Mass groundswell for Erap DIE HARD III Herman Tiu Laurel 03/01/2010

Mass groundswell for Erap DIE HARD III Herman Tiu Laurel 03/01/2010 The Yellow candidate has been struggling to keep afloat like a drowning cat flailing and splashing in the waters. His antics and snipes, even at the slightest unfavorable survey or debate host, or against the long-deceased Ferdinand Marcos, betray an utter desperation. “We are naturally worried,” said one of his political camp’s old-timers. The precipitous decline of this bet’s standing has deflated whatever euphoria his party’s rah-rah boys have conjured in the aftermath of his mother’s death. But while they may still want to think that their metro-wide yellow ribbons and Big Dome hoopla can stop the decline, I have news for them: These have not. In a casual talk I had with two Pasig policemen, who came to investigate a minor traffic accident where a taxi had come from behind on my blind side as I was backing into my garage, I asked them, as well as the taxi driver who they were voting for. All three candidly said “Erap” as I cheered them on and admitted that I, too, am for Erap. Later in our small talk, the two policemen said that a fleet of buses had come to Pasig to pick people up for the Yellow shindig at the Araneta Coliseum. They said that after an hour’s wait, the buses left without any passengers. “Pasig is solid Erap,” they declared. “We’re not going there even if they offer food and drinks. That goes for all of us Pasigueños.” This simply illustrates that, first, the hype over the Yellow dummy is really just that; second, if the Yellows had to resort to hakot for their Araneta shindig, this only depreciates further any claims about Edsa I’s so-called “relevance”; and last, the masses are still fiercely loyal to Estrada after all these years, despite the endless calumnies and belittling from the elite and their controlled media. Meanwhile, the other candidate, true to his moniker, is digging up every trick of the trade to enhance his public standing. With the obvious collusion of one mainstream newspaper, he even came out with a report that ranked him on top of a “trust” survey (with 70 percent) despite its being already a month-old and therefore passé in the rapidly changing moods and opinions of people. This swelling “trust” rating being bandied about seems to be only coming from their minds because every cross section of people I have taken sample opinions from all had this to say on the profusion of this candidate’s ads: “Siyempre, babawi iyan kapag naging presidente iyan!” I don’t know how that unanimous and negative distrust could have been missed by those survey-takers — except, of course, if their studies defined “trust” as the people “trusting” Villarroyo to indeed earn back all “his” monies, and then some, upon reaching Malacañang. It seems the only swelling that Villarroyo creates is in the pockets of the country’s major broadcast and print outlets that are raking it in from his multi-billion campaign spending — which also brings us to a peculiar campaign strategy by some hidden supporters of the Yellow dummy. The Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ), in its series of 12 seminars for both regional and national journalists from print, broadcast, and the web, attempted to tackle “how to cover the May 2010 automated elections and how to probe into the election finances of secretive candidates.” PCIJ says that this is part of the 2010 Pera at Pulitika Network set up by media and civil society groups in cooperation with the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAid). Now let’s read what some international sources say of the IFES. From Eric Verlo of Not My Tribe: “…the IFES is actually a private agency which does the CIA’s work, created in the 80s when Congress moved to limit the CIA’s official role destabilizing democracies. Through the IFES, through the National Endowment for Democracy, the CIA continues its intelligence wars subverting foreign governments who threaten America’s corporate rule.” From an article entitled “Kudzu (a parasitic tree) effect” and subtitled “International Intrigue and the IFES” on saveyourcountry.com: “…The IFES, founded in 1987, was forged in the aftermath of the Iran-Contra scandal from funds provided by a CIA-connected organization. Documents show it received $125,000 from the scandal-ridden National Endowment for Democracy (NED) in June 1989 to assist the Nicaraguan political opposition to the Sandinistas. William Blum in Killing Hope quotes NED co-founder Allen Weinstein saying, ‘A lot of what we do today was done covertly 25 years ago by the CIA.’” It is in this light that the big over-spender in this campaign, who is Arroyo’s REAL candidate, can be seen as a major target tangential to preventing an Arroyo consolidation. That’s why Kristie Kenney, in sending out a not-too-subtle signal, once admitted that she wears yellow to signify support for the US’ next easy puppet. As the campaign nears its crucial end game, the only candidate who isn’t sweating it is Erap. He remains unfazed as his frugal yet bullish view of his chances does not depend on the IFES, USAid, or on huge campaign war chests and massive media blitzkriegs. His resolve is grounded on the people’s hopes for a caring, loving, decisive, and risk-taking leadership which he embodies. Even as Erap’s most basic and barest of campaign materials are just starting to pour in, the masses are now responding. Taxi and jeepney drivers personally pick up campaign materials for distribution; volunteers from north to south call in their services; and market and street vendors ask for materials they can hand out wherever they are. For sure, Estrada is triggering a tsunami of a groundswell from the masses. His elite detractors ain’t seen nothing yet! (Reprinted with permission from Mr. Herman Tiu Laurel) Source:  The Daily Tribune ALTERNATE URL: http://www.tribune.net.ph/commentary/20100301com4.html

COMMENTARY EDITORIAL Will the votes be counted? FRONTLINE Not God’s or bishops’ business ZOOMING IN Marcos, Arroyo, Villar: Three of a kind DIE HARD III Mass groundswell for Erap focus Indian festival goers warned about water wastage HE SAYS New media, old tricks SHE SAYS Wading through the Net