Not Backing Down

Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Bayani "BF" Fernando said that he has no plans of backing down.

Despite not being chosen by Lakas-CMD as their standard bearer, Fernando said that he will run for president with or without a political party backing him up.

He said that he is “dead serious about running for the presidency. I will run even without party’s endorsement."

Not too long ago, Lakas-CMD chose Defense Sec. Gilbert "Gibo" Teodoro as their standard bearer over the MMDA Chairman.

Personally, I will never vote for Fernando. If you've been reading my blog, you'd know how much I don't like the guy.

Of all the presidentiables, Fernando is probably the first one guilty of illegal campaigning. His gargantuan billboards not only spread along EDSA but throughout the metro as well. In fact, tarpaulins of his face were spread throughout the country, when his jurisdiction covers Metro Manila alone.

Even if people tell me that he was able to impose discipline in one city, that doesn't necessarily he can do the same thing across the board.

But that's just me. What do you think?

The Tycoon's Nephews

...won't be getting any support from their uncle.

San Miguel Corp tycoon Danding Cojuangco announced that he will only be supporting the presidential candidate that would be coming from the National People's Coalition (NPC) and no one else.

Two of his nephews are running under different political parties - Defense Sec. Gilbert Teodoro (under Lakas-NPC) and Sen. Noynoy Aquino (under the Liberal Party (LP))

Here is the complete story from Carla Gomez of Inquirer.net in an article entitled Cojuangco to support NPC candidate, not nephews:

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines—Tycoon Eduardo "Danding" Cojuangco will not be supporting any of his two nephews eyeing the presidency in 2010 but will instead back the standard-bearer of the party he founded, the Nationalist People's Coalition.

Cojuangco said even if his nephews—Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro, standard-bearer of the Lakas-Kampi-Christian Muslim Democrats, and Senator Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino, the Liberal Party's presidential candidate— are running for president, as founder of the NPC, he will support his party.

Cojuangco told reporters here Saturday he no longer involved himself in the selection process at NPC but he believed the party was going to field a presidential candidate in May next year.

"The NPC has not put up anybody yet; we will wait. I suppose they will. I am no longer active, it's the younger ones that are deciding for the party," Cojuangco said.

"The NPC is going to field a candidate I think. I think after these calamities they will decide," he added.

He said the last he heard was that the party had left it to Senators Francis Escudero and Loren Legarda to decide who between them should run for president under the NPC.

Asked if he would be in a dilemma if the NPC fielded a candidate while his two nephews ran under different parties, Cojuangco replied, "No. Why should it be a dilemma for me? I'm the founder of the party. I think I have to support my own party that I founded; I think it is but normal."

"Yung isang nephew ko hindi naman namin pinaalis, kami ang iniwan. Eh, ang ibig sabihin wala kaming kwenta sa kanya. Simple lang di ba? (One of my nephews left even if we did not ask him to leave. It only means that we are of no consequence to him.) So why should that be a bother to me?" said Cojuanco, referring to Teodoro, who left the NPC to pursue his candidacy under the administration party.

"The other nephew belongs to another party; I wish him luck," he said, referring to Aquino.

Asked if he and Aquino have talked, Cojuangco said he has not talked to any politician except to members of the NPC.

Aquino said during a visit to Bacolod on Thursday that while he has not had a chance to talk to his uncle, there had been "a few back-door talks" going on between his uncle and some of his backers.

"But at the end of the day I think we have to talk to each other. But I haven't had the opportunity to do so," Aquino said.

Asked if he would ask his uncle for support, Aquino said, "He's my uncle. I would not presume to tell an elder what to do."

Teodoro, on the other hand, said during a visit to Negros Occidental on September 23 that he has neither spoken to his uncle for sometime nor did he know of any discussions of an NPC merger with the administration party.

Asked if he would personally initiate the talks, Teodoro said "I represent the party, I don't represent myself."

Asked if there were reconciliation efforts on a personal level with his uncle amid rumors of a rift, Teodoro said, "There's nothing to reconcile because there's nothing wrong on a personal level."

But he did say he did not expect his uncle's blessings since he belonged to another party.

Danding Cojuangco, while refusing to discuss his personal relationship with Teodoro, is however reportedly backing his brother, Henry, to run against the reelection bid of Teodoro's wife, Representative Monica Louise Prieto-Teodoro, in the first congressional district of Tarlac.

Teodoro has himself said that his wife would still be running for Congress next year, "unless there's some major change" that would stop her from doing so.

Conjuangco was at a United Negros Alliance meeting here Saturday where the candidacies of Sagay Mayor Alfredo Marañon for governor and Representative Genaro Alvarez for vice governor of Negros Occidental in 2010 were announced.

Former governor Daniel Lacson Jr., who is not a member of UNA and is campaigning for the Aquino-Mar Roxas tandem in Negros, said he was supporting Marañon's gubernatorial bid as a close friend of the mayor.

I think that it's only wise for Cojuangco to support the representative of the political party that he was the founder of.

And I don't think the two boys care anyway.

4 vs 100

Four Presidential aspirants faced 100 local government officials to answer various issues involving local government units (LGUs).

The forum dubbed as "Face to Face: 100 Local Government Champions versus Four Presidential Contenders" was attended by Senators Manny Villar, Noynoy Aquino and Chiz Escudero and Defense Sec. Gilbert Teodoro.

The sharing scheme of the internal revenue allotment (IRA) between the national govt and LGUs, pork barrel system and the Mindanao peace process were some of the issues that the presidentiables had to address individually as they were given an hour each to meet with the local officials.

One of the most applauded statements was that of Escudero when he said that he is “in favor of abolishing the pork barrel system,” he said.

According to Escudero, he has not been receiving his pork barrel allocation since 2005 when he led the impeachment complaint against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. He defines pork barrel as “lump sum allocation sa budget kung saan di na natin alam kung san pupunta o pumupunta, lumalabas na lang at nakikita na lang bigla, minsan hindi pa.”

He proposed institutionalizing line-itemizing of government projects that would state how much money is needed, what it is for and the proposed timeline of the project. Escudero said that this would solve two problems regarding the pork barrel system – corruption and the “absence or lack of focus when it comes to the utilization of government funds."

However, results of an informal survey done among the local officials after the forum showed that they chose Teodoro as their top choice (although some criticized him for being endorsed by the infamous President), then Aquino and Escudero, while putting Villar as their last choice.

The Online Helper

The Ondoy Chapter is far from over. A lot of things are yet to be done. And online, the campaign to raise awareness about what happened and to rally the Filipino youth was overwhelming. Platforms such as Tumlbr, Twitter and Facebook proved to be such powerful tools in mobilizing the Filipino people to help out and volunteer.

Here are some tools used during the campaign that circulated all over Tumblr and Facebook:

A poster urging people to donate goods at the Ateneo campus for their relief operations.

A poster asking people to help out and volunteer since celebrities from other countries are doing so. Why not us, Filipinos too?

A poster of the UP Sagip Isko relief ops campaign. Go Isko!

A poster encouraging Filipinos to help out in restoring, rebuilding and recreating the country.

A poster asking people to help and volunteer for those who are in evacuation centers.

A poster of the Raise the Roof benefit concert for Ondoy victims held at the Megatent along Meralco Ave.

On Twitter, a lot of Filipino personalities, politicians and celebrities utilized its powers by coordinating and updating volunteers through its micro-blogging capability. Spot.ph's article on the 10 Virtual Volunteers: helping out in the time of tweeting gave a list of ten people who were of great help while using Twitter. And I do have to give credit to Gilbert Teodoro for keeping the people updated with current situations all over the metro regarding NDCC matters and answering people's queries. (He directly replied to my Tweet regarding the supposed loose crocs scare in Pasig and Cainta).

The internet isn't just for porn as Avenue Q would argue. And during the past week, it has proved that it is such a powerful to rouse a nation's consciousness for their fellow countrymen. At least we know that majority of the country are out to help out, and not to buy liquor or give out food with their name branded on it.

The Padyak is Back!

A feisty Mar Roxas announced his vice-presidential bid as Noynoy Aquino's running mate under the Liberal Party (LP) for next year's May 2010 National Elections.

This early in the game, Roxas dissed Defense secretary and administration/Lakas-NUCD candidate Gilbert Teodoro saying that Aquino is much better than Teodoro.

When Aquino announced his bid to become the country's next president, he said that he's offering the VP position to Roxas. It should be noted that Roxas too aspired to become president, but a former president's death and the rise to political fame of that president's son prompted Roxas to withdraw his bid and settle for the passenger seat.

The pair said that they are partners in the "fight for genuine change." Looks like we have a slogan that we'll hear quite frequently the next few months.

I pity Roxas and his padyak dreams for the nation. He aimed so high only to find out that he's only suited for the next best thing.

And the same question still lingers in my mind: Would the political move wedding between Roxas and Korina Sanchez still happen?

Hmmmmm.

Pink is Out!

You and I both know how I really, really, REALLY DO NOT LIKE Bayani Fernando. I hate his tarps, his pink fences, his urinals, his ugly footbridges, his sucky online game, his freakin' political will. And as much as I don't like Mar Roxas as well, I'd easily choose him over Fernando if the universe conspires that I choose only from the two.

Imagine my joy when I learned that after much deliberation, Lakas-CMD chose Defense Sec. Gilbert Teodoro to become it's standard bearer in next year's elections over the Pink Dude.

In a closed door meeting of the political party, only 5 of 47 members voted for Fernando. While the rest voted for Teodoro.

Lakas-CMD conducted the meeting after Vice-President Noli de Castro categorically announced that he will not run for the administration.

---

I was able to interview Teodoro back in 2007 while I was still a student and he was still a congressman. I was writing our Congress beat paper for our news writing subject and he was one of the authors of the bill that I was writing about. I did not set-up an appointment with him. But he was gracious enough to accommodate my friends and I in his office even if we 'ambushed' him. He answered my questions candidly and he clearly knew what he was talking about. I didn't think then that the man that I interviewed would later on become a Presidentiable three years after - proof that our political landscape changes by the second.

So long Pink Dude!

Fighting Back

Kung palabas lang ang tira ko kay Pangulong Arroyo, eh bakit napipikon sa mga banat ko?

The Senators are fighting back.

During her "performance," PGMA told Presidential aspirants not to speak bad words in public - a clear reference to Mar Roxas' P.I. carnage at a Makati rally recently.

"To those who want to be President, this advice: If you really want something done, just do it. Do it hard, do it well. Don’t pussyfoot. Don’t pander. And don’t say bad words in public."

And so, since Twitter is the best thing, Roxas' tweeted this back: MARoxas "Gloria, I have to say bad words in public because of bad deeds done in secret."

Then, in an Inquirer article, Presidential son/sucky actor Mikey Arroyo is said to be "mad" at the opposition for being such actors in the arena of Philippine politics. He points out how Sen. Francis Escudero clandestinely asked for the President's blessing and endorsement for next year's Presidential elections. An accusation that Escudero denies.

In a statement released today by Escudero that I've posted below, he vehemently denied all allegations that he asked for support from the President.

"I have not sought, nor will I seek, the endorsement of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Nor have I authorized anyone to do so.

Let Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro, MMDA Chair Bayani Fernando or Vice President Noli de Castro, or anyone else who might want her blessings, get that endorsement which they have been seeking from day one for all I care.

I have not even declared yet. And if I do, I will seek only the endorsement of the Filipino people and will run as Opposition simply because I have been consistently against and questioned the mandate of this administration from the very start.

I supported and was spokesperson of the late Fernando Poe, Jr. in the 2004 presidential elections; I led impeachment complaints against Arroyo in the House; voted consistently against the administration on major policy positions, i.e., the Japan-Philippine Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA), EVAT, and the Human Security Act.

To get back at me, this vengeful administration has withheld the release of my Countryside Development Fund (CDF) since 2005. And now, its proxies have taken the debate over its performance in the past nine years down to the gutter by spreading intrigues against my person."

I smell trouble brewing. Don't you?

Guns Blazing

am-nes-ty [am-nuh-stee] noun, plural -ties, verb -tied, -ty-ing.

-noun

1. a general pardon for offenses, esp. political offenses, against a government, often granted before any trial or conviction.

2. Law. an act of forgiveness for past offenses, esp. to a class of persons as a whole.

3. a forgetting or overlooking of any past offense.

-verb (used with subject)

4. to grant amnesty to; pardon.

Credits: Dictionary.com

After freeing Italian Red Cross volunteer Eugenio Vagni from six months of captivity, Sunday - the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) is now the government's hot topic.

Defense secretary Gilbert Teodoro announced that they will wage an all-out war against the ASG.

Sen. Richard Gordon then proposed that amnesty be given to the insurgency group.

Giving the ASG, amnesty would be saying that all criminal acts they did prior are not crimes anymore. That all the families they destroyed, lives they have taken and communities they tormented are nothing. And that would be the biggest slap on their faces.

To give amnesty is to overlook past offenses, so what do we tell those that they have offended?

"Hey, the ASG are forgiven. We're sorry if they destroyed your family. But that's all in the past now."

If granting amnesty would ensure perennial peace for the war-torn island of Mindanao, I say why not? But would a group such as the ASG be willing to stop things that they've been doing for the past decade or so? I highly doubt that.

Isurgency in Mindanao has always been one of every Philippine president's headaches. And as administrations change next year, all eyes would be on the next administration on how it will address this particular problem.