Atheista -

Running a campaign for a senatorial seat is not cheap. I’ve always wondered how people would willingly throw millions down the drain in the face of prospects that are almost nil. The only senatoriable who lost an election badly (out of the top 20) to ever make it to the winners’ circle in the past four elections is Jamby Madrigal. She definitely spent a lot more money during her 2004 campaign compared to her “who-the-hell-are-you” lukewarm attempt in 2001 as a member of the Puwersa ng Masa.

I will be comparing the October poll numbers for 2007 with the final COMELEC tally and see who among the 2010 hopefuls can still cross their fingers and hope for the best.

This was how the October 2007 survey results looked:

There were twelve slots up for grabs for 2007 and based on the October-November numbers for Pulse Asia, there were nineteen senatoriables who had a realistic chance of winning one of the seats. Of these nineteen, ten where projected to be sure winners had the elections been held six months earlier. These ten included Loren Legarda, Panfilo Lacson, Francis Pangilinan, Manuel Villar, Alan Peter Cayetano, Tito Sotto, Ralph Recto, Korina Sanchez, Koko Pimentel and Gringo Honasan. Interestingly, of these “sure bets”, four ultimately failed to win a seat – Sanchez didn’t run while former senators Sotto and Recto (Team UNITY – the administration slate) dropped off the list (Recto ended up at #14 while Sotto was over three million votes short of the twelfth spot at #19. Genuine Opposition candidate Koko Pimentel was controversially beaten by some twenty thousand votes and finished at #13. Continue Reading »

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Here are the tabs from the 11th NDC at Lyceum.

Lyceum NDC Tabs

Motions
Prelims
THBT the NDCC should have full control of disaster relief operations during natural calamities
THW allow former rebels to join the African Union’s peace keeping forces
THW give racist groups airtime on government-funded media
THBT Catholic schools should have the right to expel teenage students who get pregnant
TH Regrets the effects of social networking sites on the youth
THW allow hermaphrodite athletes to compete in the gender category based on the way they were raised.
THBT China must not make concessions in Copenhagen unless the West increases its environmental commitments

Finals Series
THBT Israel should swap Hamas prisoners in exchange for captured Israeli soldiers
THBT the prevalence of sexually-charged gay themes in local independent films is harmful to the homosexual movement
THBT Latin America should nationalize its capital markets
THW ban politicians who recently transferred to another political party to run for presidency

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Credit:

Miko Biscocho for the tab. Claire Jiao for the list of motions.

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I think it’s quite easy to find Chiz Escudero as one of the most grandstanding-prone politicians on television. While he may have a way with words, he does come across as someone who could easily smooth talk his way into spewing out ideas that are generally agreeable but not necessarily concrete or helpful – pretty much like Barack Obama. Of course that type of  charm works for a certain type of person and to be fair to Chiz, that type of person is the absolute majority once the greater scheme of things is considered.

Chiz Escudero in the flesh was not in any way pompous, arrogant or disagreeable. While it was not clear why he wanted to see bloggers for that day (other than to have small talk and probably feed a few undernourshed bloggers such as myself), it was nice to sit across him and have him answer off-the-cuff and unscripted questions from his obvious supporters, critics and skeptics.

The Good

- If everything where to be taken at face value – pretty much the same way that the good in me would like to see things — Francis “Chiz” Escudero seems to have his heart and head in the right place. He comes across as someone who can sleep soundly at night. I know that this is a very subjective comment that could further contradict the other things that I would write as this entry progresses, but at the basic visceral level, he seems like a guy who would be hard to hate. Either that or I’m just a naturally nice guy.

Continue Reading »

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Again, Wolfgang will be taking the stage again on December 1 at 19 East in Sucat. This will be just a few days before they rock out in Dubai so it will be quite a show. For tickets, call: 0906.103.5333
0915.621.2189

Part of the proceed would go to the benefit of the victims of recent disasters.

This is Wolfgang’s eighth show since the informal hiatus that the band took in the early part of this decade. Let’s count down those eight shows

1. Peligro (Makati, 2004?) – This absolutely was the most emotionally-charged moment for a Wolfgang fan in the years immediately after Basti Artadi’s unexpected “sorta-farewell” message. People who got in had the time of their lives while those outside bitched and moaned like there was no tomorrow – guess which group I was in.

2-3. Alive Music Museum Concerts (January 2007 x 2) – The Alive concerts are just way too hard to top in terms of milestones. Not only did these concerts allow more people to see Wolfgang – okay fine, three of the original members — it also hinted at the potential of a new album despite the ridiculous geographical challenges.

4. Black Christmas at Eastwood (December 2008) – This concert featured the release of VILLAINS – Wolfgang’s sixth studio album. Read the entry if you want to really know how I felt about this concert.

5. Two Sides Live at Music Museum (March 2009) -  This had major technical problems during the beginning – it was very annoying to see the tech guys fumble with the microphone. Kevin Roy’s mic malfunctioned several times. And wow, the bouncers were absolutely ridiculous. The idea of sitting down in a rock concert is absurd – in my opinion, since the people on stage are standing up, leaving your seat while the band is playing is a sign of respect. But no, these bouncers were ready to spoil the party. ANNOYING BITCHES. Good thing Lizza fixed things when it was Wolfgang’s turn to play already.

6. The Singapore Set

7. The Cebu Set

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Continue Reading »

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For years now, Manuel Quezon III (more famously known as Manolo Quezon) has been dishing on point columns on various publications and putting the issues in a new perspective on his weekly talk-show-slash-lecture-program “The Explainer”. Manolo Quezon personifies what most Filipinos would like in a leader – level-headed, rational, responsive and passionate without the trappings of traditional politics.

Manolo’s popularity is definitely on an all time high and a run for the senate is a very feasible idea already. He has not voiced out his plans for 2010, but with enough of those who believe in his potential in abilities, we may just get him to run for us who think that we deserve leaders at his caliber.

Having Manolo in the Senate will not just be a good development for Philippine politics just because of what he brings to the table – it could also send a strong message that the political landscape in general is changing to a more progressive and critical-thinking atmosphere. It will heavily erode the strong biases against sectors of society.

Join us. Join the Manolo Quezon For Senator Facebook Group.

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I never liked Chiz Escudero. The linked post just about sums up why this man – as great a speaker as he is — should never be in the position to radically alter our educational system and what not to his liking.

Most of my friends, co-bloggers and colleagues were all praises for him back in 2007. The guy had an amazingly pristine air about him – he captured the imagination of a disgruntled youth and the admiration of the older generation. He seemed like a messiah you could charm just about anyone.

And charm everyone he did. He finished a close second to Loren Legarda and even outdid seasoned senatorial veterans like Manuel Villar and Joker Arroyo. He was the embodiment of a brand new hope for a people who was weary from generations of traditional politics and dirty plays.

People chose to look past the fact that he hails from one of the poorest provinces in the country.

People chose to ignore that he is the scion of a well-established political dynasty that reaped the benefits of being allied with the Marcos regime.

It somehow brings me great vindication to see that more and more people are seeing through the glass, smoke and mirrors that is the image of Francis Escudero. I’m sure the recent events would render him an non-viable candidate for the two highest positions in the country for the 2010 elections – and for the other polls in his lifetime.

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