It is Going to be a LOUD Summer

The jingles are coming friends and we have to be prepared for it. This is the first day candidates can practically do anything in order to solicit votes. That includes visiting your home, which is ok. They might also place some stickers or posters in your home if you approve it, which is relatively ok. Or they could have some caucuses so that they could offer their ideas for your town, which is actually fun.

But look out for jingles – the songs will be ripped off from popular tunes and will run continuously until Election Day. Here in Iloilo City, you’ll hear “Nobody, Nobody but (You)” blare with a twist. Take note that it’s not election season yet for the locals. But everyone is guilt of electioneering if the COMELEC is serious about it. Everyone will be disqualified.

Now that we’re starting the campaign period for local officials, we anticipate louder music. Take note that it’s very, very easy to create a minus-one or remove the vocals of a popular tune. Many computer geeks and audio-philes can remove the voice in a minute or two. What you just need is very corny lyrics in a local language.

I admit it, I don’t like it…but we have to acknowledge their effort. After all, this is part of the election. Although no one will learn anything from these jingles, this will increase awareness and people might find more information.

But still it’s going to be a very hot and LOUD summer.

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.

Ranking the Presidential Candidate's Official Websites

Prepare for a relatively long article.

A candidate without a website is like a candidate that doesn't have a mobile phone that contains contacts to millions worldwide. This is where the candidate can express his or her thoughts on certain issues and really boost his profile among the younger generation.

But not all websites are the same. Some are very impressive while others are not that updated. Mr. Vetellano Acosta - Sir, I suggest you set-up a website fast to prove your worth to the Filipinos. I'm sure you know someone who knows someone who can set-up a good looking site for you.

The websites will be evaluated in three categories (Information, Interaction and Aesthetics) and they will be ranked 1 to 5. 1 will be the worst and 5 would be best. Please note that this is my personal evaluation and these ranks are based on what I see on the site and not on who I support. (I still don't know who to vote for by the way).
So we start…hold on tight.

Erap Estrada

Website: http://www.erap.ph

• Information: 5 - Almost everything is placed in this website. Check out his speeches that go way back to 2007.

• Interaction: 2 - There are two ways you can interact with the site. Write Erap and Forums. Unfortunately forums don’t seem to work in my browser.

• Aesthetics: 3 - there are still things this site can do to make it better.

Erap's website is definitely full of information and can be easily improved.

Noynoy Aquino

Website: http://www.noynoy.ph

• Information: 5 - this website is at par with the former President's data. There's a sub-menu every time you click the main menu which provides detailed information on who he is, what he has done and what are his stands.

• Interaction: 4 - virtually everything you need to know if you want to help the candidate is here. There are blogs, twitter updates from followers, links to fan page in Facebook and even a poll to determine who wins the election.

• Aesthetics: 3 - I have to be honest, the website is a bit too long for me. I felt it's a blog (like this one) only with very interactive features.

Another great site. I can see updates while I browse and I should be able to see a lot of activities in the future.

John Carlos "JC" de los Reyes

Website: http://www.angkapatiranparty.com/

• Information: 1 - the official website of Kapatiran is also the official website of their candidate. There is little information about the candidates and for some reason; the president's photo is not showing up.

• Interaction: 2 - if you look closely, there is the "Ang Kapatiran Blog" which offers links of blogs of some of the candidates. Unfortunately, Councilor de los Reyes do not have a blog.

• Aesthetics: 1 - is it just me or the flash on the homepage not working? I can't really recognize the other links and the GoDaddy.com says the page is hosted for free which means it has ads.

Get to work guys. You can do better than this.

Jamby Madrigal

Website: http://www.jambymadrigal.com/

• Information: 2 - Senator Madrigal has not updated her site. The latest press statement was dated December 1, 2009. The Profile is not that that extensive either. The only saving factor is the addition of statements, bills and resolutions.

• Interaction: 1 - there is only one interesting link I found in the site: free reflexology training but the last date filed was February 27, 2009.

• Aesthetics: 3 - I am reminded of the websites of Erap and Noynoy. They use a lot of border instead of exploring the entire area. But it looks good enough and the links are quite clear.

Someone should help Senator Madrigal on her site. A volunteer who can update the site would be nice.

Gibo Teodoro

Website: http://www.gibo.ph

• Information: 3 - my rate is mediocre because the information I was looking for is not that satisfying. I mean, where's the beef? I see the profile which is good but I notice that no additional information aside from a single page data about his past.

• Interaction: 5 - if you want interaction, you'll get interaction from this site. If I'm not mistaken, he is the only candidate who has a link in MySpace! The "My Views" and "Strategy" is also impressive as it provides detailed information on what he wants to do and issues on certain subjects.

• Aesthetics: 3 - What's with the large border people? Nearly 1/3 of the site is the green border.
A great site that was really planned out. Just wish the borders were reduced. We know you're green so no need to splash it.

Bro. Eddie Villanueva

Website: http://broeddie.ph

• Information: 4 - the website offers a lot of information not just about the well known Pastor but also on his vision. You just have to dig deeper and click on the links to find out more.

• Interaction: 4 - raise your hand if you want to download Gloc 9's song for free. This is actually a great strategy for Bro. Eddie. There's also a toolbar at the bottom of the page which will allow you to translate and share. Twitter updates, videos from Youtube are added. Unfortunately, the Twitter was last updated 2 days ago and the Calendar link is a bit confusing because it doesn't contain any dates or schedule.

• Aesthetics: 3 - the border is no longer that wide but it's still there. I was enthusiastic about the site at first but the Calendar link discouraged me. The photos direct to Flickr page.

Great website but it can be better without being too flashy. Free downloads of Bro. Eddie's prayers and the official jingle is actually interesting.

(update: as pointed out by our readers, the link for prayer is actually a PDF type of flyer that provides info about Bro. Eddie. )

Manny Villar

Website: http://www.mannyvillar.com.ph

• Information: 5 - the Senator's site is full of everything. Videos, Audio (his jingle plus minus one and lyrics) and articles can be found in this site. While there are some pages that lack the needed information, it's compensated by other parts of the page.

• Interaction: 4 - if there's a thing called too much interaction, it's this site. There's always the sign-up page and I don't know what's the reason you have to sign-up because it's never explained. Links to various interviews are added so there's a lot to watch in this site.

• Aesthetics: 4 - website gets too crowded that instead of providing some additional information on the site, it's just another link that will lead you to his ad or speech.
Sen. Villar's site is really impressive but I think the data has to be sorted a bit so that the information can be user friendly.

Richard Gordon

Website: http://www.dickgordon2010.com

• Information: 3 - I was expecting a lot of laws and bills since he is in the senate for sometime now but I only found two which is a bit weird. His vision and profile is also a bit short and it doesn't deal with very specific actions.

• Interaction: 3 - The basics are there: Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. The interesting part is the blogger which leads to another website and there's a part where he proposes Kindle to schools! Cool! But other than that, nothing else got my attention.

• Aesthetics: 4 - I particularly like the streaming photos of the Senator and it's not too intrusive or pushy with data.

Sen. Gordon's page is great. But I think his blogspot is a lot more interesting. Go with the Kindle thing Senator!

Nicanor Perlas

Website: http://www.nicanor-perlas.com/

• Information: 5 - everything you need to know about Nicanor Perlas is in his official site. Period. Although the writings only provide the titles, you will have a feel on the guy's advocacy and education.

• Interaction: 4 - there's a specific part of the page dedicated to the 2010 election and it comes with tons of information that you need to know about his plans for the country.

• Aesthetics: 4 - The website is clearly all about information on what he has done and what he can do for the country. But it has become a virtual list with no real message.

I could be mistaken but Nicanor Perlas' site is actually the most informative site compared to other candidates.

So what do you think? Who do you think has the best site and why. Again for Mr. Acosta - Tick, Tock Sir. Let the people know who you are online.

5 Tips on Jingle Making (For Candidates)

First off, here's the video:



Now. There are two sides of the story.

Rico Blanco's and Warner Music's side - the song was copied from one Rivermaya's song.

Dennis Garcia (the "arranger" of the tune) - the song was actually based on "Posible" which was no way related to "Sulong, Laban" of Rico Blanco.

It's a tough call, so you be the judge if it was actually pirated or copied. The only weird part is that the song's "owner" Lizza Nakpil, is the former manager of Rivermaya.

So for future references , here are some tips for those who wanted to create a tune for their future campaigns. If you want, I can create something for you. The quality will be so terrible that you'll win because everybody hates it.

Now on to the tips:

1. Hire someone popular and do a press conference for that agreement - the first option (hiring someone popular) is not a necessity but the second option is not negotiable. If you want to create a tune for the campaign, let the media know that you are doing something. It doesn't have to be that popular but a small news should ensure you're doing something right.

2. Listen to popular songs - this is the reason why the song "Posible" became a bit controversial. Note to composers: before you release a tune or copy a tune, make sure that it doesn't sound like anything popular today ir in the past few years. If you are thinking of copying "Nobody, Nobody…" Just make sure the Wonder Girls and their representatives here will not come to your office and kick your a** with legal fees.

3. If they use a popular song, double check the legality of the song - lawyers were made for a reason and one of them is to prevent from bad things happening to your campaign. Mr. Teodoro should be a bit paranoid and not too trustful about the arrangers. Sir, let them feel bad because you're not a nanny. You're running for presidency.

4. Create a full length song - I don't know if there's a full length song exists on "Posible" the Teodoro version but I already saw Ninoy and Bro. Eddie's videos online and they look great. Gloc 9 is really pushing it for the evangelist. This will prevent any confusion since you have created a full length song.

5. Learn the Song! - Although the leader of the land doesn't have to sound like the best singer of the land, at least they should be able to hum their tune. Think about it: you have paid someone with a chunk of your political campaign fund. Not singing it simply means you ordered something tasty for dinner but you just started at it.

Hope this helps. Again, if you want a tune - I can give you one. In fact, I'm humming right now.