Stepping Down as the Leader of the Pack You’re Supposed to Lead - What Now Mr. Teodoro?

I have to say, I was a bit shocked when I read the news on Gibo’s decision on stepping down as the leader of Lakas-KAMPI-CMD. Although I was expecting Gibo to be upset with the lack of support from Gloria Arroyo, I didn’t expect that the retaliation would be this harsh. What’s even worst is that other leaders in the party started resigning as well. But these guys didn’t leave the party – they just stepped down as the leaders of the ruling party.

Gibo’s situation is one of the weirdest situations when you take a look at the past elections. For example, the late Cory Aquino raised the hand of Ramos and even went out to inform people on her support. Ramos also showed support on Jose de Venecia in for the 1998 elections but the man lost to Erap Estrada. Where is this guy by the way? Erap was not able to endorse someone and Gloria only endorsed herself. Everyone is expecting her to get out and raise the hand of this guy but nothing happened. They reasons her low ratings might affect Gibo’s bid for presidency. I think that statement doesn’t ring any bell. Whether she raises this guy’s hand or not, Gibo will always be Lakas-KAMPI-CMD and Gloria is also Lakas-KAMPI-CMD. The people are not stupid. I think Gibo would even have the chance to increase votes if she raises the guy’s hand simply because she is the president.

But the rumor saying Gloria is now talking to Villar is taking its toll on the Gibo. I think Gibo might have received a misdirected text message, received a phone call that was supposed to be from someone else or simply overheard a conversation from an important person. He feels betrayed – it’s like a boyfriend receiving some text message from his girlfriend with “mwah” but the message was for another guy. Ouch!

So what should Gibo do? I have three recommendations:

• Step out of the party and go berserk on them (including the President) – this is the perfect moment to tell the people what you really feel. If you get out of the party, you can say anything about the party and get away with it. Plus, you’ll be seen as a great guy because you had enough balls to get out of your house and put it on fire.

• Release an official statement telling them the real deal – I know you have the gift of gab but you don’t have to spin this situation. Everyone knows why you stepped down and saying another thing will make the people think you’re just another politician. Rattle the cage a little bit by stating something horrible about the party. Let the PR guys of Lakas-KAMPI-CMD and Malacañang worry about your words.

• Change your name on the President’s phone to MVillar – meet with the president and try to borrow her phone as if you want to change your number (tell her you’re on Sun now). Don’t change your number, change your name on the directory to MVillar. This will allow you to receive text messages that were supposed to reach Manny Villar (this is the cheating girlfriend/boyfriend technique).
Please tell us the real score. And don’t tell us you want to concentrate on campaigning because that’s just crazy.

First Day of National Campaign…an Afterthought

Before anything else, here's the rundown of the political parties who officially started their campaigns today for the 2010 Presidential Elections:

* Liberal Party (Aquino, Roxas) - Tarlac, Pampanga as Aquino's hometown.
* Nacionalista Party (Villar, Legarda) - Calamba, Laguna as Rizal's birthplace.
* Lakas Kampi CMD (Teodoro, Manzano) - Antipolo, Rizal because of it's geographically higher and a lucky place.
* Bagumbayan Party (Gordon, Fernando) - Imus, Cavite since Gordon's grandfather (Jose Tagle) started his revolution in this place.
* Estrada, Binay - Plaza Miranda, Quiapo to show his commitment to the poor.
* Bangon Pilipinas Party (Villanueva, Yasay) - Rizal Park to reveal the biggest Philippine Flag.

No News: Madrigal, Perlas (announced will start on Friday), de los Reyes, Acosta.

(Update: Sen. Madrigal opted to take things simpler - she attended a mass in Quiapo. If you have a Facebook account. You can view the photos here.)

Everyone wants to have some impact on their first day. These candidates clearly want to start strong to have a good momentum. For that reason, they wanted to start somewhere meaningful and can gather the most followers.

But if you ask me, the latter reason (most followers) is the reason why candidates chose these locations. The decision of Gordon, Fernando is a bit risky if they don't have enough peopel who will voluntarily come out and cheer for these candidates. This is also the same with Villar, Legarda; Aquino, Roxas; Estrada, Binay as well as Villanueva, Yasay. The reason of Teodoro and Manzano is frankly a bit weird because they opted to seek something lucky. If I give it a meaning, they are placing the country's future on luck and higher ground - maybe we'll be in Baguio and things will be better…or Mount Apo. If they told the media they want to start strong by starting in the party's strongest town, it could have been an honor for the town and its people.

To the rest of the candidates - be sure to have something big and set it on a date with meaning. Here's a tip: please don't do it on Sunday citing "Valentine's Day" because it's just stupid.

So what do you think? Are we off to a better start?

Image and Source from Philippine Star and Manila Bulletin

The Upper 4 Candidates in the 2010 Philippine Election

Yesterday, the 4 "underdogs" were given a quick look for the upcoming election. Today, we're going to consider the 4 powerful candidates and see why they have strong following and might win the election.

* Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III - Noynoy Aquino has gained a lot of praises and criticisms since he declared his decision to run for the top position in the country. Those rooting for him claims that he has been in the government for many years and there are no anomalies attached to the guy. On the other hand, others argue that he is simply riding the popularity of the late president (Cory Aquino) and his hero father (Benigno Aquino, Jr). But he has been the focus of media for many months and many are seeing some good in him. Plus the fact that one of the strongest contenders (Mar Roxas) stepped aside in the party for Noynoy is a big boost.

* Joseph "Erap" Estrada - many argue that the ousted president should not be allowed to run again. If you have read the country's recent history, millions went on the streets to throw Erap out. But don't think that he has no supporters. The former president won on a landslide and his supporters are still strong. The biggest supporter of Erap is actually his VP - Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay. The "masa" support is still strong and he can easily gain a good percentage on the upcoming election.

* Gilbert "Gibo" Teodoro - he came into the spotlight when he was chosen by LAKAS KAMPI over Bayani Fernando. He is the former defense secretary and aside from that fact, nothing else is known by regular Filipinos. He is expected to be the chosen candidate of the current president which will do good and bad for him - depending on the voter. His choice for VP is quite odd since he opted to partner with Edu Manzano (OMB Chairman).

* Manuel "Manny" Villar - one of the richest persons in the country is about to be one of the most powerful man as well, if he wins. Manny Villar has already invested millions in advertisements stating that he has been a poor guy once and he can relate to everyone. He used to be the Senate President and he has chosen Loren Legarda as his VP.

These are our options for the upcoming election. Should they provide new wind of hope if they win can only be determined in the future. Let's just pray or cross our fingers (if you don't pray) that we'll improve with the new president.