Election Dreams

By Nick

Politicians make people dream during elections and give them nightmares once they are in office. This has always been the case but why do we hold on to the dream? Are Filipinos still asleep? Yes!

Let us wake up. No matter who gets elected, our lives would still be the same. Graft and corruption will still be there. Poverty will still be there. Pollution will still be there. Population explosion will still happen. Power shortage will still be there. Prices will still go up. Justice will still be for the rich. Heinous crimes will still be there. Why? Simple. Political dynasties and warlords will still be there. They will still be in control of the lives of the people especially the poor. What will the poor get? Empty promises and dole-outs at the most. Keep their hopes alive until the next election.

Why are the barangays roads better during elections? Why are there so many government projects during elections? Why are improvements undertaken during elections? Why are those not in the administration promising a better future? It is because getting elected is what matters. Once the incumbents get reelected, life will still be the same. Once the challengers get elected, expect their ROI moves.

Shall we go on dreaming? Or, shall we go ahead with striving to make our lives better in spite of whoever gets elected. If we don’t give importance to politicians, things will be very different for us. Citizens in progressive countries don’t mind political ads. They only mind the character and personalities of government officials and candidates for different positions in government.

Nicanor Perlas as President? Maybe.

Nicanor Perlas as President? Maybe.

Because Acosta and Perlas was never featured in our previous posts, we decided to catch up and look at these gentlemen. We're already done with Mr. Acosta so we move on with Mr. Nicanor Perlas.

Here's the deal: Mr. Nicanor Perlas has a very impressive record for a Presidential candidate. He has been working with the government and non-government institutions and the latter earned him a well known award. Still, not everyone is convinced he could be a great leader. Recent survey suggests that he is nowhere on the top 5 candidates.

Right Livelihood Award

Mr. Perlas is known to be the recipient of the "Alternative Noble Prize" or properly known as "Right Livelihood Award". This award is given to those who are able to provide smart and immediate answers to various problems. The winners gets to share the prize of EUR150,000. There are three winners and one honorary winner. Mr. Perlas is not the honorary winner which means he (and his partner Walden Bello) is EUR50,000 richer. But I think the money they won will go to their foundation.

Prolific Speaker

His website has a very extensive list of his speeches and experiences. According to some sites, he has visited nearly 70 countries because of his experience in green livelihood.

Green, Green, Green

Which brings us to the topic of green livelihood. Some sources online indicates that he was part of the technical advisers for the government where he strongly opposed the use of Bataan Nuclear Power Plant. He's actually the original green activist.

Bid for Presidency

His resume is very impressive and his experience is never lacking. But why is his bid to become the leader of the land is still slow? The answer actually is not what he is doing but in the current climate.

Sir, if you're reading this. You have to work harder to make more people aware of your existence. Unfortunately, your existence is not an automatic vote for you. There are still many things you should do to get people understand your previous award. I have to admit, social network sites will help but it's smaller than the tip of the iceberg.

Who is Vetellano Acosta? Answer: I Don't Know

The better answer is: no one knows.

I am proud of what I do - I stay in front of the computer no less than 12 hours a day scouring for information online. I devour every information I can get so that I can use it for personal amusement and sometimes for profit. I was able to help my family because of this self-imposed skill.

But when the name Vetellano Acosta popped up in the Comelec reconsideration list, I started to look for information and I felt belittled. Who is he? Where did he came from? Is he real?

Apparently he's real but little information is known to him. Even a trusted website for political information doesn't have a lot about him.

Here's the only information I can find online:

Job: Financial Cosultant
Party Affiliation: KBL
Residence: Cityland 10 Building, H.V. De la Costa Street, Makati
Voter on: Precinct 6 of Tejeron, Sta. Ana, Manila

The weird thing about this is that Jay Sonza is actually a lot more popular than this guy. If you're near 30 years old, you will recognize the name from the talk show "Mel and Jay" every Sunday evening in ABS-CBN. He is currently working for UNTV.

I can't even find a decent photo of the candidate. Google for image about this guy and you can't find anything.

My conclusion, it's a small blunder with a hint of conspiracy from Comelec. Mr. Acosta should come out often and explain to everyone who he is where he came from and he's not another Eddie Gil.

If you got sources, please help me. Comelec's site is down (again)

What the Tick is a Guest Candidate?!?

Browsing online for possible topics, I came across a small news about "guest candidates". I already seen this trend in the past local elections. Apparently some of the political parties can't seem to choose the right number of candidates. What they do is let someone become a candidate but only as a guest.

But this trend is now a trend in the national level. Some of the senators are now official candidates in one party but "guest candidates" in other parties. Take note of the word "parties" since some of them have enough balls to be part of various political parties.

Here are the candidates and their guest appearances:

• Miza Maza (Gabriella) - guest candidate of Nacionalista Party (NP)
• Serge Osmeña - GC of Partido ng Masang Pilipino (PMP)
• Ramon "Bong" Revilla, Jr. (Lakas Kampi) - GC of PMP, NP, Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP), and Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC)
• Ferdinand "Bong Bong" Marcos, Jr. (KBL) - GC of NPC, NP, PMP
• Miriam Defensor Santiago (People's Reform Party) - PMP, NP, LDP, NPC, Lakas Kampi

So what are the advantages and disadvantages of being part of this party fiasco?

Pros:

• Your name will appear in more sample ballots. Senator Santiago will appear in 5 sample ballots which means she will be advertised like crazy in the coming elections.
• You might not lose much because you have bet on everyone.

Cons:

• Awkward introductions - Former President Erap Estrada introduced Senator Santiago as guest candidate but she was not there. She appeared instead of Manny Villar's rally which was held in the same day in a nearby location.
• Conflicting ideas - although our political parties are like basketball teams where you can just jump from one group to another, there is still some identity in philosophy followed.

In gist, candidates who became guest candidates clearly has some issues with their current party. It doesn't matter if they are asked to be a guest because you are also a competitor for a few slots in the government position.

What do you think? Are guest parties a good idea for the party?