A QUESTION has been plaguing me ever since the different tallies of the results of the 2007 elections became public.

Why is Antonio Trillanes so popular?

The truth is that I didn’t really believe he would make it to the final 12. I thought he was just filler for the Genuine Opposition (GO), a candidate they included in their slate just to fill the role of Rebel Leader. Yet here he is, No. 9  in the latest Comelec count, with 1, 260, 295 votes. Over 1.2 million people want Trillanes to become a senator!

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WHEN we say “masa vote” we are looking at the marginalized in our society, most of whom are citizens who do not legitimately rent or own their abode. Looking deeper into this vote brings to question its credibility. More than the mistake in identifying with silver-screen personalities, these voters are used by the politicians who go around with rhetoric and promises during elections. They are merely used by the politicians, hence the administrative tolerance for squatting. This is why the politicians love the squatters. They love them way too much to the point of even promising land ownership if elected into office.

This electoral symbiotic set-up is the reason for the deeper socio-economic and environmental problems that stem from squatting — unseen to the naked eye and accepted by many as merely a problem that exists.

Just imagine if the squatters will be of no value to the local city mayors. The first order of the day will be beautification. The politicians will justify getting rid of the shanties to make their city a more organized, cleaner place where delivery of goods and services will then be viable. Rightful landowners will be able to boost the economy in real estate or commercial business opportunities.  The threat of health and fire outbreaks will be reduced. The policemen will have less crime to deal with. Public schools will not be overcrowded. Most importantly, elections, without the foolishly lured votes, will be able to propel our country forward.

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I AM happy that the Inquirer keeps credible columnists like Randy David, Walden Bello, Solita Monsod, MLQ III and a lot more.

What I don’t understand is that amid the scholarly written articles, there comes Ramon Tulfo writing about the newly elected governor of Pampanga, Father Ed Panlilio, whom he thought was losing in a fair battle.

I’m really vexed at the thought that the Inquirer also keeps rotten tomatoes like Ramon Tulfo in their newspaper.

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READING the papers and watching the news, it is always about election-related violence all over the country.

It seems that there is a lot at stake, most especially in the provinces where there seems to be more violence — and I think it is also about how much they can get out of the provincial budget.

For instance, in Abra — Abra is a poor province in the country and politicians are really fighting over the posts that they can occupy there but there is no sign of development in that part of the Philippines. It is easier to accept the fights or killings if they are really sincere in serving but no, they are sincere in serving their own wants and needs, which are money and power.

I just hope the results were really decided by us — we who are the ones paying proper taxes, that feed the families  of those who are so hungry to place themselves in positions in order to serve themselves.

As a Manileño who has seen three mayors at its helm — Mel Lopez, Fred Lim and Lito Atienza — there was no doubt that Atienza built on what Lim has started and brought Manila back into the tourist map and initiated cultural revival and urban development.

I once thought that Manila was a lost cause because of urban decay but I was surprised by the transformation of the city — Roxas Boulevard, the city’s plazas and the public wet markets in particular. There is one thing that I disliked during Atienza’s term –  it’s the proliferation of pedicabs along national and city roads.

I hesitantly voted for Ali Atienza, not because I did not appreciate his father’s accomplishments, but because of too much politicking and overexposure (like riding on the popularity of Pacquiao who is also losing in his congressional bid). To me, the accomplishments, which are obvious, should speak for themselves.

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WE now know neither money nor fame is a guarantee. Guns and goons are not anymore as effective and neither are platformless party machineries. An iron grip on the Comelec, DILG, or Ombudsman has its payback. The people now know.

The losers in this election bring significance to the unfolding of our electoral maturity. You play an important part in this semblance of political change that starts with choosing wisely. If you are a self-serving greedy loser, you will think twice before again staking your money on a campaign to win stolen money in public office. If you are an idealist loser, you will have more fire in your heart to serve the people because there is hope in the electorate horizon.

To the voters who were bought, you are the bigger losers. You are without dignity. You received a few hundreds so people can steal from you for years. What a loser. You are without intelligence. But you are also significant because you are a dying breed. There will be fewer gamblers in the future, and you will start voting like the others did. You have hope — eventually.

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HISTORY repeats itself like a broken record.

Before, it was conjugal dictatorship and cronies. Then, it was Kamag-anak, Inc. Now, we call it political dynasty. Really, there’s nothing new under the sun.

The Estradas had set a bad precedent when mother and son won simultaneous seats in the Senate. In the recent election, we saw senatoriables with kin already sitting in the Senate. That’s one the reasons why I did not vote for Alan Cayetano, Vic Magsaysay and Koko Pimentel (See my previous blog entry: http://inquirerbloggers.net/eleksyon2007/2007/05/16/why-i-did-not-vote-for-pichay-cayetano-et-al/).

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DESPITE trying to put our best foot forward, we have come up short again as a nation in proving that democracy is strong in our nation. Even with the relatively “calm” and “peaceful” election this time around, this did not deter the usual anomalies in the election process from taking place.

Vote buying, using children during election day, and voter disenfranchisement were just some of the usual activities that were observed.

As reported in PCIJ,

ASIAN foreign observers expressed deep regret over the failure of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to conduct peaceful, honest and orderly elections last May 14 in the six provinces of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

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LIKE every patriotic citizen, am awaiting every update on the national and local canvassing of votes. Am interested not only in those who will barge into the Magic 12; equally important is the “attitude” of the early leaders, tailenders and their supporters.

These news articles from INQUIRER.net caught my attention:

• GO spokesman in early celebration over looming win for bets
• GO spokesman loses cool in run-in with reporters

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THERE are two observations about the elections which at first seem disconnected but are in fact intertwined. And when you bring these two together, it points to a paradox that is disturbing for a young democracy such as ours: People are becoming more capable voters, but fewer people are voting.

How do we work our way out of that? Let us first go through the twin phenomena informing this paradox.

All that glitters isn’t gold

First, celebrities don’t seem to fare as well as they used to. Montano, Gomez and Pacquiao are all bankable names but apparently people haven’t been as quick to vote for them. Even Singson, who I consider a celebrity more than anything else, hasn’t fared well beyond the Ilocos provinces (the results of which would be telling once we get them). And while we have yet to see how the votes for Visayas and Mindanao shape Montano’s and Gomez’s tallies, the trend in Manila is clear and I called their defeat months ago.

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