Now What? NAMFREL Out - PPCRV Ouch

A few days ago Comelec has officially denied the petition of NAMFREL to be part of the election. The reason? There seems to be a vested interested based on the background of the election watch dog. Jose Cuisia Jr. and Jose Concepcion have been doubted because of their "political leanings". Fortunately, PPCRV is still on the loop in the upcoming elections.

Based on the latest news (resources in the end of the article), NAMFREL is trying to get acreddited through tie-up with CBCP-Nassa which naturally creates PPCRV (Parish Pastroral Council for Responsible Voting). But the Comelec questioned the authority of Cuisia to make such bold decisions such as establishing a tie-up with PPCRV. Hence their application for accreditation is not approved.

This is a sad and bad news for election watch dogs. Back in the days, NAMFREL is regarded is often the basis on who will win in the upcoming election. Think of them as the spoilers - since they don't have to go through strict regulations of the COMELEC, they can conduct a quick count and reveal the results weeks before the proclamation.

So now that the NAMFREL is gone the burden is on PPCRV to ensure an honest and clean elections. But this is a tall order for the church based-group. I have been a volunteer of PPCRV once and it's a grueling task to ensure that the election doesn't stall. You're practically the right arm of the poor teachers who are having trouble controlling the elections. And it's set to get worst because poll automation requires a lot of mumbo-jumbo in technology.

The pressure is now on PPCRV. We just hope they would provide concrete actions and inform the public in advance on what they will do on the upcoming elections. The void left by NAMFREL is not an easy to fill.

Source 1: It's final: No Namfrel role in polls

Source 2: No more Namfrel quick count in 2010

No Show on the Last day of Session

According to the twitter post of ANC, the following senators were absent on the last day of the senate session:

Angara,
Arroyo,
2 Cayetanos,
Lacson,
Lapid,
Legarda,
Pimentel,
Revilla,
Santiago,
Villar

The following are obviously there:

Biazon,
Honasan,
Gordon,
Roxas,
Enrile,
Aquino,
Madrigal,
Estrada,
Zubiri,
Pangilinan,
Escudero

There was one guy missing. Trillanes is still in prison.

This just shows that our lawmakers can simply skip on anything for any reason. Senator Lacson was out because someone or something is after him. Senator Villar doesn't want to face these guys because they will just grill him with insertions (Pimentel joke again). Others simply didn't show up.

I always remember my last regular day at school. You're cramming on the final exams but you're anticipating two months of fun in the sun and dust. I don't care if I fail or pass the exam - I'll just face the music in June. For now, I'll finish this as soon as possible and brag to my friends that I was the first one to get out of the shackles of my teachers.

The senators are taking their vacation up a notch. They woke up and said to themselves "Screw the last day of work - I'm going on vacation right now". And they texted other Senator friends to avoid being singled out.

This reminds me of the latest bill introduced by Congressman Zubiri. Here's the link:

http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/239095/zubiri-files-bill-seeking-no-work-no-pay-congressmen

I wish this would be passed. But I think this will not happen soon or ever. Asking the lawmakers that they will be paid if they work is like asking the students if its ok to be failed if they don't show up at school. Of course, they will not be ok with it because they are doing themselves some disservice but placing themselves at disservice means we are paying them to stay at home and watch noon time television.

For that, I want to be a senator or congressman too...until they approve Zubiri's bill.

3 "What Happened" News

For the past few days, we recived some startling news about the country. Yes, they are not election related but they certainly would have some impact. So read on and learn.

* Villar Defends…Sparingly

Finally, Senator Villar appeared in the senate to defend the accusations against him regarding the C-5 insertions (Some Pimentel Jokes Here). But he did it in one of the most annoying methods. Instead of taking any questions, he just made his statement and walked away. He could have shouted "I'm not guilty! I did not do anything wrong!" for one full hour and left and it did not made any difference. I think it would have been better if he did just that because it's going to be a great news.

* Lacson Flees…Immediately

Talking about storming out of something, Senator Panfilo "Ping" Lacson has left the country to avoid what he calls as "harassment" from DOJ. This regards to possible criminal charges on Dacer-Corbito murder case.

I would like to think he chickened-out of the country. But this has got me thinking: if the DOJ can go after one of the most powerful persons in the country, what can a poor man can do against the DOJ. I did not thought about it further because I already know the answer: none.

* More Nurses…Barely

A few days ago, the 2009 Nursing Board Exam is now available online. But the results mark something very stark. There were 94,462 examinees but only 37,527 passed the exam. This means only 39.727086% passed the exam. Based on what I read, this is the lowest percentage for a nursing exam in the country. What's even sadder is that the number of students who took the exam increased. Even the increase is in just a single digit, it's still a sign that something is deteriorating in our school system. Maybe the current students are getting dumber but I don't think anyone's slacking.

So, what happened?

LSS (Last Song Syndrome) and the Elections

Today I am going to rant. So skip on other articles if you don't want to read a blogger's whine.

There are two songs that can't get out of my head - Manny Villar's and Eddie Villanueva's campaign jingles. It's ok that those songs are buzzing my head because I can deal with it by thinking of other things such as my latest stats on my Mindjolt games, the latest movie I want to check out or simply by thinking about the horror story I heard last night. But what made this worst is that everyone is having the same song in their head. This means right now, someone is blurting a song of a presidential candidate out of their head.

In your part, you could be humming Noynoy's, Gibo's or any presidential candidate's jingle. You could be banging your head right now because you can't seem to get the soung out of your head or you are lovingly humming the tune because you are supporting the candidate.

It's ok. No. I don't think it's ok. I think it's dangerous that we are getting some weird buzz in our head because we are exposed too much to their music. Let me give you a good reason why:

If you are an avid supporter of a presidential candidate and you learn their music, you are not just a supporter who shows up on election day and vote. You become a vicious fanatic who would eat the beating heart of anyone who will never agree to your opinion. The song will never get out of your head and will take over your personality.

Who's to blame for this mess? I blame the "friends of" the candidates. Apparently their friends have so much money they can fund radio and television slots for their commercials. I want these to stop but what can we do? We are heavily influenced by what we see, hear and read so we're stuck.

Let me stop right here before I throw out obscenities to the candidates who are ruining my morning. I'll just look for some April Boy Regino or Willie Garte(God Bless his Soul) music. At least their music will last forever rather than cliche ridden jingle that's only good until May 2010.

8 Reasons Why the Masa Should Never Influence Your Vote

The "Masa” is an increasingly overused word by the candidates. No one can blame them after all, Erap Estrada used this word to propel him to one of the margin of wins in election history. If you can harness the masa, you have a big chance of winning.

But the term masa have been muddled that you really can’t defined the word. Yes it means the poor but which poor people? Is it the Class E or Class D? Is it both? Is it the middle class? Some would say they are the regular folks - but no one can really tell who are the regular folks anymore in this country.

Because no one can understand who the masa really is, believing what the masa says should never be followed. If you want more reasons, here they are:

1. It's Everywhere - I think everyone is part of the masa. Whether you’re rich, poor, underwater, overboard, downtrodden, thick or thin.

2. Every Candidate is a Masa - they want everyone to think they are for the masa. But each candidate have a different opinion for the masa.

3. Candidates are Ruining the Word - cliche. I think Erap should patent that word so that no one can use it.

4. It's Slowly Shifting - yes! The word masa used to mean middle to those in class E but the masa now means anywhere were people are gathering.

5. It's Vicious - I can say something mean about the masa in public but I’m too chicken about it why? Remember EDSA 2 and EDSA 3? ‘nuff said.

6. It's a Fan Thing - if you take a look at it closely, many are following the candidate because of the platform, it’s because of the fan thing.

7. Money could be involved - yes! Some candidates pay people to show up.

8. You Should think independently - why should you believe them? Do your research! The fact that you are reading this is already a proof that you’re looking for answers in choosing the best candidate.