Move Forward: A Message to all Gibo Supporters From a Fellow Volunteer

During the month leading up to the elections, I began to take a more active role in Gibo’s campaign. I joined several campaign sorties and motorcades while I continued to write on my blog in the hopes that people would realize that he is indeed what we need now: A Modern Leader.

Yesterday, May 10, 2010, I shaded the oval right before Gibo’s name.

Today, May 11, 2010, all signs point to his imminent electoral defeat.

Today, May 11, 2010, I will mourn.

Today, I feel frustrated. Almost all my national candidates lost, same as in 2004 and 2007 elections.

Today, I will try to make sense of how and why Filipinos overlooked Gibo.

Today, I will rant. Yet again, we have another casualty of our political immaturity, as we passed up the chance for Roco’s leadership in 1998 and 2004, we have done it again to Teodoro, yesterday.

Today, I am bothered. When will we ever learn? How will we learn?

But as the day turns into night and as the dark sky gives way to the morning light of the 12th of May, I believe I will be comforted by the fact that my trust for Gibo is not based on him being the 6 foot tall-good looking-great public speaker that he truly is.

I voted for Gibo because of his platform.

I voted for Gibo because of the realistic ideas he presented on how to move this country forward and one thing I know about ideas is that ideas do not die.

More precisely, these ideas will not simply die due to an electoral defeat.

I am supremely confident that Gibo’s ideas are now planted deeply in our hearts. This is our glimpse of what new politics, what modern leadership, is all about. No more useless politicking, no more vindictive actions, just plain and simple focus on the issues to produce effective results.

Now, they are no longer Gibo’s ideas alone. Gibo has shared it to all of us. Whether or not Gibo will run again in 2013 and 2016 does not matter, it is already up to us, up to each and everyone of us, who believed and continuous to believe in him, to nurture these ideas and further spread it so that it may reach every island of this country and tear down every dividing wall, regardless if it is a wall of concrete or a wall that blocks one's social consciousness.

The responsibility to grow the idea of Modern Leadership now rests upon our shoulders.

Part of this responsibility is our obligation to promote unity, peace, stability and progress. And in advancing these, we must support the new and/or re-elected leaders of the Republic.

We must exercise positive activism, not destructive and vindictive politicking.

We must help in healing past wounds, not in further deepening them.

We must help in breaking down barriers, not in creating new ones.

We must take an active role in being part of the solution, not the problem.

If we continue to push for all his ideas, then Gibo did not really lose.

If even just a few of us would carry on his message of peace, stability, unity and progress then Gibo's electoral defeat bears no importance.

If we spread this message and develop the Filipino people into being ready and willing to accept and believe in new politics and modern leadership, then Gibo actually won.

Yes, we must always be vigilant. This is true. But this is more of a message of support. Because we have always been vigilant, to a point that we may have already overstepped our boundaries, which is counter-productive. Maybe it is time to take a different approach by stretching our hands in support and assistance to our new leaders in any capacity we can, keeping in mind that we can only move forward if we move as one.

We may argue, for days and days, about the specific ways and methods to solve our problems but these arguments should not outweigh the basic fact and the unifying force of the idea that all of us are united in the desire to create solutions.

Noynoy Aquino won fair and square. He will have a clear mandate to govern. Whether I like it or not, I have to recognize the fact that I am just one voice and that he will inevitably and rightfully be the 15th President of our Republic.

I will respect and recognize that.

Best of luck to him and with such massive support from all classes of our society, I hope he would be able to put this into good use to be able to truly lead us to prosperity and sustainable growth.

Kudos to Gibo for his high level campaign and clear cut policy direction. He proved that in a time where damaging and destructive politics is the trend, a leader can rise above it all and illustrate to us that modern leadership is actually within our reach.

Kudos to all the members of Green Team and other Gibo volunteer campaign movements, I think all of you worked harder than I did. We fought a good fight and we should all stand proud. I hope that Green Team will soldier on and that our group will not fade away. We can continue helping the society in many different ways. The relationships we built here will last a lifetime.

Today, I will mourn.

Tomorrow, I will move forward.

I sincerely hope you can do the same.

A Noynoy Victory

I religiously followed Gibo's call for positive campaign. I refrained from letting all hell break loose for almost 6 months, whenever I talk about Philippine politics. And now, I will ask for your forgiveness. The elections are over and both my priest and my doctor told me that it would be best to let out all the pent up frustrations and anger.

At this exact time, less than 1% of the precincts have been tallied so it is very immature to declare victory for any candidate. But you can expect Noynoy to do this very soon because maturity isn't really a trait he is well known for. As such, it is quite obvious that I can no longer constrain myself to discuss what a Noynoy Victory means.

In the event of a Noynoy victory, my hope that at long last, Filipinos would have already reached a certain level of political maturity will be proven groundless. Filipinos still vote based on popularity and personality. Filipinos have this "sabay sa uso" mentality and the surveys accomplished this well for Noynoy. Classes D & E are not solely to blame for this rotten mindset.

Classes A & B voters or the so called "educated" vote are also very much infected by this "sabay sa uso" disease. Many from this class have opted to vote for an innocuous candidate who has done nothing and proven nothing. More than this, this guy continuous to exhibit incompetence and traditional political behavior.

He, in his 12 years as a legislator, has not passed a single law. And what is the main role of a legislator? That's right, to create laws.

How did he explain himself? He argued that the reason for this is because only the rich benefit from the laws passed by congress and hence he simply directs you to all the legislative hearings and inquiries he attended.

And how did the so called "educated voters" respond to this spin? A resounding round of applause in agreement.

He, among all the candidates (I can't use the word Presidentiable to describe Noynoy, since that word requires the candidate to exhibit behavior and skills to actually be ABLE to become PRESIDENT), used negative campaigning at its worst. He pushed for instability through fear mongering by presuming People Power in the event of his defeat. Even Cardinal Rosales called this tactic "crazy, crazy, crazy" and "irresponsible."

How did the so called "educated voters" respond to this irresponsible behavior? With a big smile and a bigger yellow sticker on their foreheads saying, "I don't care if it's crazy, I don't care of it's irresponsible... basta ako NOY NA, NOW NA."

Like a little child, Noynoy licks his finger and sticks it in the air to see which way the popular winds are blowing. Case and point is his stand on taxation. One minute, he, in all his glory, balding head and all, boldly declares: "NO NEW TAXES!" the next minute he's singing a different tune. A day ago, he declared the redistribution of Hacienda Luisita, the next day his relative stated otherwise. Noynoy responds by saying his relative was misquoted. New York Times said they can actually release the interview transcript. Noynoy backs off.

How did the so called "educated voters" respond to this? With an all capitalized "WHATEVER! BASTA NOY IS THE SON OF CORY AND NINOY AND HE IS ANTI-GLORIA SO HE CAN MAKE ALL THE MISTAKES HE CAN. HE CAN SAY WHATEVER HE WANTS TO SAY!"

In Asia Dragon's December 2009 issue, Noynoy declared: "Democracy must work for everybody." He argued that a vote for him is a vote for the restoration of democracy so badly tarnished and spit upon by the incumbent. Let's take a quick look at how this man truly strengthens our democracy.

He strengthens our democracy by engaging in mudslinging and traditional political behavior.

He strengthens our democratic institutions by calling on people to rally on the streets in protest if he loses the election.

He strengthens our democracy by sitting on his legislative chair for 12 long years without writing, repealing, and/or strengthening any of our laws.

He strengthens our democracy by complaining without presenting solutions. Oh, I may be wrong, he did present a solution: himself and his messianic complex.

He strengthens our democracy by repeatedly declaring his motherhood statements not clear cut, solid, and grounded platform. And for the record, wrong headed economic policies and priorities are more responsible for poverty than this over-used, imprecise, catch-all term: corruption.

He strengthens our democracy by taking advantage of the personality political culture, calling on everyone to vote for him because he is Noynoy, the son of Cory and Ninoy.

He strengthens our democracy by skirting the pressing issues, such as infrastructure investments, education lending programs, and rural development. If he gets asked any questions related to these, he will simply look the other way and declare: HINDI AKO MAGNANAKAW.

He strengthens our democracy by getting irritated during debates, which is an essential part of democracy, when cornered or taken by surprised. His defensive tactic: he will claim that the moderator is biased.

That's sarcasm in case you didn't get it. Contrary to what Noynoy declares, our democracy will not magically and suddenly be strengthened and effectively function just because of one man. To make democracy work, a leader must not and cannot depend on HIMSELF and HIS DREAMS, he must have a solid, detailed, realistic and comprehensive platform to enact STRUCTURAL REFORMS that would work to strengthen both our middle class and our political party system. Noynoy did not present a concrete plan to address issues in both areas. In fact, his actions ostensibly contradict his rhetoric.

As such, the main paradox here is that these big bold promises of restoring and preserving our democratic institutions came from a man who exhibited nil capacity, in all his years in public service, to enact structural and institutional changes to our political system that would precisely solve or at least attempt to redress that which he passionately complained about (i.e. the incumbent's alleged crimes). In other words, Noynoy has not done anything in the past, the present, and during the campaign to prove that he actually can strengthen our democracy.

How did the so called "educated voters" respond to the absence of any solid track record and comprehensive forward looking platform that would allow Noynoy to deliver on his promises? Nothing. They were too blinded by Noynoy's smile and were too awed by him being the fiancee of a beautiful city council member, the brother of a celebrity, the son of the former president and a hero and many bought it. This is personality politics at its worst.

He exaggerates. He tells you things that you want to hear. Not the things that you need to hear. He is a populist and we don't need one.

He has no platform except to complain about the current administration. He has no policy direction. He has no plan on how to move us forward. He has nil achievements. He is insignificant.

All he has is the blessing... or may I call it an accident of being born into the Aquino family.

We have blamed classes D & E for the victory of Erap in 1998. We have blamed classes D & E for the continuous prevalence of Traditional Politicians in our system.

Today, I will blame Classes A & B for choosing incompetence just because he is Noynoy Aquino, for choosing unsubstantiated rhetoric just because he is Noynoy Aquino, for choosing motherhood statements (e.g. I will fight corruption) just because he is Noynoy Aquino.

Any warrior must prove himself first in several small skirmishes before rallying an army of millions to a grand battle. It is a sheer dictate of common sense that one should not follow a self-proclaimed warrior, who has not proven anything but promises a victorious empire, into battle. I will not follow a leader who has no achievements yet talks as if it would be so easy to effect change.

It maybe just me, but it takes a lot for me to admire a man. It takes a lot for me to believe in a leader. It takes a lot for me to be inspired. Because inspiration springs from action, from achievements and not from shameless/baseless rhetoric.
I am not that easy.

A vote for Noynoy is a vote for the past not the future. A vote for Noynoy is "sabay sa uso" vote. A vote for Noynoy shows that our political maturity is not only in its infancy, it is not only nascent, it is actually non-existent.

I maybe wrong. Noynoy may actually become a very good president. But using rational choice and analyzing all the information in front of me right now points me to a different direction. Believe me, I hope I would be proven wrong for the sake of our country.

But whatever happens, I can hold my head up high and I will always be proud because I made the right choice. I will tell the future generations that last May 10, 2010, I voted for Gibo Teodoro. I can boldly declare that I chose my president not because he is popular, not because he is "uso," and most of all not because he is Gibo. I decided to vote for my president after careful discernment... I studied and I listened.
http://straightshooter-lojo.blogspot.com/2010/02/case-for-gibo-teodoro.html

I did not allow my emotions to dictate my vote. I did not permit my instincts to dictate my actions. Because after all, I was told that the only difference we have from savage animals is our capability to use our cerebral faculty over our instincts.

Noynoy's victory's biggest contribution to this world is probably debunking the idea that all humans are rational beings.

For my closing, I would like to apologize.

I would like to say sorry but not to Noynoy's voters who may have been offended by this entry.

I'd like to say sorry to all us who voted correctly.

I'd like to say sorry to the gym owner who told me, while waiting for our turn to vote, that he will vote for Gibo because he wants a competent leader.

I'd like to say sorry to the taxi driver who told me, while waiting for our cars to get washed this morning, that he voted for Gibo because he is tired of political bickering.

I'd like to say sorry to the college students who told me, when I met them in Green Team activities, that they will vote for Gibo because they want to secure their future.

I'd like to say sorry to my colleagues who voted for Gordon, whom I highly respect, because they want to have a leader with a proven track record.

I will not say sorry to Noynoy's voters because they deserve everything that is coming their way.

I am sorry for myself.

I am sorry for all of us who made the right choice because while the country is not ready and unwilling to accept Modern Leadership, we are.

I am sorry for all us who made the right choce because all they had to do was to THINK and they would be ready for Modern Leadership but they chose not to.

I am sorry because we deserve better... so much better.

This is what a Noynoy Victory means.

But rest assured, that being a responsible citizen, I will respect the results of the election and offer my support to the New President of the Republic.

And to the citizens of this country, I hope we all realize that, whoever calls Malacanang his new home, for our own sake, we must always work hard and to achieve our goals... we must work even harder.

Unity. Stability. Progress.

The time has come for us to cast our ballots and choose the set of leaders that will lead us for the next three to six years, depending on whether they are running for a national or a local position. Contrary to what others say, your decision should not be based on the argument that this election simply boils down to a question of good vs. evil. In our socially constructed world, nothing is as elementary as good vs. evil.

The Real World is more complex than good vs. evil. Nothing is in black and white. There is not only a gray area, there is a whole plethora of every shade of every color known to a good paint salesman.

To be able to effect change, a leader must first and foremost see all these colors as they criss cross each other forming a kaleidescope. To be able to effect change, one must have a full grasp of reality.

There are not only 2 sides to every issue and in politics, there maybe millions of angles. In politics, there are a multitude of interests that must be considered and taken into account.

Failure to grasp reality results in useless/worthless opinions and views on how to move this country forward.

Only individuals who see the complexity of reality as clearly as possible can produce results and at the end of the day, producing effective results is the number one consideration in any measurement and or analysis. Those who do not see reality are bound to fail and fail again miserably. Those who do not see reality, repeat the same exact set of motions or actions and yet they expect a different result.

I have already, in my previous posts, described in detail why you too should choose Gibo and as such, I have already done everything I can in my capacity to tell the public that Gibo is the right choice.

Please view:
THE CASE FOR GIBO TEODORO: http://straightshooter-lojo.blogspot.com/2010/02/case-for-gibo-teodoro.html

WHAT WE NEED NOW: http://straightshooter-lojo.blogspot.com/2010/02/what-we-need-now-modern-voters-modern.html

Green Team Mandaluyong

As such, I am now left with only an earnest hope that when the electorate cast their votes tomorrow, they would have already realized that the complexity of reality bars us from choosing unsubstantiated rhetoric. The complexity of reality demands us to choose substance, the choose concrete platform, to choose vision, and to choose meritocracy: TO CHOOSE THE BEST.

For decades, in an effort to sway the gullible electorate, candidates have used poverty and corruption as core issues because they sell. I hope that tomorrow, we would have already understood that the complexity of reality demands us to comprehend WHAT WE NEED NOW.

What we need is someone who is working for UNITY.

What we need is someone who has a clear platform towards STABILITY.

What we need now is a man who can be the lead instrument for PROGRESS.

Stop the division. No more vengeance.

What we need now is GILBERT "GIBO" TEODORO, JR.