Congressmen You Should Not Vote For in 2010

Remember Their Faces. Remember How They Voted. Remember NOT to Vote For Them in 2010. (Photo Courtesy of Manila Bulletin)

In political science, they say all politics are local. This basically translates into the political dictum that for someone to win an election, the candidate must be able to connect with local issues and that concerns local and common people.

Henceforth, whether you are running for a local or national post, your best strategy is to remain locally focused. This explains why congressmen do not want to part ways with their pork barrel even if dispensing projects and financial favors in their districts is not really part of their mandate.

This may also partly explains the discrepancy in the last election where majority of the Filipinos voted for senatorial candidates known to oppose GMA while opting to elect congressmen who are avowedly loyal to the president. The former is seen serving the national interest while the latter serves that of the local people. There is however something wrong with this analogy as we saw with the junking of the recent impeachment complaint against GMA.

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The True Obama of the Philippines

Filipinos love to imitate. This a common Filipino trait as identified by my students recently. With the call for change becoming the fad in politics as exemplified by the electrifying victory of Barrack Obama in the United States, not a few Filipino politicians have started to proclaim themselves as the Obama of the Philippines.

Jojobama Binay? Oh please. The only thing Binay was able to change in Makati is the amount of enemies he has silenced either by intimidation or outright co-optation by greed.

Chiz Escuderobama? Not even in his wildest imagination. What has he done in congress? What major bills he has sponsored that became a law? Young as he is, his ideals as shown by his political affiliations with traditional politicians are as corrupt as they can be.

With politicians left and right declaring their affinity to the message of change, how can the Filipino discern the bogus from the authentic? The self-engrossed from the self-less?

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Halloween 2008: Horror Stories from Cebu Pacific

…and it just goes on. Exactly a year ago when we had a horrible experience flying Cebu Pacific from Cagayan De Oro to Manila, someone emailed me a website detailing more horror stories about the kind of service Cebu Pacific provides.

The plot is the same. The characters are still there. The script, perfectly improved to get you boiling mad – but totally helpless.

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