Persuading the youth

DIE HARD III

Herman Tiu Laurel

03/19/2010
I was taken aback when one of my 19-year-old twins asked, “Pa, why aren’t you for Gibo?” This question from my son Enzo, who is a first year De La Salle philosophy student, was asked as we drove home his fellow Northfield alumnus, Miggy, after I picked them up from a party. The question reflects his deep thought about the political question of the day and I felt honored that he considered my view in such an earnest way. The question also reflects a concern of Enzo and his peers that I surmise stems from a perceived positive regard of the youth for Gibo and a need to understand why not everyone is thinking the same way. I started by explaining that the young often assume many things to be absolutely correct but discover soon enough, as they grow older and wiser, that these aren’t so true after all.

Admittedly, Gibo is very articulate and if that were the only basis for leadership, I, too, would be for him. But governance, I explained, is more than just articulation. It is about love for the people and standing by a firm conviction. I then asked: Who among the other nine presidential candidates have ever shown “conviction,” a strong belief in his own cause to risk and actually suffer detention for it?

Erap had always stood by his belief — and conviction — that the people’s welfare is a president’s chief responsibility — the reason he opposed hasty increases in power and water rates that made the oligarchs conspire with the Gloria Arroyo forces to remove him from power and later concoct crimes against him. Estrada believed in his own innocence that he refused exile and chose to stand detention and trial, up to the very end, when they had to pardon him after his kangaroo court conviction.

Further, Erap firmly believes it is the duty of the president to defend the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Republic; hence, he never balked at wiping out rebellion in Mindanao and resisted foreign intervention.

I also injected Estrada’s concern for farm productivity, as seen in his “carabao breeding” program.

After we dropped Miggy off, that matter faded into oblivion until a week later when Enzo suddenly said: “Pa, you convinced Miggy to vote for Erap.”

Surprised, I asked him how I had convinced Miggy when we never got to talk directly about Erap. Enzo explained that his friend was listening from the backseat the whole time and as he listened to my explanation, he eventually got convinced to vote for Erap.

Given the youth’s mindset, it is no accident that certain candidates are triggering the “herd mentality” among the youth by creating trendy ads and fads that particularly target them.

Chiz Escudero, once the darling of the youth, started this early until his feet of clay collapsed from under him. ABS-CBN is targeting the youth not only for a candidate but for building its self-proclaimed patriotic and non-partisan media role — an empty boast belied by its history of political interventionism and Machiavellianism. The other oligarchs, on the other hand, have been constantly stalking the youth with their “I am Ninoy” type campaigns that feature various fashion pieces as a not-too-subtle push for their Yellow dummy. Then, as another subliminal appeal to the young, Villarroyo uses children’s voices in almost all his ads, too.

As tyrants over the centuries have known, the youth are easily manipulable as a mass of body and mind. From the so-called Hitler Youth to Mao’s Red Guards, to the Catholic Church’s Days with the Lord and Student Catholic Action, the youth have always been an indispensible adjunct. But as my narrative about Enzo and Miggy shows, the youth as individuals aren’t always dumb. We only have to treat them not as “the youth” per se but as individuals who have a clear mind and an innately sound moral foundation.

I imagine my narrative as a radio ad for President Estrada because I think it would really click and spread a chain reaction of Erap’s message, as it is happening among the masa. Let’s say with Eddie Garcia as the father and Angel Locsin and another young male celebrity, the youth will listen.

In the meantime, Estrada presses on with his fight against onerous power rates, as this space is doing, even as mainstream media continue to shut this voice out. At his March 19 jampacked press conference, “The Power Crisis in Mindanao,” at the Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino headquarters on 409 Shaw, Estrada lashed out at the power crisis hoax created by the Arroyo regime and the oligarchs, and its danger to the elections.

Estrada proposed his practical approach of mobilizing for conservation and self-generation by big users and those with private generator-sets to protect the people from the crisis’ adverse effects, a vital news which only the Tribune carried in its front pages. That is how big and dangerous the power oligarchs’ lobby is, and it will take an Estrada leadership to face it head on — definitely, another issue that the youth can understand and resonate with.

(Tune in to 1098AM, Suló ng Pilipino, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.; Global News Network, Destiny Cable Channel 21, Talk News TV, Tuesday, 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. on “Halalang Marangal: PCOS Failures and Risks”; also visit http://hermantiulaurel.blogspot.com)

Erap twits Aquino: I didn’t seek GMA’s pardon

By Gerry Baldo
03/17/2010

BALAYAN, Batangas —Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP) standard bearer former President Joseph Estrada, reacting to Liberal Party (LP) bet Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino’s comment that he is against Estrada having been pardoned by President Arroyo, yesterday twitted him, saying that he had nothing to do with the absolute pardon granted to him.

“He (Aquino) should be told that I did not ask, nor did I seek the pardon. She (Arroyo) could have had an attack of conscience as she may have realized that there was a miscarriage of justice (in granting that pardon). After all, there really was no proof that I stole a single centavo of government money,” Estrada said in an interview at the municipal hall here.

“I really don’t understand why he attacked me. I have not attacked him at all, but I will respond to what he said. I do not compare myself to his father (Sen. Ninoy Aquino),” but Estrada reminded the LP presidential bet that his father, Ninoy, was also convicted by a special court created by the Marcos government. “Let him (Noynoy) not forget that the special court had convicted his father for murder, subversion. Ninoy was convicted, too,” Estrada stressed.

Estrada explained that he could not understand why Aquino would make such a statement.

“I really don’t understand why he gave such a comment against me. He (Noynoy) has no business in that (matter of Arroyo granting me pardon). First of all, it is the prerogative of the President. It is in the law. Noynoy has no business in that (pardon). I am not defending my having been pardoned. But he should first become president if he is against pardons granted to convicts.

At the same time, Senate President Juan Ponce-Enrile, PMP senatorial bet, advised Aquino to brush up on the constitutional duties of a Philippine president, hinting broadly that Aquino is far from being ready for the presidency given that, from his statements on being against pardons for convicted persons, he doesn’t seem to even know just what the oath of office of the president, or even the Constitution, entails.

“He (Aquino) has a lot to learn. Before issuing those statements, he should read the oath of office of a president,” Enrile told the Tribune in a brief telephone interview, stressing that in that oath can be found that, apart from a president supporting and defending the Constitution, executing the laws of the land and doing justice to every man, there must be compassion. The President is expected to be compassionate, which is why the Constitution empowers the President to grant reprieves, commutations of sentences and conditional and absolute pardons,” Enrile said.

Article Vll, Section 19 states: “Except in cases of impeachment, or as otherwise provided in the Constitution, the President may grant reprieves, commutations, and pardons, and remit fines and forfeitures, after conviction by final judgment. He shall also have the power to grant amnesty with the concurrence of a majority of all the members of the Congress.”

Estrada stressed that his “campaign is (being conducted) on the high level. I can say what is true: That we (PMP) are the only genuine opposition,” and accused the Liberal Party and the Nacionalista Party of being pseudo-opposition.

He said that the PMP is the only “true political opposition” in the country.

“We are the true opposition, because all of them were engaged in a conspiracy to oust me in Edsa ll. They were all involved in Edsa ll...and not only that. Even during the 2004 elections, they (LP and NP) did not do anything to check on the fraud during the national canvassing. It was all ‘noted, noted, noted’ and during the proclamation, at 3 or 4 a.m., they were also there to railroad the proclamation: Senator (Franklin) Drilon and former Speaker (Jose) De Venecia.”

He questioned their motive in not allowing for the opening of the ballot boxes when the members of the opposition were questioning its integrity during the canvassing of ballots in 2004. Estrada also accused the LP of being responsible for the continued stay in power of Mrs. Arroyo which resulted in so much poverty and corruption in government.

“It was they who were together and connived with the Arroyo administration in making life harder for the Filipinos and divided the people. That is what happened in Edsa ll. That is very clear,”he said.

“Change of power in the Philippines (during the Edsa ll coup d’etat) was no boost for democracy because it was done outside the Constitution,” he added, quoting the Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuwan Yu.

The PMP also yesterday took umbrage at the statement made by Noynoy Aquino and scored him for being a political oppportunist, with the LP candidate’s “politically opportunistic” statement, by saying he was against the absolute pardon granted by Arroyo to Estrada in October 2008.

The PMP said, in a statement: “We find it difficult to reconcile this statement with Senator Aquino’s decision to seek President Estrada’s blessing when he ran for the Senate in 2007.”

PMP spokesman Ralph Calinisan said, “If he (Aquino) is trying to distance himself from our standard bearer now that they are both seeking the presidency, then this is nothing more than political opportunism at its worst.”

Noynoy was one of seven Genuine Opposition (GO) bets who clinched a Senate seat with the active support of Estrada, who was then still under detention in Tanay, Rizal.

Political pundits later acknowledged that Estrada’s endorsement played a significant role in the final 7-3-2 count of the senatorial race that year, with the administration-backed Team Unity’s dismal showing also blamed on the hugely unpopular Arroyo.

But Calinisan clarified that Senator Aquino’s statement was no longer surprising given his penchant for changing his opinion for political expediency.

“We distinctly recall that Senator Aquino once confidently said he would not raise taxes once he is elected president,” Calinisan pointed out, “yet when his statement raised an outcry among businessmen and economists, he immediately retreated and changed his stand on this.

“This does not speak well of someone who says he wants to lead the country; there is no room for a wishy-washy chief executive especially at a time when our countrymen remain hostage to poverty, hunger and a lack of viable opportunities for growth,” Calinisan remarked.

The spokesman further said that there is a growing need to remind the electorate that not every candidate who claims to be from the ranks of the opposition is actually one.

“Only those who actually opposed the perverted policies of the current administration and openly denounced its misgovernance have the right to be called oppositionists,” Calinisan stressed, “while those who played a role -- even the smallest one -- in installing her to power have no business claiming to be members of the opposition.” 

In Naga City, Aquino, realizing his faux pas, tried backtracking on his statements aired in an interview that said he was against the grant of pardon to Estrada.

Aquino claimed his statement on this was taken out of context, admitting that he failed to elaborate the matter, especially the issue of Estrada being not given due process.

“It was not meant to come out like that. What I failed to point out was that, if he was really afforded justice -- was conviction the appropriate decision on the case of President Estrada?,” he said.

Aquino tried to clear up the matter, when asked by reporters during a press conference in Naga City where the LP is holding its campaign sorties, as his pronouncements appeared to have stirred unnecessary tension between him and Estrada.

“Honestly, I need to review what I said about that,”he said, referring to the question on his position of the grant of pardon to the deposed president, who was convicted of plunder several years ago. 

“I cannot recall the specifics (of the case). Based on my memory, there were several questions that hounded the case such as the promotion, if I am not mistaken, of the judge (that handled the case). It was a speedy promotion after his trial. The question was due to a very controversial decision (vis-a-vis) the promotion (of the judge),”he claimed in trying to get out of a sticky situation.

Aquino further noted that, in granting pardon, the sentence meted to the convicted person should be served first.

The senator said that the context of his statement was in reference to the assassination case of his father, where those accused were convicted yet the real mastermind remains unknown to this day.

The exact statement of Aquino, when sought his opinion on the matter of the pardon of Estrada, having close personal ties with Estrada, said:“I do not agree with that (Arroyo’s pardon of Estrada.) I do not agree either with the pardon granted to those convicted of killing my father (Ninoy Aquino ) and other pardons issued by the present administration (to other convicts), I do not agree with that,”he was quoted as saying during an interview in a morning television program

Estrada finds momentum

EDITORIAL

Click to enlarge

03/07/2010 The Daily Tribune
What most politicians fear most, which is to lose their wind in the homestretch while seeing at the corner of their eyes, the one they dismissed long ago as an also ran bringing the rear fast, is happening to both Liberal Party (LP) bet Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino and Nacionalista Party (NP) candidate Manuel Villar Jr.

In the latest Pulse Asia survey former President Joseph Estrada was shown making a dash based on the presidential preference three months into the elections gaining six percentage points putting him within striking distance of Aquino and Villar who both suffered lower ratings from the previous survey in January, if one goes by what the surveys claim.

Estrada’s gain came after the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and the Supreme Court (SC) cleared all legal obstacles on Estrada’s run last January, said one Estrada supporter.

What appeared in the latest survey was perhaps that which many of those who doubted Estrada could pursue a new presidential bid, have started to shift their support to him from the other candidates after being assured that their votes on Erap would not be wasted.

The gain was most prominent in Mindanao where the gain was an impressive nine percentage points, but Estrada always had a stronghold in Mindanao. What was strange was the fact that the earlier surveys made him look weak in this region.

Going by the survey numbers, the gains, however, were all over with preference for Erap advancing three points to 17 percent in the National Capital Region (NCR), seven points to 16 percent in Luzon and two points to eight percent in the Visayas region.

Comparatively, Aquino fell two points in NCR, fell four points in Luzon, another two points in Visayas and gained five points in Mindanao based on the comparison of the latest survey with the previous month’s.

Villar is also facing an overall downtrend after being flat in NCR and the Visayas while falling five points and a huge 17-point plunge in Mindanao between the February and January surveys. 

Also, Estrada was only able to start a decent campaign after the January SC and Comelec decisions, the reason for his preference to start to peak.

In the world of sports, protagonists of a competition pace themselves and try to find their peak just around the crucial day of competition.

With the analogy, it seems that both Aquino and Villar are peaking too early and the vicious mud-slinging between both camps in the past few months featuring ironically similar allegations of profiting improperly from multimillion-dollar road projects may have saturated the public enough to start to doubt their having presidential qualities.

It does not need pointing out that the political shades of both camps, when it comes down to their backgrounds, do not differ much.

Both have the vestiges of the disgraced Edsa II power grab that robbed Estrada of the presidency in 2001.

The civil socialites that led the military-backed takeover are now the political base of Aquino while many of the former supporters of Gloria have jumped ship to join Villar’s camp.

Thus, between Aquino and Villar the choice is the arrogant lot of the civil socialites reclaiming power or what many see as a status quo if Villar becomes president.

Estrada may offer the only real alternative of returning the government to the masses.

Even with the recent poll showing Estrada gaining fast, real public sentiment is hardly reflected in the surveys since these do not systematically reflect the real extent of Estrada’s strength, and that is with the poor.

Estrada it seems, will be springing surprises as the elections near with probably the biggest surprise likely happening on May 10 — as the Estrada strength can be palpably felt on the ground, but still not quite reflected in these so-called pulse of the electorate surveys.