New weapon for old election - GOTCHA by Jarius Bondoc

Only weeks ago, the hottest cellphone text message was "Beware of JOE’S COHORTS." By the millions per day it spread. Texters poked fun or fury on the 11 senators who had quashed impeachment evidence of Joseph Estrada’s bank hoard under alias Jose Velarde. The targets smarted under public ridicule: Jaworski, Oreta, Enrile, Sotto, Coseteng, Ople, Honasan, J. Osmeña, Revilla, Tatad, Santiago.

Today it’s "Spit PHLEGM." Again by the millions, texters are enjoining one another to not vote for Erap’s leading senatorial candidates: Puno, Honasan, Lacson, Enrile, Gringo, Miriam. That Gringo Honasan is mentioned twice might be for emphasis on an EDSA-I hero-turned-heel of People Power-II. That partymates Jamby Madrigal and Ombra Tamano are unmentioned is because they’re rating low anyway. That Loi Ejercito and Ed Angara are not mentioned too could mean special personalized messages sometime soon. (Uh-oh, not "Jam TAE," for Jamby, Tamano, Angara, Ejercito.)

Whatever, the text craze is emerging as the new campaign weapon in the game of traditional pols. In the absence of swift electoral reforms in the aftermath of EDSA-II, politicized citizens are using CPs not to muster votes for a small pool of preferred candidates but against a sea of detested ones. If the weapon will work, Election Day will tell.

But texting already proved potent during the "revolution." Last Oct. when Chavit Singson needed warm bodies for his presscon on Juetengate, texting pulled them in: "Chavit 2 expose Erap millions from jueteng. Club Filipino, 1 p.m. Wear white." Days later text messages hailed thousands to the Batasan, then stampeded Defense Sec. Orly Mercado and AFP chief Gen. Angelo Reyes to Malacañang to deny rumors of martial law. Texting directed protesters to wear peach in impeachment trials and black during those four eventful days of EDSA-II. On the night of Jan. 16, angry texting by citizens of like mind roused friends from their homes into the streets for pocket noise barrages. By midnight, another round of texting rallied them to EDSA Shrine, first for Mass by Cardinal Jaime Sin, then for mass action.

If the voting of JOE’S COHORTS sparked People Power II, texting fueled it. Adversity turned the cellphone from a monitor for Erap jokes to a megaphone for agitation. When the crowd dwindled in the wee hours of Friday the 19th, text messages exhorted citizens to "gather 1 million critical mass at EDSA so military will notice n withdraw support from Erap." The crowd did swell, the brass did defect.

Trapo Erap belittles what hit him. He wrote last week in Time: "The gathering on EDSA was not a people power uprising. Rather it was hatched in the boardrooms and gated villages of Makati and backed by a text-messaging generation. The masses who support me cannot afford texting facilities or go to EDSA to watch a risk-free marathon rock festival. The vacationless classes were too busy toiling for a living."

He missed it as usual. The "text-messaging generation" he’s yakking against is the youth – nine out of ten protesters at EDSA and elsewhere, whose dream of a bright future he had dimmed with his corruption and mediocrity. They’re 65 percent of the population, aged 35 and below, from all classes. With cheap cellphones available from free competition – and fences, too – even jeepney drivers, housemaids and street sweepers own units. If Erap’s masses don’t have texting facility, it’s probably because, following his sterling example, they sold it for liquor.

The texting youth dictated the mood and pace of EDSA-II: festive yet peaceful, patient yet instant. Instant mobilization. Instant revolution. And for Erap, instant resignation.

Profitable, too. Cellphone managers said that during EDSA-II, 72 million text messages per day clogged the system that can take in only 25 million. At P1 per message, they, aside from Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, are the principal beneficiaries of People Power. Like Erap dogging the Makati rich, Sen. Tito Sotto and Robert Jaworski buttonholed cellphone execs to admit that they conspired to send "hate messages" like JOE’S COHORTS. Didn’t do it, they pleaded, but can’t complain either.

Two other People Power weapons can do the trick this election: protest songs whose messages sunk deep, and Internet articles whose salacity often defied belief. But nothing delivers as fast and far as texting. Education Sec. Raul Roco notes of the texting phenomenon: "Send a joke from anywhere in RP. In two hours – it circulates in Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao – two million Filipinos will be laughing at the same joke."

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INTERACTION. Rene Moral, cnl.net: Housing chief Mike Defensor said whoever benefits from squatter relocation must pay its cost. If squatters are ejected from private land, the lot owner must pay. Unfair. Lot owners pay real-estate tax, lest government auction off the property, yet aren’t protected from squatters.

Mike Nepomuceno, edsamail.com: What’s the difference between GMA and Erap governance? For GMA, gobyerno para serbisyo. For Erap, gobyerno para sa bisyo.

Carlos Manalastas, edsamail.com: "Wala akong alam sa pulitika," Loi Ejercito says. So why’s she running for senator – to share their stolen wealth?

Benjie Alvarez, BF-Parañaque: Loi for senator? Give us a break. A taste of power not only corrupted the Estradas but also disoriented their senses.

Joey Tandoc, hotmail.com: While they’re busy charging Erap with plunder, they might forget the Balato Twins. Indict those two senators, too.

Thank you, too, May J. Martinez, Rocelie M., Jay Entruda, Rogel Nuguid, Jojo Taduran, JR Evidente, Albert C. Lim, Cesar C. Francisco, Rhoel Mendoza, David Zandueta, Soledad Macaraeg, Celso Ibarra, Engr. Michael Catan, Arnel Doria, Ildefonso Gaerlan, Jesus Sievert, Teddy Lee, Robbie Sta. Ana, Ingrid Homa, Pearl Garces, Tom Manela, Jaime Pantan.

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YOUR COMPUTER. Too many Internet viruses are breaking out too often. So McAfee.com has added to its website a "virus map" that allows visitors to view global virus trends, anticipate outbreaks and alert users to any epidemic. Details in cnn.com/tech.

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