10. Rebel soldiers
Trillanes won it big when he got a Senate seat in 2007. But after one of his court sessions, he suddenly thought of checking into Hotel Intercontinental Makati even without reservation… once a rebel soldier, always a rebel even if elected as senator. Sorry Gen. Danny Lim and Col. Ariel Querubin… we already have too many fugitive senators (where is
9. Lakas Kampi CMD
The first sign was already alarming, Lakas Kampi took outsiders (non party members) as candidates for president and vice president and they were not even very popular (Gibo’s relative popularity only came after people heard him talk… if he started talking three years ago he might have won).
Hit with defections, Lakas Kampi disintegrated in the last few stages of the campaign. It might also disappear into oblivion in the future. Political parties in the
8. Partylist system
Other than being used by traditional politicians to enter congress if they cannot be elected in their own districts, the much abused partylist system took another hit in 2010. They allowed national candidates to use their air time for their ads. It will not be surprising if hundreds (or thousands) of partylist groups will register in the future only to sell their airtime to other national candidates. And soon we will have a ballot longer than the voting queue (poor PCOS machine).
7. Bayan Muna, Satur Ocampo and Liza Maza
A lot of people scratched their heads when they learned that street parliamentarians and left-leaning partylist congressmen Satur Ocampo and Liza Maza were included in the senatorial line up of one of the country’s biggest capitalists. Their problems started to mount, first they have to share the stage and dance with Bongbong Marcos. Then, Liza Maza, a feminist and women’s rights activist had to endure watching Willie Revillame’s Kendeng Girls during their campaign. When the issues of lying, stealing and possible cheating were raised against Manny Villar, they were muted. For a “rallyist” and a “street protester” to be muted is like a butterfly without wings (with 89% of votes tallied, Maza and Ocampo were in rank 25 and 26, respectively with over 3 million votes).
6. Loren Legarda
In 2004, Loren got more than 14 million votes. In 2010, she’ll probably end up with a little less than 4 million votes. What is wrong with Loren? She was a Lakas stalwart until it was clear that GMA will not pick her as VP in 2004, so she jumped ship and ran with FPJ. In 2010, she was hoping to run as president under the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) but it seems the NPC has other plans. She slid to VP but her party’s presidential candidate (Chiz) backed out. Will she return to Lakas and run with Gibo or run with Erap (whom she helped oust by crying on national TV) or with Villar (whom she accused of corruption in connection with the C5 controversy)? She ran with Villar and the rest was history. Nevertheless, she will probably be reelected senator in 2013.
5. Villar Campaign team
There is a thin line between stretching the truth and lying. To say “Manny Villar was born an ordinary citizen” is true; to say “he was dirt poor and he swam in garbage” is stretching the truth. To say that his “brother died because they do not have money to buy medicines” when in fact he died because there was no cure for leukemia at that time is a lie. The campaign team also failed when they instructed Villar to issue blanket denials instead of answering issues point by point. If you are the frontrunner, you have the luxury to say “all these are black propaganda” and “all the accusations are politically motivated.” But if you are the runner up, you have to do more and prove your innocence way beyond reasonable doubt (but then again it is difficult to defend yourself if you are truly guilty and you might end up digging a deeper hole the more you speak).
Finally, in the advent of the internet and social networking sites (this is the first election in the Facebook and Twitter era), you can no longer rely on paid columnists and experts to defend/ promote you. Before, a professor (of public administration, perhaps) can come on TV and pretend to be unbiased and make statements saying that this candidate is good or bad. With the internet, it is very easy to search and retrieve articles in the past. Extremely biased views from paid consultants of certain candidates can be easily checked and cross referenced. A campaign is effective when ordinary netizens started copying and pasting them on their facebook and twitter accounts even if they were not paid to do so.
4. Mike Velarde
He was once a king-maker (he successfully endorsed GMA and Erap). He played with the idea of becoming king (president)… but with very low ratings he decided to remain a king maker. But then again, his seemingly anointed king (and business partner) was quickly losing ground in the surveys … and at the last minute, he decided not to play king maker anymore. Neither king nor king maker, Velarde will probably retain some political clout but he can quickly become a court jester unless he does something dramatic (or miraculous).
3. Dick Gordon
You were running in a marathon. While you are miles behind the frontrunners you badmouth everyone, the spectators, frontrunners, officials, media people and even the PA system. In elections, there are losers but some choose to lose in style, even managing to stage comebacks. Alfredo Lim, Raul Roco, Miriam Santiago and Ping Lacson all managed to win a senate seat after their failed presidential bids. I am not sure about Dick (I already saw a “like-page” for “Gibo for Senator in 2013”)… but then again, Filipinos are forgetful and forgiving. Three years from now I will not be surprised when people say “ah, tumakbo pala syang presidente nun, sayang si Roco binoto ko.”
2. Manny Villar
A lot of things will be written about him and his failure and I choose not to add except for one note: Hiding from the media a few days before the election makes you look like a loser.
1. Mar Roxas
Even if he finally wins by a “hairline”, Roxas will still be the biggest loser in this election. The thin margin makes him (and Binay) out of the running for 2016, unless they really work wonders for the next six year. He can probably win a Senate seat in 2013 and remain president of the Liberal Party but he should recognize that his opportunity has passed and must give way to other party members. He should also strive hard to make the Liberal Party more mature and less personality based. And similar to Villar, hiding from the media a few days after the election makes you look like a “such a loser, yaya!”.
