, this “system” of corruption makes it by far the biggest problem of our Philippine Society today.

Just think about it. Various reports estimate that around 15-30% of our national budget is lost to corruption each year. So if our national budget is around P1.5 Trillion (this year’s national budget), around P200Billion to P450 Billion(!!) will be lost due to corruption.

P400 Billion.Annually!

So technically speaking, we would lose about P1 Trillion Pesos in the next three years to corruption.

We could have easily used the money lost to improve our health care system, our educational system, to pay debts, to improve infrastructure, to promote business, and so on.

That’s why our country’s problem on corruption should be addressed first before any other problems. And in addressing the issue on corruption, you need someone with character, and integrity.

Gibo, sadly fails miserably on character and integrity mainly because of him being balimbing (switching political parties for presidential nomination) and for him turning a blind eye on all of Gloria’s wrong doing.

Erap? Convicted of Plunder. Need I say more?

Gordon? Possible.

Manny Villar? Urgh.

Finally, for NoyNoy, I believe that he has both character and integrity. And that he has the conviction to actually use these two to effectively fight corruption.

How exactly do I know that he has character and integrity?

Let’s go to character first. If we look at NoyNoy, one would immediately notice that he is a simple man. He doesn’t stand out and he’s never been one to hog the spotlight in the Senate floor or Congress. He has never been an ambitious man..

His lack of ambition and desire for wealth, for that matter, makes him harmless candidate in the sense that he doesn’t want more for himself. And when you don’t want that much for yourself, it makes you less likely to engage in corrupt activities. If you don’t steal, then it makes the task of stopping other government officials from stealing much easier (leadership by example).

As much as it irks  me whenever this is brought up, I have to do it. His character, no matter what way you put it, was influenced greatly by his parents.

Granted, he might not have the eloquence of his father, or the connection to the people of his mother. But still, it remains that his character is the result of the way his parents brought him up and the genes that he inherited from his parents.

The things that he obviously got from his parents is his simplicity and conviction to stand for what is right.

According to his Statement of Assets and Liabilities, his net worth is only around P14 Million Pesos which is a far cry from the Billions that Villar has and the hundred of Millions that Gibo has.

His decision this week to finally distribute the estate of Hacienda Luisita only proves that he stands by his conviction to do what is right. Sure, it might be long overdue, but better late than never right?

For his integrity, I think it’s pretty much obvious on how he can be trusted.

Being the only son of two national Filipino icons, NoyNoy also inherited the burden of protecting his parents’ name as a politician. I cannot imagine how he could probably even consider tarnishing the name and legacy of Ninoy and Cory. In fact, more than just protecting their names, I actually see NoyNoy enhancing the legacy of his parents if he wins.

That’s why when people criticize NoyNoy for running for president because of the public symphaty poured during his mother’s funeral, I thank him for deciding to run for president because by doing so, he gave us Filipinos a better choice for president.

Second, by relying on the support of the people, do you honestly think that he can manage to not keep his promises without the people turning against him?People would absolutely crucify him if he becomes corrupt. (That, or Kris Aquino manages to strangle  him first.haha)

See, the thing with NoyNoy is that whether he likes it or not, he is intimately bound to the people. If he ever wins the elections, it would be because of the support of the people that he won. It would be because of the people. Effectively, he owes the people. Big time. In contrast, if Manny Villar wins, it won’t be because of the people,  it would be because of the Billions that he would have spent in advertisements.

Being a man of character and integrity makes NoyNoy the perfect man to fix our current corrupt system. You don’t have to be super smart to remove the culture of corruption, you just have to have the guts to do what is right.

I believe in NoyNoy. Even though he might not fix the entire system, reducing the money lost to corruption by even just 50% would already make a big difference.

Don’t get me wrong, NoyNoy is far from perfect. The man certainly has his flaws and he has lots of it. But still, I believe in the man and his capacity to change the culture of corruption in our country.

Summing everything up, the choice for president in the upcoming elections will more or less play out like this:

NoyNoy stands for character and integrity.

Villar stands for his pro-poormoney agenda.

Gibo stands for his intelligence and self-proclaimed competence.

In fighting corruption, we don’t need Galing at Talino. We need integrity and a strong character. We need someone who we can deeply trust.

Our country needs NoyNoy Aquino.

***

Off-Topic, I just read our school paper today and I found out that contrary to my belief that Gibo won by landslide in the mock elections held in our school, he only got around 598 votes out of around 1700 votes.

He was followed by Senator NoyNoy Aquino with 588 votes.

There is hope after all.

“Winnability”

With the official campaign period slated to start officially next week, I can’t help but wonder how different the political landscape will be in one month’s time.

Sure, if the most recent surveys conducted by SWS and Pulse Asia is to be believed, then it can be assumed that the battle for  presidency will more or less be contested by Senators Manny Villar and NoyNoy Aquino.

The latest surveys followed the trend of earlier surveys which showed a steady increase in rating for Villar and a similar steady but decreasing rating for Aquino.

Granted, these survey results are subject to change in the following months: especially now that the official campaign period is about to start(I expect Gilbert Teodoro’s rating to increase the most. A rating of 5% is too small  for Gibo).

But for the sake of argument, let’s assume that Villar and Aquino continue to dominate the surveys up until the elections; with the next closest candidate so far away that they can already be deemed irrelevant. What do you do then, if you’re supporting other candidates like Gilbert Teodoro or Dick Gordon?

Will you still vote for them even if they have a very slim chance of winning? Or will you vote for either Villar or Aquino?

I brought this question up because this is exactly how I feel right now.

Given the chance to choose the next president of our country, I would honestly go for Richard Gordon. Hands down.

I think he’s the most qualified among all of the presidential candidates for the position of president; there is almost nothing to dislike about him and absolutely everything to like about him.

He speaks well, he’s smart, he has a proven track record(Mayor of Olongapo 1980-1993, SBMA chariman 1992-1998. Secretary of Tourism 2001-2004 and an Senator 2004-present), he has the political will to change things for the better, AND, most importantly, he has never been included in a corruption scandal even if he has been working as a government official for almost 30 years now.

Even more impressive, for me,  is the fact that every department that he was chairman/mayor/secretary of managed to change for the better.The way that he excelled in all the positions that he held is just stunning and jaw-dropping.

Olongapo became highly urbanized and changed from a “sin” city to a “model” city during his time as mayor. Investors were so impressed with Subic, when Gordon was still chairman there, that blue chip investors like FedEx, Enron, Acer, and Thompson SA invested more than 2.1 Billion US dollars (!!) in Subic.

As Secretary of Tourism, he introduced the Wow!Philippines slogan. As the chairman of the Philippine Red Cross, he has been nothing other than spectacular as its chairman with his response to national disasters quick and efficient.

Bottom line? He’s good. Very very good.

Aside from his endless self-endorsing statements, his only other  downside as a presidential candidate is that he doesn’t have a good chance in winning the elections.

Here is where the factor of “Winnability” comes in. Candidates like Gibo or Gordon might boast of incredible resumes and talents but realistically, they might not have a real shot in claiming the presidency

Which leads me to the question: Can I still justify voting for Dick Gordon(The presidential candidate that I like best) even though voting for him might lead to the victory of Manny Villar?

Honestly? Hell no.

I cannot, in any way, risk having Manny Villar as President. I do not want it to happen, and I will not let it happen.

Manny Villar, no matter what way you look at it, is guilty of wrong doing in the C5 scandal. Rerouting the c5 extension road to pass by his properties for his benefit is corruption.

Also, I think he’s “Para sa Mahirap” mantra is nothing more than a lie said over and over to hoodwink te poor in believing that he actually cares for them,when in fact, he doesn’t.A lie said over and over and over can easily be mistaken as the truth.

That’s why when given the choice between him and Aquino, I’d choose Aquino without even thinking. As gullible NoyNoy might be, at least he has the balls to proclaim that he will not steal. And, the guy is simple: you have to respect that in a presidential candidate.

The idea here is that one vote cast for a candidate other than Aquino is basically one vote for Manny Villar. You see by voting for Aquino, you could have widened the gap between him and Villar. So +1 for Aquino, diba? But if you vote for another candidate, you’re erasing that +1 for Aquino which techinically, is a vote for Villar.

But effectively, the “winnability” factor will just be relevant in the waning moments of the campaign period.

I do not expect the neck-and-neck battle of Aquino and Villar to continue. But the possibility of it happening remains. That’s why if it does happen, I’ll surely vote for Aquino and ask my friends to do the same. Trust me, YOU do not want Manny Villar as our next president.

That’s why for now, I think I’ll stick with Richard Gordon. If it’s a choice between Gordon and Aquino, I’ll go for Gordon.

But if the heavens do hate us and the choice they give us is between Villar and Aquino, I’ll definitely vote for Aquino.

A politician shamed by an issue of corruption has no business running for the highest position in our country, methinks.

President Manny Villar?I hope not.

I know, I know. I’m writing about Manny Villar again. I just can’t help but write about him because there’s a very big chance that he might be our next president. I don’t want that to happen.

In the latest SWS survey conducted last January, it showed that Manny Villar’s rating is now up to 35% while the rating of Presidential front runner is down to 42%. Former president Joseph Estrada came in third with 13%, administration candidate Gibo Teodoro placed 4th with 5%, and following them is Richard Gordon who got a measly 2%.

Why in the world is Manny Villar rising in the surveys? When I first saw this survey, I was seriously shocked to find that his rating still rose up this month even with the C5 issue seriously hounding him in the Senate for the past weeks.

One reason might be that the full reality of the C5 issue has yet to sink in on the consciousness of the Filipino people. The basic fact in the C5 issue is that Manny Villar used his influence as a Senator to build another road that passes through his own property for his own benefit. Knowing that, how can a person still think that he is not guilty?

Or is it possible that most Filipinos actually believe that he is innocent from any wrong doing in the C5 extension project?

After watching this video, there has to be no doubt in anyone’s mind that he is indeed guilty of using his position as a government official for his own financial benefit.

In Summary:

1. Since there was already an ongoing project (the MCTEP) linking C-5 to the Coastal Road, it was totally unnecessary to build a second one.

2. Which means that there was a waste of scarce resources. Instead of using only P2.6 billion of government funds for the first project, the government had to spend an additional P6.9 billion for the second, which practically duplicated the first, except for the additional length which happily for Senator Villar, traversed his properties.

3. This unnecessary, wasteful project was certainly Villar’s idea. It is specious to argue that it is a DPWH project. As the DPWH feasibility study states (in black and white), both the CX-5 and the LPPLP were conceived and initially funded by Villar.

4. Villar benefited tremendously from the second project. Certainly, his companies were paid significantly more per square meter for the road right of way (which were mostly bought from him). But that pales into insignificance compared with the tremendous increase in the values of his real estate holdings in the area—at least 50-52 hectares.

-Solita Collas-Monsod(Manny Villar Blameless?, Philippine Daily Inquirer, January 30, 2010. Opinion Section, Column “Get Real”)

Focus on the 6 minute mark. There! What exactly was the use of rerouting the road to pass through his properties if not for the profit of his real estate business? There’s no other explanation to it.

It can clearly be seen and understood that the reason why Manny Villar rerouted the original road is not because he cares about the people in that area, but to make it pass through his properties (at least 6 subdivisions?) to increase their value and to make the government pay his company for the right of way.

***

Another thing that I hate about him is the fact that even though he wasn’t that poor to begin with, he still shamelessly projects himself as someone who came from the poorest of the poor people in our country.

If you look at his profile at http://www.mannyvillar.com.ph, it is clearly stated there that his father was a government employee and his mother was a seafood vendor. He finished his elementary education at Holy Child Catholic School and his high school in Mapua Institute of Technology.

Teka lang.

How could he afford to study in private schools if his family was indeed poor..?More so, how can your family be poor if both of your parents have jobs?

There lies the simple, but overlooked, truth about Manny Villar. His family was never that poor. His family was not rich but they were definitely not as poor as he projects himself to be (Nakaligo ka na ba sa basura?).

But being from Tondo, where most of the population are drowned in poverty, the poor people immediatey think of Villar coming from a really poor family(think Class E poor) when in fact, Villar’s family was never that poor.

Think of it this way, for the poor, Tondo=Extremely poor. So Tondo=Manny Villar=Exteremly poor. And this illusion works perfectly for Manny Villar because if we look at it, the masa are capable of catapulting a presidential candidate to Malacanang. (Think Erap and FPj-if the cheating did not happen)

This “illusion” of the poor can be traced on the shameless campaign ads of Manny Villar.

If you would just take time to notice it, you would see Manny Villar everywhere in your life today. TV?Check. Radio? Check. Billboard?Check. ( I actually saw two gigantic Manny Villar billboards along NLEX-Manila bound). You can even find his advertisements in Youtube, Yahoo! homepage, and even Facebook!

And FYI, the official campaign period haven’t even started yet and there are rumors flying around that he spent more than 1 Billion Pesos on campaign ads already.

Because they are poor and they are not that educated, they immediately believe that Villar will take them out of their poverty because his ads show that he cares for them. I’ve seen ads of Villar that had him with poor kids; I’ve also seen his ads which stressed over and over again that he came from Tondo. And, the one that I hate the most, the one that shamelessly say that he is “para sa mahirap“.

It’s so sad to think that the media today can be so misleading.

Yes, I do understand that he did grow up in a poor community in  Tondo. But then, after he became rich and successful, what exactly has he done to uplift the livelihood of the people of Tondo? While he was amassing his billions as a real estate magnate, did he even think of donating some of his hard-earned money to the poor people? As a Congressman and a Senator, what bills/projects did he sponsor for the poor people of Tondo? More importantly, as the 10th richest Filipino(according to Forbes magazine), is he doing anything with his billions of pesos to help the poor?

Sadly, he hasn’t done much for the poor save for making them believe that by voting for him, he will take them out of their poverty without giving specific ways on how to do it.

His rhetoric of helping the poor has been used over and over again to hoodwink the poor to believing that he will help them out of their poverty.  But once in office, I actually believe that he would just use his position of presidency, just as he used his previous position as a Senator, to further enrich himself and his companies; not to really help the poor as he says in his ads.

But then again, realistically, Villar does help the people. Remember these?

These are relief goods distributed by the camp of Manny Villar during the aftermath of Ondoy. But you just have to ask yourself: What is the primary purpose of these relief goods?To help the people in need or to further advertise himself?

I’m actually leaning towards the latter. This is the first time I ever say relief goods with labels. and it’s quite sickening– using a calamity to advertise yourself.

That’s why I think that Manny Villar is nothing more than your traditional politician (trapo) who is no different from the present shameless politicians that we have today.

What he’s doing now is no different from what Joseph Estrada did in the 1998 elections: making the poor believe that he is the person that will save them from their plight and poverty.

And take note, can you even remember Manny Villar fighting for the poor or saying that he’s part of the poor people before?

Exactly.

Because, just like any other trapo his care for the poor people starts during the campaign period and ends come election time.

And just think about it: do you honestly think that once elected into office, he won’t use his position as president to recover the billions he lost during the campaign period?

If you think he won’t, you are unbelievably naive.

But there’s the thing: the people that believe in Manny Villar are unbelievably naive. They believe everything that they see in his Ads on television and when they see him seeing on television with some poor kids, they already believe that he is the champion of masses and that he will help them.

There, lies a problem I cannot solve.

His advertisements are so damn misleading that it causes some Filipinos to believe the Ads without knowing much about Manny Villar himself. He says that he’s from Tondo and he made it out of poverty because of Sipag at Tiyaga, people immediately believe it.

And until people understand and discover the real Manny Villar, his ratings might just continue to rise until he finally takes the top spot.

An event that I wish would never happen.