The Four-eyed Journal » 2010 Elections

On candidates ‘appeal to emotion’ tactics

jhay — Thu, 06 May 2010 22:00:01 +0000

When candidates resort to ‘appeal to emotion’ tactics like portraying themselves as once poor, oppressed or victims of election cheating during the last election, I cannot help but roll my eyes or face-palm my self with disgust and frustration.

Never mind the platform, never mind the issues, never mind if the candidate would tell you a straight lie just to get across your sensitive side and win over your sympathy vote, these kind of politicians simply make my stomach churn and wonder if God has really forsaken the Philippines.

During this campaign, especially in the local elections, I’ve heard more than just hilarious and even ridiculous campaign jingles, I’ve heard recorded speeches from candidates that goes something like this:

“Mga kababayan, ako po si _______________________, tumakbo sa pagka-Vice Mayor noong nakaraang halalan ngunit hindi pinalad na manalo. Kaya ngayong darating na eleksyon, ako naman ay tumatakbo sa mas mababang posisyon ng Konsehal. Kaya, umaasa po ako sa inyong suporta na mabigyang pagkakataon na makapaglingkod sa taumbayan.”

“My fellow townmates, I am _____________________, I once ran for Vice Mayor during the last elections but was unfortunate. That is why this time around, I am running for a lower position of Councilor. I hope that you will [finally] give me the opportunity to serve the public.”

After hearing that message while crossing a busy hi-way in Dasmariñas, Cavite, I cannot help but think that Manny Villar isn’t the only one who’s become desperate in convincing people to vote for him this coming May 10.

And if that wasn’t low enough, involving one’s family members in the act of appealing to the electorate’s emotions is simply hitting rock bottom. Perhaps this is the reason why so many showbiz personalities have some edge over their ‘trapo’ counterparts during elections.

If Philippine elections will go on like this, perhaps it would save the nation a whole lot of trouble and expenses if we just select our new leaders via talent contest shows on television that are so popular these days.

I’d like to hear what Vice Ganda, Tuesday Vargas or Direk Jose Javier Reyes would have to say about Manny Villar, Noynoy Aquino, Jojo Binay, Erap Estrada and the rest of the clowns, I mean candidates this coming elections.

Map your Precinct with Google Mapmaker

jhay — Wed, 05 May 2010 23:13:33 +0000

Just three days to go before May 10 national elections will be held and already there’s a thick mix of anxieties, excitement and fear because this will be the first national automated elections in the country.

With the COMELEC determined to push through with the poll automation on Monday, one of the best things we voters can do is prepare ourselves in exercising our right to suffrage.

One step in being a prepared and alert voter is to know where your voting precinct is. However, with the poll automation, voting precincts have been clustered together resulting in a few minor changes in its location.

Thankfully, Google has been kind and generous enough to help us find our precinct with its Find Your Precinct project wherein volunteers can visit the site and map the location of their respective precincts using Google Map Maker.

Find Your Precinct with Google Map Maker

With this project, voters can now search on Google Maps where exactly their voting precinct is by providing their City/Municipality’s name and then their exact precinct number as provided by the COMELEC during the voter registration period. After a few moments, the website will display the exact location of your voting precinct. If it’s not yet marked on the map, you can do so yourself and help your fellow voters who belong to the same precinct.

Of course, the map is not 100% accurate as Google Map’s coverage of the Philippines is not yet 100% complete. It was fortunate that it had a fairly-detailed map of my hometown and it enabled me to pin-point where my voting precinct is.

Visit Google’s Find Your Precinct project and contribute to the initiative. It’s one way of helping your fellow voters to exercise our noble right to suffrage.

Hat tip to Conrad Miguel and UnPLUG.

Would manual parallel count be good for the May 10 elections?

jhay — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 22:00:01 +0000

The worries over the reliability of the automated election system which will be used for the first time during the May 2010 national and local elections has galvanized the sentiments of some sectors of the public to conduct a parallel manual count.

While the intention is good and deserves merit, I’d leave its legality to the experts and instead dwell on the possible pro’s and con’s.

The popular logic is that the automated election system has yet to win over the public’s complete trust because of the experienced problems with the PCOS machines, the glitches in printing of the ballots themselves, fears of power failures, hack attacks on the system and how the COMELEC has been conducting the preparation and implementation of the country’s first ever automated elections, a parallel manual count would ensure that the results are credible and accurate.

This logic rests on the fear that those problems would indeed manifest themselves on Election Day and at worst, put the results of the elections in doubt.

However, if we reverse the logic, say trust that the automated election system would perform satisfactorily on election day with the results being made available, because of the sheer speed of the automated election system in tabulating and consolidating the election results, within a
week at the most of closing of the polls and leaving the progress of the parallel manual count in the dust.

And once the results from the parallel manual count is out but is not consistent with the results of the automated election system, which one is then to be taken as credible and reflective of how the electorate really voted?

Say for example, that in the automated election results, Manny Villar wins the Presidency while Mar Roxas wins as Vice President but the results of the parallel manual count shows that Noynoy Aquino won as President while Loren Legarda bags the Vice Presidency. The difference between the two results is around 20%, what will happen next? Your guess is as good as mine.

So while writing this post, I asked a friend this question: “After Election day, which of the results would you believe as the real one, the results of the automated election system or the one from the parallel manual count?”

His answer was straightforward, “the manual count”.

If you were to be asked the same question, what would your answer be?

Why I will Vote for KABATAAN Partylist (#152)

jhay — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 00:00:08 +0000

Many of my friends and schoolmates have asked why I support and vote for KABATAAN partylist. First, I’d like to be clear that I’m not just a supporter but I’m a member of KABATAAN Partylist since the 2007 elections. Second, I’d give the answer by borrowing the words of fellow KABATAAN Partylist member, BK Crew and leader, Victor Villanueva of Bikoy.net:

(1) It is the only genuine youth party-list group running in the elections. It is initiated by real student leaders, young activists and young professionals. It was founded by genuine student and youth organizations such as the National Union of Students of the Philippines, League of Filipino Students and Anakbayan, among others. (http://kabataanpartylist.com/about/)

Its nominees are real youth and student leaders that have proven records of serving the youth and the people in various capacities. (http://kabataanpartylist.com/nominees/)

(2) It is the only incumbent party-list group from the youth, by the youth, for the youth. It has only been in Congress for less than a year, but it has a legislative output and track-record that is better than some of the leading presidential candidates this year. (http://kabataanpartylist.com/accomplishments/)

(3) It never confined itself with its legislative agenda. KABATAAN has always been active beyond Congress. It has always been at the forefront of campaigns beyond Congress from campaigns to halt tuition increases in universities to campaigns to stop exorbitant fees in elementary and high schools.

Just recently, in unity with state scholars, it was able to stop the 2,000% tuition increase in the largest state university in the country (PUP). Before that, it was able to pressure CHED to issue a memorandum to stop the implementation of the no-permit-no-exam policy in schools nationwide. It was also able to successfully win a campaign to resume and extend voters registration for new voters. (read http://kabataanpartylist.com/accomplishments/ for a list of other accomplishments)

(4) It exposed corruption in some government agencies, most prominent of which is the overpriced medical supplies scandal of the Department of Education last year. (http://www.bulatlat.com/main/2009/08/26/overpriced-shampoo-needles-and-otoscopes-deped-faces-new-set-of-corruption-scams/)

(5) It consistently stood up against abuses in the Arroyo government from attempts at charter change, to its links with the Ampatuan massacre, to its human rights abuses and extra-judicial killings, among many many others. Because of our principles, we never got a single cent of pork barrel to help fund our campaigns and activities (but we didn’t mind, it obviously did not stop us form pursuing our agenda for change)

(6) It has always been active in the efforts to help our fellow countrymen especially in times of calamities. This was manifested in our all-out relief drive campaign together with hundreds of volunteer youth groups and individuals after typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng lashed at the country. (http://kabataanpartylist.com/blog/ondoy/)

(7) It has a broad but concrete platform, not only for the youth, but for the people. (http://kabataanpartylist.com/platform/)

(8) It has a nationalist and pro-people orientation based on the Makabayan Coalition of nationalist people’s organizations and candidates. It never limited itself to youth issues. It has always been active in the campaigns of the workers, the peasants, in the campaigns on the environment and national patrimony, among others. (http://makabayan.org.ph/makabayan-platform)

So I call on my fellow youth, to support the one true and authentic partylist that represents and works for the Filipino youth, the KABATAAN partylist. Don’t forget, it’s number 152 in the ballot.

De La Salle Brothers’ Open Letter to the COMELEC

jhay — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 12:38:25 +0000

The De La Salle Brothers in the Philippines have once more stepped up to the plate and made a stand on the upcoming 2010 automated elections. They have voiced their concerns via an open letter to the COMELEC which was published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer last April 8, 2010. I’m publishing, the full text of the said open letter:

De La Salle Brothers’ Open Letter to COMELEC