The heat is on!
From the time President Cory restored democracy in 1986, ending 15 years of Martial Law and 21 years of Marcos rule, we have witnessed three presidential elections in 1992, 1998, and 2004. All were hotly fought and hard-won. Yes, even Garci had to work very hard to produce the right numbers for a “respectable” winning lead. But the one scheduled for 2010 is building up to an unprecedented heat and ferocity that will make the past three elections look like a fight for the presidency of the Student Catholic Action.
If researchers could measure the pulse of this coming race, it would probably beat at such a fast and furious pace and show all the signs of turning cardiac as D-day nears. Several factors contribute to the intense passion of this contest. Foremost is an almost feverish yearning for a new and more trustworthy Palace occupant. If the rating of the administration’s candidate is any indication, 98 percent of the voting population does not want to have any reminder of the incumbent’s policies and programs that their bet will presumably continue. It will take an intervention of the beam-me-up-Scotty kind to get Gilbert Teodoro of Lakas-Kampi within the circle of serious contenders. With a two-percent voting preference and barely four months to go, he should just run in 2016.
Then there is the controversial implementation of the first, untried and untested, fully automated voting. From the get-go, the initiative was rickety. A bidding that raised eyebrows, a botched-up demonstration of the equipment and a long list of “what ifs” that still remains unanswered by the Comelec. A vigilant electorate watches and prays that the untrained teachers and voters will somehow be able to elect a new president without any incident and minus the wholesale cheating that we have been warned about.
The constant question of whether this election will even happen at all adds to the fever. Scenarios like No-El (no election) and Fa-El (failure of elections) continue to spread. Conspiracy theories abound: The specter of Martial Law being declared, the rumor of GMA gunning for a Congress seat and the Lower House’s dogged determination to keep dancing the Cha-cha. All these cobwebs are supposedly a propaganda strategy to prevent GMA from becoming a lame duck and/or keep her in Malacañang even longer than she has already stayed. The black creators of such disinformation probably have their heads so deeply buried in their own lies that they can no longer discern whether the objective is being met. On the contrary, it is creating a legacy of the most repugnant Philippine leader of all time.
The stakes are so high that some candidates launched their advertising a full two years before elections! The May 10, 2010 derby is shaping up to be the longest and most expensive campaign ever in Philippine history. Following in the footsteps of the Obama victory, considered the best-executed political campaign ever and the new gold standard of political consultants, local candidates immediately began to ape Obama’s tactics, forgetting that we don’t have primaries that require early campaigning. Local news reports say that Manny Villar has spent P848 million on advertising as of October 2009, eight months before elections. But an insider disclosed that the total campaign spending for the period is actually closer to P1.5 billion, if the “un-receipted” expenses are counted. Not a few have wondered how he will be able to recover the massive expenditure if he ever wins the coveted seat of power. Villar has turned up the election decibels to a shrill note, adding to the frenzy.
And then our beloved former President Cory Aquino died. This was the final critical factor fanning the election delirium. Cory’s demise was the defining moment of the prequel. There is a clear delineation of BC (Before Cory) and AC (After Cory) in this campaign. Before Aug. 2, interest in the presidential derby was at best moderate and to a large extent purely transactional. After she passed away and the Filipino people drafted her only son, Noynoy, the shallow political consciousness turned into deep voter commitment, the likes of which has not been seen since the 1986 People Power.
The emergence of Noynoy Aquino on Sept. 9 as the people’s choice proved seismic. His entry rocked the voting game, and reset the running tally back to ground zero. Mar Roxas magnanimously gave up his seat as the Liberal Party standard bearer, and the circle of major players became much smaller. Of course, this is not counting the “one percenters” who deny the surveys and insist that they still have a fighting chance because their NGO/party/brotherhood/God told them they should try and prevail.
All these factors predict a fierce, no-holds-barred war, not only for the top post but also the vice presidency. Political analysts are foreseeing an even more thrilling fight for the second highest post since more aspirants have joined the fray. And because the challenge is quickly reaching boiling point, the dark side of campaigning is now rearing its ugly head.
As non-combat spectators, our principal task is to be informed, discerning and above all, wise to the guile and guise of political operators. This early in the game, the “special operators,” a.k.a. black ops, have been unleashed to fabricate, expose and smear not just political rivals but anyone who might help boost the popularity of the aspirant. Their chosen arena for black propaganda is the new media — cheap, fast, widespread and unbridled. The white papers, e-mail blast and blind items are passé. Blogs, Facebook and group SMS are the favorite weapons of choice for special ops. Lies, half-truths, omissions, distortions and outright fabrications are disseminated with the false courage of anonymity.
Every now and then, old-fashioned and sometimes inept propagandist events often used by the leftist militants are still staged. Just a few days ago a group of purported farmers marched to Times Street in Quezon City to picket Noynoy Aquino’s residence, whose family owns 4.3 percent of the beleaguered Hacienda Luisita. What’s wrong with this picture? First, the marchers were not the real beneficiaries. In fact, they may not even be real farmers. Then, at the precise moment, the cardboard coffin they were carrying to dramatize the deaths of some farmers five years ago suddenly fell open. Hundreds of fans with Gibo’s name spilled out of the casket. One protester even faced the camera to show the fan up close.
This is a textbook case of black propaganda, which is defined as “false information and material that profess to be from a source on one side of a conflict, but is actually from the opposing side. It is typically used to vilify, embarrass or misrepresent the enemy.” Unless the three stooges make up the special ops team who dreamed this up, any thinking person can see through this gambit a mile away. Why would Gibo put telltale evidence in plain view if the intention was to harass Noynoy? Black propaganda misleads not only with the information but also with the source, diverting authorship of the deed from the real culprit.
And so the heat builds up to boiling point. As more money is invested with unfulfilled returns, the desperation becomes more palpable and the shadowy black artists come to fore — cooking up devious malice and evil information warfare. But they have to be more creative than that. The voters have seen it all, and are harder to fool. Even the so-called “masa” have wised up. It seems like this is one contest where decency and goodness will simply repel money and malice. Pure is hot!
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