A letter to put the cheating issue to rest

The latest Pulse Asia Survey is quite revealing… in the sense that a high of 53 percent no longer trusts Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (GMA) while some 37 percent still trusts deposed former Pres. Joseph "Erap" Estrada. Talking about trust… can we trust the surveys of Pulse Asia at this time? I would like to believe that the people behind Pulse Asia are also human and therefore susceptible to get into a conspiracy. No, I'm not accusing them of being involved in a conspiracy. I'm merely saying that there's a possibility.

I strongly believe that if a survey were conducted in Metro Manila, surely GMA would lose; after all, she lost in Metro Manila during the last elections. Hence, if a question were asked to the people who didn't vote for her naturally they would say they don't trust her. But if you conduct this survey in the Visayas and Mindanao, I'm more than positive that the figures would change radically in the President's favor.

That survey also reveals a truism about Filipinos… that a lot of them would want to see the deposed Erap reinstated as President, after he was booted out for corruption. Clearly, the first phase of this conspiracy was to discredit GMA and her family. With that accomplished, we're seeing a move to push the 2nd phase of this sinister plan, which is finding a choice to replace the President. ABS-CBN is feverishly giving their "manok" Noli de Castro a high rating… saying that his approval rating was high. But is it really?

I would like to believe that the people who say that Noli should be President if GMA resigns are not necessarily batting for Noli de Castro; they're people who want our democratic processes to continue. Putting Erap back is out of the question and without any legal or constitutional basis!

At this point, we ask our readers to prepare themselves for a potential extra-constitutional problem in the nation's capital. Are we going to accept Erap back? What about a military junta led by aging generals or Susan Roces? All I can say is, if this country drops this constitution, then all is fair game and we don't necessarily have to follow orders from Manila. Perhaps someone ought to start knitting a Cebu flag. Don't get me wrong, Bohol already have theirs, which they proudly display during our RDC meetings. They even have a Bohol Anthem, so why can't we have one in Cebu?

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Did we Cebuanos cheat in the last elections? Here's a letter emailed to me that should put this issue to rest and I fully concur with his observations.

"Dear Mr. Avila, I have always thought that the simplest and most sensible way to rebut claims of cheating in Cebu is what happened to Nanding Celeste when he ran for governor. First off, he was a hugely popular local entertainer ...enough reason for him to be voted many times over...as a Board member...vice-governor...but governor?...ahh, there is where the Cebuanos draw the line...he can be those other positions but not governor...so he lost...did he cry massive cheating? He didn't...apparently he knows that he lost...Herein lies the catch...When it comes to the crunch, Cebuanos know the chaff from the grain...They may play with Celeste by letting him win...over and over...but only to a limit...that limit being any position less than the governorship...

Now if Cebuanos (who's a highly clannish lot) can do this to their own popular local idol, all the more would we expect it to be done to a remote Manila-based idol like FPJ no matter how popular... If the logic is that FPJ must have won in Cebu because he is a hugely popular national idol, then we could have expected Nanding Celeste to trash Pabling...but the contrary happened, with nary a whimper about "massive cheating" from Celeste...

The myth being peddled that FPJ must have lost only by being cheated is a mis-reading of the Cebuano and, worse, an insult to the discerning ways by which Cebuanos exercise their vote...the Nanding Celeste phenomenon is proof of this... That FPJ lost in Cebu is Cebuano's way of saying, "Well, you're a popular idol/actor and we like you that way...but not as President"...much like what the Cebuano made clear to Nanding: "We like you as our local idol so we will let you have your Board member seat...even the vice-governorship...but the governorship is off-limits. Joe Sevilla [email protected].

P.S. Didn't Cebuanos also vote 12-1 (Noli de Castro) during the 2001 senatorial elections? Maybe a close scrutiny of the voting pattern of Cebu is in order to dispel this untruth being peddled as truth about cheating in Cebu." I reprinted this letter to put this issue to rest once and for all. You may disagree with this observation, but the great majority of us believe that this story happened exactly as told by Mr. Sevilla.

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For email responses to this article, write to [email protected]. Bobit Avila's columns can also be accessed through www.thefreeman.com