The dark horse

A new survey conducted by  The Campaigns And Images Group for the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) has caught the eye of many.

One columnist described the PPCRV survey, commissioned by the United Kingdom and US-based companies doing business in the Philippines, as the most credible and most unbiased he has seen since it wasn’t collated to help any particular candidate.

But aside from this observation, what made this poll different is the fact that it tried to determine the choice of each age grouping for the next president.

It appears that among the 18-28 and 29 to 39 years old brackets, Lakas-Kampi-CMD presidential candidate Gilbert Teodoro is the overwhelming choice. The PPCRV survey said that Gibo has the support of 3.72 percent of voters in these age brackets. Meanwhile, Noynoy Aquino and Manny Villar are more competitive with the older voters, particularly those with ages from 40 to 51 and from 52 to 62.

Meanwhile, the current tracking polls point to Aquino and Villar as fighting neck-and-neck in the presidential race at this point, the emerging trends point to Gibo as the dark horse in this contest, having overtaken Joseph Estrada from the No. 3 slot.

The second PPCRV/Campaign and Images survey conducted in February shows Villar bagging 32 percent of the votes as against Aquino’s 23 percent. Gibo got 18 percent while Erap slid down to 5.75 percent.

Young voters make up about one half of the country’s 40 million voters. A youth base, more than any other political demographic, is desired by presidential candidates not only because of the youth’s numerical superiority but the tangibles and intangibles that young supporters bring into a political campaign.

Young voters bring the elements of intensity and total dedication to the candidates they are committed to support. While the voters from the older age brackets are more laid back, the youth are intense campaigners.

The mock elections done at the Ateneo de Manila University, Aquino’s alma mater, was won by Gibo, a La Sallite.

At UP Diliman where Villar finished college and where Gibo took up law, the latter emerged victorious.

Meanwhile, at the Holy Angel University in Angeles City, Aquino, a fluent Pampango speaker and considered a native son, lost to Gibo, with the latter enjoying a 2-1 lead.

The online presidential polls – philippinepolls.com, philippinedailybrew.com and philippineselection.com – and those conducted over the leading social networking sites favor Gibo by wide margins.

Gibo’s spokesperson and media bureau head Mike Toledo explains that the youth are apparently attracted to Gibo’s master plan for sustained growth and lasting peace as laid out in his ‘Sulong Pilipinas’ platform, that comprises education reform, health care, food security, environmental protection, continuation of the public infrastructure build-up, and a tough stance versus crime andterrorism.

He adds that because of the youth support, Gibo’s ratings have broken through the double-digit level, and this poll bounce will be complemented by a minimum 15 percent of votes that will be delivered by the Lakas-Kampi-CMD political machinery.

Jumping the gun

Former Archbishop Oscar Cruz has revealed that slain whistleblower Wilfredo Mayor was preparing to expose supposed irregularities in public works projects in the Bicol region.

Cruz also castigated Bicol contractors who supposedly corner public works contracts in the region at the expense of small contractors like Mayor.

But observers have noted that Mayor’s company, 3M Construction, is not even accredited to deal with the Department of Public Works and Highways and could not have competed with companies with Triple A licenses, who by law, are the only ones eligible to bid for huge government contracts.

Sources say Mayor was part of a group that lobbied for the creation of a special task force, called Task Force Bichara, that practically served as an engineering distict in charge of big-ticket projects in Albay’s second district for two years.

Regional newspapers report that Mayor recruited a certain DPWH engineer named Arnold Matamorosa to head the group. Matamorosa had a falling out with Mayor, after which the latter exposed the former’s alleged lavish lifestyle and growing fortune that caused his removal from the task force.

The archbishop eulogized Mayor in his “Viewpoints” blog as a reformed gambling lord who toiled in his small construction firm to support his family. The archbishop immediately ruled out gambling matters in Mayor’s murder, even before police could look into reports that Mayor came from a casino immediately before he was killed, that Mayor was recorded by the casino’s closed-circuit television system as talking to a gambling financier, and that Mayor was involved in small-town lottery.

Maybe justice would be better served if the good archbishop would not jump the gun and let the authorities do their job.

Solidarity march

Protesting the planned midnight appointment by President Arroyo of the next Supreme Court Chief Justice, the Association of Law Students of the Philippines, together with Akbayan Partylist, Bayan Partylist, Integrated Bar of the Philippines (Pasay, Parañaque Las Piñas, Mandaluyong Chapter), IBP Makati Chapter, Alternative Law Groups, UP Collegian Manila, Tau Kappa Phi (FEU), led a solidarity march to express their disapproval of the said appointment. The march started at Maria Orosa, then passed along T.M. Kalaw, General Luna, Taft, and Padre Faura. After passing by the Supreme Court, the participants stopped at the UP Manila Oblation Garden where representatives from the different organizations and stakeholders briefly readtheir statements. Among the speakers were Senator Francis Pangilinan, Atty. Ador Tolentino (IBP Southern Luzon), Atty. Peter Corvera (IBP-PPLM), Atty. Julius Matibag (National Union of People’s Lawyers), Ruperto Ateroza (Pambansang Katipunan ng mga Samahan sa Kanayunan) and Monique Sanchez (The Manila Collegian). The participants urged the Supreme Court not to allow the Judicial and Bar Council to submit its shortlist of nominees for the next Chief Justice to the President. The march coincided with the resumption of the regular session of the eight-man JBC that was cancelled for the last two weeks.

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