I ended up voting for Alan Cayetano, even if his sometimes blithe simplifications almost always push me to reach for the remote. He can certainly talk, of that there is no doubt. But I sometimes get the impression that his tongue outraces, not only tact, but also thought. Perhaps he really does think in extremes, which will explain why he has no major legislation to show for after nine years in Congress. The Comelec’s failure to disqualify the fake Cayetano candidacy, however, finally convinced me of the merits of an argument I’ve heard again and again: a vote for Alan Cayetano would send a message to both Comelec and Malacanang. Play fair. So vote for Alan Cayetano I did.
I did not vote for Chiz Escudero, although I had expected to. In the end (that is, this morning, when I wrote down my final list of senatorial candidates to vote for), I realized I could not shake off the sense that Escudero may well be the charismatic face, the articulate (if cloyingly repetitive) voice, of the Marcos restoration. He may have been too young in 1986, but I have no doubt about where he would have stood if he had been old enough to vote. As a responsible adult, however, he was on the wrong side of Edsa II — and on the wrong side of the Davide impeachment. That’s two strikes, in my book.
I also ended up voting for all three candidates of Kapatiran. I was ready to vote for Martin Bautista, having concerns about Zosimo Paredes’ position during the Nicole rape case and having actually met Adrian Sison in another newsroom many years ago. But I could not bring myself to vote for higher-profile candidates, including senators who had taken the trouble to sit me down for lunch and a dialogue. So I inserted Paredes and Sison into the last two slots, perhaps naively thinking I was sending a message of encouragement to men and women of good will.
Of the remaining eight slots, I chose two from Team Unity (I will vote for Joker Arroyo whichever side of the political divide he is on, because I believe we can still count on him to speak truth to power); five more from the Genuine Opposition (perhaps Loren Legarda will now seize the reins of opposition leadership from Joseph Estrada); and one independent.
How about you? Who did you vote for?
- October 2009 (4)
- September 2009 (3)
- August 2009 (3)
- July 2009 (1)
- June 2009 (6)
- May 2009 (11)
- April 2009 (6)
- March 2009 (5)
- February 2009 (7)
- January 2009 (11)
- December 2008 (7)
- November 2008 (14)
- October 2008 (8)
- September 2008 (3)
- August 2008 (10)
- July 2008 (1)
- June 2008 (4)
- May 2008 (2)
- April 2008 (3)
- December 2007 (5)
- November 2007 (5)
- October 2007 (8)
- September 2007 (13)
- August 2007 (6)
- July 2007 (14)
- June 2007 (5)
- May 2007 (24)
- April 2007 (23)
- March 2007 (18)
- Foreign affairs (17)
- May 2007 elections (36)
- May 2010 elections (5)
- Media matters (22)
- Philippine politics (131)
- Religious issues (13)
- Rule of law (13)
- Terrorism (7)
- test (1)
- Uncategorized (41)
- US relations (16)
5 Feedbacks on "At the polling booth"
mike
i voted staright TU. i voted for progress, for uplifting the porr through job dev’t. i am tired of the meddling ways of opposition parties.
nognog
kahit sinong butuhin mo dyan, magkukurakot pa rin mga yan. milyon-milyon ba naman ang gastos eh… for the position of Php35,000 a month!!!
tsaka ang haba-haba ng balota! dapat isang senador lang pwedeng butuhin. yung top 12 ang syang selected. biruin mo kung may re-count pa! ilang milyones naman ang gagastusin!!!hay naku pinas!
John-D Borra
Despite the many, well-meaning arguments for voting a complete senatorial lineup, I ended up voting for 9 candidates. I’m sorry. I’ve always believed that the electoral process, at its best, was an exercise in the ennobling qualities implicit in the right to choose. The very availability of viable alternatives validates the entire political process. Choices indicate hope. I had very little to choose from for this election, but for me, these candidates embodied the hope for a brighter future:
1. Zosimo Paredes
2. Martin Bautista
3. Adrian Sison
4. Alan Peter Cayetano
5. Chiz Escudero
6. Antonio Trillanes
7. Ping Lacson
8. Noynoy Aquino
9. Koko Pimentel
Of course, this all comes with the caveat that my humble opinion holds weight only as a registered voter who has consistently voted for people who consistently lose. I haven’t voted for a winning Presidential candidate, for example, since…well, ever. Only 1 out of every 3 senators I vote for have won. I’m like the kiss of death for electoral success; a vote from me assures noble defeat. Still, hope springs eternal. I have a feeling about this election. I pray that things will change for the better.
aSICS
I did not vote but I would have voted for TU staright or 11-1 (one slot for Kiko Pangilinan). Just a little comment on Chiz Escudero though.
He’s making a very good start with the early counts. Number 1. No doubt he’s frequent bragging and LYING about the poor and bankrupt economy has finally paid off. Its no wonder, only a few of the populace are aware of the real economic parameters. karamihan inaantok pag technicalities ng economy pinag-uusapan. Pero madaling sabihin na bagsak pa rin ang ekonomiya ng Pilipinas. It’s true that there are still a lot of poor people, but our economy has been doing very good in the past years since Gloria’s term.
To summarize, you don’t deserve it Chiz. You’re a BIG LIAR!
shroud
aSICs is right,the opposition never had a clear direction for the economy.Former president Joseph Estrada’s term was a very bad economic decline, the masses have been blinded by Estrada’s mind conditioning on how he care about the poor when our economy was going down, from 24 pesos to 1$ to 50 pesos to 1$,tell that to Cory Aquino and to all Catholic Church who supports the opposition. Finally we have the current administration who has done a great job lifting our economy,but people are against them,because the opposition has done nothing for the past 4 years but conditioning the minds of the masses to blame the administration for all misgivings the country has gone through. So I voted straight for TU. We need progress….we don’t need people who will be in office and always be in the media telling that the administration has done nothing good for us(Chiz Escudero)
Please Leave a Comment!