I’ve been a constant follower of Inquirer.Net and several daily broadsheets and there’s one thing that’s painfully obvious. Most, if not all, of the potential presidential candidates for 2010 have been doing their own PR Blitz through the major issues that have been surfacing the past few months. Other than that, they’ve also been very active in getting endorsement deals, allowing them to bypass the COMELEC campaign ban and having their faces plastered all over the country through billboards and tarpaulins. I’ve decided to do a quick rundown of all the recent “ex-deals” that I’ve seen as well as which issues the 2010 candidates have been jumping upon.
ENDORSEMENT DEALS
Senator Ping Lacson (Facial Care Product)
Coverage: Print Ads, and strategically placed billboards in Metro Manila
Senate President Manny Villar (His Own Campaigns)
Coverage: Billboards in Star Mall properties, commercials on OFWs and “Sipag and Tiyaga Caravan”
Senator Loren Legarda (Lucinda)
Coverage: Billboards along major highways and lamp post banners along EDSA
Senator Mar Roxas (Tide)
Coverage: TV commercials with him endorsing the value pack
MMDA Chairman Bayani Fernando (MMDA)
Coverage: Using the money of the people to plaster his face all over Metro Manila
That’s a lot right? Grabe. Talk about early politicking! Other than the endorsements, majority of these politicians have also been very active with previous major issues giving out press releases left and right. The most noticeable is the relief missions to provinces hit badly by Frank (which is actually good) and the on-going oil crisis.
Expect this to get worse in the months to come.
Carlo,
How I wish I could vote in 2010 “Philippines Presidential Derby”! I guess I’ll just settle on convincing my relatives in the Philippines to vote for that presidential candidate who deserves to be elected. It is disgusting indeed how those “wannabes” are manipulating those poor disaster victims, taking advantage of an aweful situation is ridiculously wicked! It looks like Senator Gordon is quite decent compared to those other shameless presidential “wannabes”. Besides, he also supports federalism and that does it for me.For now, I only have to worry about our American presidential election in November. Personally,I am not as excited as I used to. Obama’s inexperience worries me, while McCain’s lack of conservative foundations turns me off. I am a registered Republican but I found both parties ridiculous. As a conservative evangelical Christian, I don’t find either party, Democratic or Republican, fully adheres to my biblical worldview.
By the way, I wonder if you’ve read my latest blog comments about Senator Mar Roxas, in response to your reply on Senator Mar Roxas section of your blog. Anyway, I emailed him about the issue of federalism and he graciously replied, and for that, I was grateful. However, we are on the opposite sides on that issue.
Keep blogging, I enjoy reading your postings. Perhaps, in 2010 after Philippine presidential election, my wife, my two kids and I could visit Manila and we can get connected then. We would love to buy you lunch or dinner at a fancy Filipino restaurant at Bonifacio Global City! =) Last November 2007, I visited Manila for a week and was totally impressed with what I saw at Bonifacio Global City.
Cheers to you and your readers,
Willy Acuna
Dallas, Texas
USA
Hey Willy,
I’ll check the post again to see your reply if I missed it. I agree with you that Senator Gordon has a lot of potential but the problem is he doesn’t have the “star quality” which majority of Filipinos look for. That’s the sad reality of Philippine politics.
With regards to the US election, I heard that Obama is 9 points up against McCain. I wonder what will happen if he actually does become President of the US. That’s definitely something to monitor. At a crucial time like this, the US really needs a strong President with good morals and has the ability to unite the country in time of crisis. That’s something Bush has obviously failed to do. He polarized the country with his decision to go to war, and now he’s paying for it.
And for the free lunch or dinner, of course I’m game for that. Bwahahaha! I’d write about it for the Food Trip section of this blog. Thanks for the comments bro. I enjoy reading your insights as well.
Regards,
Carlo
And as far as i am concerned, MMDA Chairman Bayani Fernando is doing great.
compare that to Mar Roxas who criticize the the president by not signing up the Cheaper Medicine Bill immediately after it was passed pero yun pala eh hawak pa nila sa senado ang mga documents at may mga dinadaanan pang proseso bago makarating sa Malacañang. Napakalaking katangahan naman at hindi nya alam yon. Removing VAT on oil and electricity? kung ano lang ang popular eh yun ang sinasakyan para mapansin ng mga tao na kunwari eh concerned sa mga naghihirap.
Ey Salleh,
That’s the main point of this post – everyone who is gunning for 2010 is really gearing up with endorsement deals and riding on popular issues. What’s strange is that some of these people were silent when it was still far off from the election.
My only problem with Bayani is his tarpaulins. Sa totoo lang, gusto ko si Bayani. Magaling siya mag-isip and mabilis umaksyon. Pero nung ginastos niya pera ng tao para lang ilagay mukha niya sa buong metro manila, nabastusan ako dun.
It was so blatant and really just unprofessional to do something like that. Especially since he did the tarpaulins after he announced to the public that he wants to run for President in 2010.
Ang gusto ko naman kay Senator Mar is that most of the bills that are actually useful are authored by him – including the Cheaper Medicines Bill. That’s the main reason why he was so adamant in asking the Palace to act on it because he was one of the main proponents of that bill. I believe that Senator Roxas is a very brilliant and compassionate man. The only thing I don’t like with Senator Roxas is that he was silent during crucial times in 2005-2006 during the Hello Garci scandals.
O diba mas maganda discussion dito Salleh kaysa sa Waukster? Lolz. XD
I agree ginagamit ni bayani ang pera ng taong bayan. May nakikita rin ako nakikitang mga poster na may bayani tapos flag ng pilipinas sa ibang bus pag napunta ako ng school. Masyadong maaga naman ang pangangampanyan nya.
And about dun sa Lucinda ni loren legarda parang may narinig ako kanina sa radio na hindi na daw ieendorso ni loren ang Lucinda dahil sa sinita ito ng BFAD dahil sa kulang daw na nailagay. Hindi ko masyado tanda kasi narinig ko lang naman pati hindi ako sure kung yun nga talaga yun
Gordon is many things but lacking x-factor. I saw him before pitching the philipppines for its share of global tourism market and he was brilliant and sounded really smart. Mar Roxas was also in that delegation and the pre-evil Mike Defensor whom I thought was the only other person who stood head and shoulders above the rest. I know what you mean though about not having the ’star quality’. Gordon seems to be too elitist for the hoi polloi. His eloquence in English has the tendency to alienate the large segment of the masses. Having said that, I’m rooting for Bayani, who has done an excellent job in Marikina. I like his no nonsense approach in dealing with the recurring issues, like traffic, squatting, drugs, etc. It may be way too rogue/machiavellian, but his strategy produced results.
Hi there Carlo,
Yes, Mr. George Walker Bush blew it! I voted for him twice, I didn’t regret it, but very disappointed. You’re right on target, yes, Obama is 9 points up against McCain, but the election being months away, that could change in a heart beat. The American people have this way of delightfully surprising politicians. One thing sure, it’ll be pretty close!
I also wanted to clarify my personal view on CBCP’s decision to deny communion to pro-abortion politicians. While I am completely pro-life, I support providing contraceptives to control over-population in the context of marriage before fertilization/conception occurs, specially in Philippines setting, where very high percentage of the population is extremely poor. I agree with you, the Catholic Church must provide proper education based on what their doctrines mandate, instead of just rejecting all scientific contraceptive methods outright. However, while carrying out population control strategies, it must be realized that the primary reason why the Philippines is suffering economically is due to blatant graft and corruption. I reckon,there is corruption here in the States too, but the bureaucratic system makes it really tough for anyone to commit one and the consequences are awefully terrifying. I work for a local government as a Public Health Officer/Environmental Health Specialist, which is my “day job”, and on week-ends and evenings I am a Realtor/Real Estate Agent in the State of Texas.It is such an honor to be a public servant here in the States, where there is such great respect bestowed on us. Our website when you get the chance to visit, is: http://www.plano.gov/health
Click on “staff”, and you’ll find me there. I’ll give you our “Multiply.Com” site next time, [I can't remember it right now =)], so you can get to know my family. Anyway, bye now bro!
God bless,
Willy
@Willy: I’m not so sure if public servants here in the Philippines get the same respect. Society has grown so used to corruption that it’s easy to brand people working for government as corrupt. Really sad but true.