Alex Lacson--A Vote for Him, A Vote for Hope and Change in our Country

Would it be possible for someone, a neophyte in politics like Attorney Alex Lacson to win a seat at the Senate without spending 300 million pesos? Pragmatics amongst us would say no.

I say a resounding YES. I say Alex Lacson will win this year's Senatorial elections.  

It takes great courage and fortitude of spirit to be able to do the impossible and if God wills it, nothing is far from one's reach.

Alex Lacson is running only with the strength of his convictions, only with a handful of enthusiastic supporters but for me, this is enough to prove to one and all that only with the will to help Filipinos, that is enough to propel someone from relative obscurity to national greatness.

Alex Lacson is running because he believes in the inherent goodness of Filipinos. Alex Lacson is a prime example of someone who has sacrificed himself and his family for the sake of his fellow men. What if he gets tired, what if he does not sleep enough, and what if he stakes the tuition money of his kids, the point is simply this---he wants to prove that every Filipino still loves his country.

For every vote that he gets, that's an affirmation that the Spirit of a New Philippines resides in each and every one of us.

For every single peso of support Alex Lacson gets, that's a sign that hope and change can still be achieved.

The campaign of Alex Lacson is something very historic in the sense that this runs in what I described as a "shared responsibility" platform---a pure form of voluntarism that is a direct denunciation of what we hate---traditional politics.

Trapoism depends on money. Trapo-ism insults the intelligence of the masses with its reliance on fancy infomercials and glossy electoral tacticals that cost millions of pesos. These tactics, relied for decades, are actually hit-and-miss activities. Politics is not an exact science. Even if you have a large grassroots organization, conversion of votes is still not a certainty.

Let us be one with him in creating History. Let us be one with him in writing a New page of our country's story.

Prove to the world that we can elect a Nationalist in the Senate without spending so much money.

Prove to the world that we can vote for someone, a neophyte in politics, without him spending millions.

Let us disabuse the minds of the people and rally behind Alex Lacson. And let our voice truly speak.

Hayden Kho and Atty. Monsod

Hayden Kho's lawyer says the old Hayden is dead. Wow. Talk about a Jeckle and Hyde case. In just a span of a few weeks, Hayden has turned, according to Atty. Lorna Kapunan, from a self-confessed sex maniac to a "reformed one". Why? To avoid prosecution? Or, maybe, an attempt to placate public anger over his controversial sex tapes, especially that Careless Whisper version?

This is obviously a PR hack job. Is it working? I doubt it. You don't change the color of a horse's mane overnight.

Same thing with elections. Constitutionalist and former COMELEC chairman Christian Monsod urged the public not to lose confidence with manual counting in elections. He says that the 1992 and 1998 elections were relatively "clean"; therefore, nothing to fear or nothing to get anxious about.

I have the highest respect for Atty. Monsod but to say that these elections were clean, well, he's telling us a half-truth.

That year, 1992, was marred with election irregularities and fraud perpetuated by no less than DILG secretary Ronnie Puno, if we are to believe Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago. Remember Santiago's outrage when she told a stunned audience that COCs were changed in favor of former president Fidel V. Ramos. That year started the "dagdag bawas" vote shaving scheme, remember Mr. Monsod?

Also, in 1998, reports show how certain senatorial candidates got the scare of their lives when their votes were shaved by election operators. Remember those protests from senatorial candidates? That was in 1998.

I understand why the palace unleashed the likes of Mr. Monsod. Don't forget that Mr. Monsod is still a Gloria ally. Like his wife, he never really distanced himself from Gloria. So, Mr. Monsod is a polluted source (sorry po, prof., but I have to write the truth).

There's no denying that many people are laughing themselves all the way to the bank with the failure of the poll automation bidding. Manual counting means big, big money for COMELEC operators. And these operators became brazen when the dagdag bawas scheme reared its ugly head in 1992. It became worse in 2004 and in 2007.

So, whenever certain people say, that the likes of Hayden Khos are on the way to reform, or that our elections had certain periods of calm and orderliness, think. That's obviously a PR hack job.

Mrs. Arroyo to run for Congress in 2010

So, Mrs. Arroyo, the devil enfant, is running for Congress afterall, says one of her closest allies, Secretary Pangandaman yesterday. And the palace issued a formal declaration, saying that Mrs. Arroyo intends to step down from power come 2010. Even one of her loyalists, QC Congressman Matias Defensor urged her to do so. So, what do we fear?

I never doubted actually that Mrs. Arroyo and her devil ilk at that house beside the Pasig really wanted to stay beyond 2010. I heard some of them saying that they would want to, but, like in the past, this administration has the tendency to stand down. Yet, what we should be very vigilant is this "one step backward, two steps forward" policy of this government. We heard these things before and some might even surmise that these pronouncements are just being said to lull us back to sleep.

Yet, one of the interesting things I got from a friend who handled Mrs. Arroyo for many years is really very instructive. He said that Mrs. Arroyo will obviously back down. She's just afraid of prosecution.

Mrs. Arroyo wants to preserve the financial gains she and her family amassed from the people all these years and avert a financial fate similar to what Mrs. Marcos is experiencing right now. That's why she wants to run for Congress in 2010. And she reportedly hates charter change. For Arroyo, the times are still unripe for a parliamentary shift, probably since there's not enough time and the masses are against it.

But, if you analyze things very closely, running for Congress will not shield Mrs. Arroyo from possible cases to be filed by her detractors. In fact, being under the radar still after her term of office will not entirely insulate her from prosecution. Why?

People will still hound her after she steps down from power. There will still be numerous graft and possibly criminal cases to be filed against her which will all be harassment cases, seeing that there is still no law that actually encourages suits against a president while in office.

The most logical advise to Mrs. Arroyo is retirement, not running in office. Retire while you're ahead, says a sage. But, curiously, this is NOT what Mrs. Arroyo will do according to her closest advisers. She wants to still be in the public mind after 2010, which, obviously, pricks curiosity and some might even say, a purely irrational decision.

Likewise, this public pronouncement must not deter people who want change to really gun for Mrs. Arroyo's downfall. Why?

If This is true, then, expect a repeat of the Hello Garci scandal in 2010. This early, there are doubts as to the integrity of the automated elections. Those behind SMARTMATIC are close business associates of the First Gentleman and surely, they would serve as the silent "automators" come 2010. What would prevent these people from manipulating the results of the elections? And how would the administration really ensure a clean elections?

For us to erase our doubts, this administration really has to go. People really mistrust, rather, distrust the Arroyo regime. There will never be a clean elections if the Arroyos are still in power. Whether or not the Arroyo regime intends to use cha-cha, this is already irrelevant because even if we pursue the elections, this will still not be a very clean one, even only basing on the perception of the people.

I hate to say this, but, Mrs. Arroyo and her family have to go. There is no other way but exile for them. And I advise them to do it, resign and leave the country, for the sake of peace and unity.