What is the truth?

The late Washington strategist Lee Atwater, who was responsible for the victories of Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and George Bush Sr., once told me, "Perception is 90 percent of the game." In this country, the land of gossip, rumor, and chismis – perception is more often than not considered to be the truth. If you are beaten to the draw, you get defined by your enemy. A couple of years ago, a foreign intelligence operative planted a story to test the waters in Philippine society. The story came back to him 100 percent more embellished than the original. He was simply overwhelmed by how the story was distorted beyond recognition. That is what Garcigate did to our present-day situation. And if we are to believe the surveys, a little more than 50 percent believe GMA is guilty of cheating and should be "People-Powered" out of office. That is mainly because the Opposition was able to project the perception that she, in fact, cheated to win. And of course, media helped in amplifying that perception.

The truth must be based on solid evidence. In almost every election for the past 60 years, losers have accused the winners of cheating. Because of EDSA II, the last presidential elections didn’t follow the Constitution’s six-year term limitation. Having disregarded that, we’re now paying the price. She had the equity of the incumbent, which meant she had the resources of her office and the government at her disposal giving credence to allegations of cheating. The question is did she cheat to win or did she cheat to gain a bigger margin?

In the 1998 presidential elections, Speaker Joe de Venecia was backed up by the Administration and its resources. In contrast, then Vice President Joseph Estrada, who was perceived to be the sure winner, already was refusing political contributions that were anything below P10 million. Erap was the clear winner with almost 11 million votes. In the last elections, FPJ was also considered to be the sure winner because of his popularity, which is the main reason in the first place why Angara’s group fielded him. His popularity was expected to overwhelm GMA’s resources as in the 1998 race. The fact of the matter is GMA was determined to win while the reluctant FPJ did everything to lose. And of course with the Opposition being divided just like in the 1992 elections, it certainly helped GMA more than anything else.

Now the story can be told. During the campaign period, Max Soliven wanted to interview FPJ for his 12-part ANC TV special Impact. We arranged to have FPJ interviewed through his sister-in-law, Yvette. FPJ, who is Max’s neighbor and close friend, had attended our 2003 People Asia Christmas party where I had a chance to talk to him about his presidential plans. FPJ felt comfortable with Max, who wanted to help him articulate his platform. For the first time in his television career, Max agreed to give the questions a week ahead so FPJ could prepare his answers. Not being a politician, FPJ had a difficult time expressing himself. The interview was a disaster for FPJ opening a Pandora’s box. Many people started to become skeptical about his capability to run the country.

Previous to that, the citizenship issue made his campaign lose steam. As a result, the expected campaign funds did not materialize. There were several signs that convinced many that FPJ would probably not win. To begin with, FPJ was alienating local supporters while GMA was promising heaven and earth to all local officials. A particular incident involved his Pangasinan local leader Bebot Villar, who was denied access to FPJ by his cordon sanitaire. What finally cut the cake was when Bebot was not allowed to go up the stage with the candidate. This immensely alienated Bebot, who decided then and there to go against FPJ. Apparently, there were numerous similar incidents like this.

Because the FPJ campaign was faltering, Ed Angara, who by then was having access problems himself asked Max if he could meet FPJ and bluntly tell him what was wrong with his campaign. We arranged for a private meeting with FPJ three weeks before election day so Max could give him good advice considering his experience covering 11 presidential elections as a newspaperman. Max knew nine presidents including the present occupant of Malacañang ever since she was nine years old.

Two months prior to that meeting, my barong tailor Robert Bonifacio and his wife were gung-ho over FPJ’s candidacy. They believed FPJ was the man that could make their life better. On the day of the meeting, I invited Robert to meet his idol. Surprisingly, he refused and said never mind because he didn’t think FPJ was the right man to be his president. With all the stories coming out about him fighting with the media and being too temperamental, Robert told me FPJ was just like him who can easily lose his temper and convinced that he could not solve the many problems of the country. He and his wife decided to go for GMA. Perhaps, it was a sentiment that was beginning to gain ground.

During the dinner, Max gave FPJ the lowdown on his campaign. FPJ listened without saying a word for 40 minutes. We were all waiting with bated breath for FPJ to say something. To my surprise, Max simply turned to me and said, "Why don’t you tell Ronnie about your tailor?" After telling FPJ the story, he took off his sunglasses, looked at me and said, "Tell your tailor I’m going to win." And that was all he said that evening. Max told FPJ that was the worst thing any candidate could say because all the candidates he knew who said that before lost.

In spite of her resources, GMA probably won only by a slight margin. The real question is – Was the cheating enough to make FPJ lose or was the cheating done to make her win by a large margin? This is the question that needs to be answered if we want the truth to prevail. The only way to find out is to get hard evidence. Outside of the impeachment process, the only way to find the truth is through the Presidential Electoral Tribunal. But unfortunately, the man she beat is gone. Perhaps, the CBCP’s call for us to move on is the best way to go, unless there is a way to prove without any doubt that GMA lost the elections. Because in this case – Perception is not always the truth.

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