It ain’t over yet

The Opposition, particularly FPJ’s and Loren Legarda’s KNP, is right to fight back against the "bandwagon effect" being cannily fostered by President GMA’s propaganda corps, abetted, alas, by public misunderstanding of what an "exit poll" means.

It’s also right that KNP officials, with the coalition’s candidates of course spearheading the move, are reading proof of electoral fraud, where and when these are being detected. The electoral process requires unrelenting vigilance and legal confrontation to safeguard its honesty and retain its credibility, the latter already tattered by unwise, stupid or even malicious actions by certain officers of the Commission on Elections.

I guess we can expect a racheting up of tension, confrontation, and possible resort to violence in the days to come, particularly since the slow official canvassing of ballots will take three weeks or more.

In short, much as Malacañang would like it to appear, La Presidenta has not been "officially" re-elected.

To add to the confusion and frustration of the situation, and fuel the anger and indignation of the KNP Opposition, the National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections’ (NAMFREL) unofficial tally has in yesterday’s partial count shown FPJ and Loren leading. The NAMFREL seems to be slower this time than before, owing to a number of factors, but NAMFREL Secretary General Guillermo "Billy" Luz seems to get hot under the collar everytime some criticism is suggested. (He is also past president of the Makati Business Club, if you want to know).

In sum, with the hot summer days back after a short period of rains, tempers are rising with the temperature.

It’s important to reiterate that the election is far from over yet. (I won’t drag out that bromide that "the opera ain’t over till the Fat Lady sings".) The winner can only be proclaimed by official canvass.

As for the Social Weather Stations (SWS) "exit poll" which was sponsored by our powerful network partner, ABS-CBN/ANC and The STAR, this was never intended to resemble an official tally nor create any whatchamaycallit "trending".

The SWS "exit poll" in the 1998 election was conducted in the same way, and nobody questioned it, since it was right on the nose, even to almost the last digit, in identifying the winning candidates and their margins. Since the SWS "exit poll" has showed GMA and her runningmate Noli de Castro "winning", naturally there has been a howl of protest from the Opposition, particularly the camp of FPJ and Loren.

Let the canvass of votes take its course. Let us be vigilant. But we hope that violence won’t be provoked. This is going to be the Longest Three Weeks of the year, make no mistake about it.

* * *

In the meantime, President Macapagal-Arroyo has not let any grass grow under her feet (to invoke another bromide, but one which is inescapable). On television, she’s been smiling and spinning about already like "Da winnah" while Da King seethes with fury and virtually accuses her pangkat of massive cheating.

La Presidenta has scheduled her first Cabinet meeting since the election for Friday morning and the topics given priority are carefully designed to demonstrate that, without pause, she’s determined to move the nation forward.

For example, high on the agenda is the creation of one million jobs per year, so she will meet her avowed target of six million jobs within six years.

Another project to be discussed is how to lower the cost of electricity, while "bringing" electricity to 1,500 more barangays per year.

Stress will be placed, too, on education, our Alikabok in the Palace says, with a plan to make available a scholarship grant for college to every family.

(Wow! Is this a dig at FPJ, or what?)

GMA intends to open 3,000 new schools, my source reveals, and provide one computer per school throughout the nation.

All these things sound great, but where will our government get the money?

With a horrible budget deficit and horrendous foreign borrowing, as all critics both here and abroad keep on underscoring, where is this bankrupt government going to take us? This was one of the questions posed by a panel from Hong Kong Radio which interviewed this writer over the phone, while simultaneously through tele-conference mode eliciting the views of FPJ’s spokesman, former Congressman Mike Romero (Negros Oriental), who eloquently voiced the Opposition’s denunciation of pro-GMA "trending" and declared that instead, FPJ and the KNP are winning this election.

This interview was beamed, of course, to the 120,000 OFWs in Hong Kong, some of whom came on the telephone (on air) to also voice their opinions.

I was also interviewed by Zen Lam of Radio Australia, and Down Under, they, too, are skeptical of the situation here and the election – although in a more polite fashion.

Indeed, the Hong Kong commentators, including an editor of the Far Eastern Economic Review, were both savvy, impressive in their knowledge of Philippine affairs, and sometimes savage in their opinions. I must say I take my hat off to them.

I’ve noticed as a recurring theme in expressed overseas opinions the awesome, almost insurmountable debt burden the government has incurred, and the yawning deficit – and the fact that we are actually "borrowing" money abroad mainly to finance the growing interest on our foreign obligations.

You can be sure GMA, unless somebody else wins (then that will be his problem) will be hard-pressed in the coming six years to cope with these worrisome matters, some of them self-inflicted.

Among the other Cabinet subjects to be taken up, I hear, are how to provide clean water for 45,000 barangays; how to triple loans and credits to be made available to self-employed persons and small business entrepreneurs; and finally bring down the cost of commonly-used medicines to half their price. (Was this put in to steal the thunder from FPJ’s political ads in which a barong-tagalog-clad Panday, looking neat and "presidential", promises to bring down the price of medicine for the poor?)

It boils down to the same query: Where will we get the funding?

Will, for example, foreign investment "rush in" if the situation normalizes and stability is assured. Then there’s the peace and order problem, etc.

In any event, GMA first post-election Cabinet meeting is a good idea. It sends a strong signal to our population that things have to return to normal, if our country is to progress – and survive these bitter and fractious polls.

But, I repeat, it ain’t over yet.

* * *

As ABS-CBN and ANC have just begun announcing, my guest tomorrow night, on my final show of Impact 2004 will be President GMA, telecast "live" from Malacañang from 8 p.m.

This is a commitment the President herself made more than a week ago, "win or lose", but today, I kid thee not, she regards herself as winning.

To be frank, I had offered the Impact 2004 program to FPJ for three Fridays running, but owing to campaign schedules or some other reasons, he didn’t take it. Last Friday’s Impact (May 7) had been reserved for him, I can reveal it now, but "perhaps yes" turned to "perhaps no," and finally, "no can do".

Fortunately, I had managed to get Senator Gregorio "Gringo" Honasan, then Speaker Joe de Venecia and Senate President Franklin Drilon – plus the incomparable ABS-CBN’s Korina Sanchez – who I "borrowed" from Senatorial frontrunner "Mar" Roxas for one night – to make last Friday a slambang, "rated A-1" program on ANC.

So now comes La Gloria.

This is my last Impact 2004 – and I thank all of you televiewers for having given this "comeback kid" (no longer a kid) the highest television rating of my career. My original Impact, with Ninoy Aquino Jr. exposing Marcos’s vicious "Oplan Sagittarius" Martial Law plot on my TV show on ABS-CBN in September 1972, had resulted in my arrest four days later by Macoy’s military – with Ninoy, too, being arrested (he was the main target of the entire exercise), and, as part of the crackdown, ABS-CBN itself being padlocked for years.

My deal with Gabby Lopez and Ms. Maloli Espinosa-Manalastas, who had "seduced" me into coming back for a brief balik-TV series of shows, was that I would cover the elections, interview the "Presidentiables", and other key personalities – then retire anew, returning to my happy life of obscurity. This I am doing on schedule – this Friday, May 14.

When I signed off that fateful Tuesday night of my ultimate Impact program in 1972, I ended with my usual admonition to TV listeners, which I delivered at the conclusion of every show: "Let us have faith in ourselves, faith in each other. For as long as we have faith, there is no obstacle that cannot be overcome."

This is still vibrantly true.

We’ve emerged, suffering but triumphant, from the long dark night of tyranny unto a new day. We shall emerge from this present crisis, all this doom and gloom, in the same manner – the fighting Filipino way.