Di sayang ang boto mo kay GIBO dahil marami tayo!- Really?

I chanced upon a Gilbert Teodoro supporters group in Facebook with the title, “Di sayang ang boto mo kay GIBO dahil marami tayo!”

From the title itself, the basic idea of the group is to convince voters to still vote for Gibo Teodoro even though he’s lagging in surveys because he’s the best man for the job.

Here’s the description of the group as written in its info page.

Hindi lang si Villar at Noynoy ang tumatakbo for President. Maraming ayaw bumoto kay GIBO dahil di daw mananalo. Kung pagsama-samahin mo lahat ng nagsabi nun, e baka manalo pa si GIBO! Think about it.

And here’s one particular wall post that I found that I think basically sums up the whole idea of the group.

To those who know people that acknowledge that GIBO is the best but will vote for Noynoy just so Villar won’t win, convince them to THINK TWICE. Vote for GIBO and hit 2 birds with one stone. We beat Villar and we put the best and most qualified candidate in office. Dobleng tulong sa bayan.

You know what? The group did make me think. It made me think a lot.

But sadly, it didn’t make me think about joining the group. On the contrary, It made me think and scream loudly in my head, “What the hell are you thinking?!?”.

Before I say what was on my mind during that time, I would just like to clarify that I believe that the upcoming presidential elections is indeed between Aquino and Villar. And it isn’t just me who believe in this: a lot of other people are saying that the 2010 Presidential Elections comes down to Aquino vs Villar. Again, a lot of people are saying this because of the survey results of SWS and Pulse Asia which shows both Aquino and Villar leading immensely in voting preference.  And you know what, a lot of people are saying that the 2010 Presidential Elections comes down to Aquino vs Villar because frankly, the Presidential Race is between the two of them.

So going back to that facebook group, I think that even if all the voters who are choosing between Teodoro and Aquino vote for Gibo, I still don’t think Gibo will win the elections. It wouldn’t make him competitive and I even think that it wouldn’t make that much of a difference. The lead of Villar/Aquino over Gibo is just too big to overcome by this  swing of votes. Those Teodoro-instead-of-Aquino votes would just then be wasted on a candidate who has no chance in winning the elections.

But, if all the voters who are choosing between Gibo and Noynoy vote for Aquino, those votes would then play an important role in the elections. Because if Aquino is to become our next president, he needs to win with a big margin in the elections.

The way I see it,  the battle between Villar and Aquino is just too close to call. And if  the Aquino vs Villar goes down the wire as a close battle between the two of them, I have no doubt in my mind that Villar will be the one to come out on top through the help of a GMA-tried-and-tested strategy of cheating the ballot.

So by putting this group forward and convincing people to vote for Gibo instead of Aquino, what this group is technically doing is off-offhandedly paving the way for a Manny Villar win this May by robbing Aquino of extremely valuable votes.

So if you’re still undecided on who to vote for this May, I’m asking you to remember that if you’re indeed voting for someone other than Aquino, you are, in a way, helping Manny Villar become president. And if you can stomach the thought of Manny Villar as president, then go ahead and vote for Gordon, Gibo, or whoever it maybe.

But if you, like me,  cannot stomach the thought of MoneyManny Villar becoming president(thus giving him the power to recover the billions that he spent on his advertisements) then by all means, stick with NoyNoy Aquino.

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.