HELLO, TORONTO!

It is two weeks before the Philippine midterm elections as I write this column. I hope my kababayans are like me, quite excited about going to the polling precincts to cast their very important votes. Already, I am listing down my choices for senators and of course, the local officials who will lead my home city of Quezon. Hmp, sa totoo lang, I tend to compare Quezon City with the other progressive localities within the area of Metromanila and end up very dissatisfied with my comparison- always kulelat my city in terms of cleanliness, peace and order and other areas closest to make an ordinary citizen satisfied with his living situation.
On second thought naman, baka naman I belong na to that group of kababayans who demand so much from government yet does not give an ounce of support and help when needed to make this city more livable. I hope not- sometimes, I do try naman. Once or twice I tried talking to the baranggay hall staff to offer my time and services as a member of lupon tagapamayapa, that’s what it is called yata- the group that arbitrates or help try settle disputes among neighbours by conducting informal hearings in the baranggay hall and hearing both and all sides involved in the problem and finally help in ending the dispute by offering solutions acceptable to all parties. I have thought that because of my age and past experiences, quite diverse naman, I would fit in that lupon. I wonder why I always get rejected since I do not ask for a salary naman for my effort. Hmmm, I will have to go directly to my Baranggay chairman Tessa to ask and apply again for inclusion in that group.
As I mentioned early on, my list is half- filled with names of people who I would want to be senators. I base my choices on bets’ track record, personal and work backgrounds, and some glimpses of how my bet conducts himself among his constituency- madali na lang po to make silip their personalities even if one does not make babad in the Senate building or city hall. We see them in tv talk shows as they, together with bets from the opposition, try to reply to common questions asked by program hosts, we see the local officials visiting our streets hatak- hatak ang mga liders and supporters na malamang ay mga kapitbahay at kilala mo rin, we hear them on longer interviews via radio, we see them and hear more of their views about things that we ask in social networking, and of course, sa dami naman ng mga tsismoso and tsismosas in our midst, ay naku, you would hear so many stories, anecdotes and tales about each kwentista’s personal encounters with these men and women in the spotlight- kwidaw lang and be careful because malamang maraming tall tales ang kasali dyan sa ilang ikinikwento sa inyo, mga dagdag- bawas ang istorya- pa etsos lang ng nagkikwento in the hope that he will look important in the willing listener’s eyes.
Let’s about the so- called SOLID votes naman- meron na tayong INK vote, the solid North vote, and a few more who are believed to be able to influence the total result in an election activity. Will the newly- started Catholic- vote campaign also make itself felt in the coming May 13 election? This question crops up in the mind of many because of results in recent surveys of choices that the voter may make when they fill up their ballots and make their final choices in 2 weeks’ time.
The Catholic church has been public in issuing its recommended list of candidates for the senatorial and local positions- a list that it called Team Buhay. Team Patay meantime, is the list of names recommended by the Church not to be included in the ballot that a Catholic will cast on election day. Buhay has the names of candidates who were against the passing of the RH (reproductive health) bill which is now law. Patay had the names who supported the RH Bill. The church campaign as many see it, is directed to regular Sundaymass churchgoers.
Is the Church’s campaign effective so far? Are the names listed in Team Buhay more up in the list of winners than the names listed in Team Patay?
Mahar Mangahas, head of the Social Weather Station compares the survey results that his group, Social Weather Station and that of the Weekly Churchgoing Catholics in the most recent research activity of each. Mangahas is emphatic in saying that his group’s research was non- commissioned and the questions asked of respondents are intellectual properties of SWS. The research he says, meant to see if there is a relationship between a Catholic’s preferences for senatorial candidates and his churchgoing habits.
Mangahas says Mitos Magsaysay seems to be an early beneficiary of the Church’s campaign- Magsaysay is included in the Buhay list). She was #21 in the SWS survey but rancked #19 in the WCC (the weekly churcgoing catholic survey), an improvement from the February survey where she ranked #21.5 in Mangahas group’s research and #21 in WCC.
Cynthia Villar, also included in the Team Buhay listing gained 0.5 increase with a 3.5 score from SWS and a score of 3 from WCC. Better daw according to Mangahas as compared to Villar’s February ranking of #4 in both SWS and WCC ranking.
What about the showing of other candidates listed in Team Buhay, one asks.
In his comparison, Mangahas cited JV Ejercito with a # 7. 5 in both SWS and WCC scoresheet. He was #9.5 in the February survey of SWS and #9 in WCC. He lost his 0.5 positive edge of February.
Koko Pimentel ranked 7.5 in SWS; he was #11.5 in the WCC- in the April surveys. His February ranking was # 5,5 in SWS and #7.5 in WCC. He had a drop in rank of 1.5.
As for Antonio Trillanes IV, Mangahas reveals that in the April surveys, he was in # 10.5 in SWS and # 11.5 in WCC, a 1- point decrease in SWS ranking and a 2- point decrease in WCC from the February research.
Gregorio Honasan also went down with scores of # 12.5 from SWS and #15 in WCC (a decrease of 2.5 from WCC/2 from SWS) from the February survey.
The overall finding of Mangahas on the Team Buhay scores- three of the six candidates endorsed as Team Buhay made a gain from the Church campaign.
Team Patay naman- Loren Legarda, Alan Cayetano, Chiz Escudero, Sonny Angara, Jack Enrile, Risa Hontiveros, and Teodoro Casino.
Legarda has remained #1 and Alan Cayetano was ranked 2nd by both SWS and WCC surveys of April.
Chiz Escudero became #5 in SWS and #5.5 in WCC in April; he was #2 in both SWS and WCC survey of February.
Enrile is now #12.5 in SWS and #14 in WCC. Compare this to his February ranking of #13 in February from SWS and #14 from WCC.
Hontiveros was #16.5 in the April research of SWS and #18 in WCC; she was given a ranking of #18 in both surveys in February.
Teddy Casino was, from both surveys of April and February ranked 24.
Mangahas notes that Angara fared better in the WCC survey than with SWS in April. He was #9 in SWS and #7.5 in WCC. He also showed an improvement from his February ranking.
Mangahas’ assessment- only 3 of the 7 candidates of Team Patay dropped in rank with the WCC compared to SWS whose respondednts comprised registered voters as a whole.
Mangahas adds that the rank changes are quite small. He adds that it can not be used as a real gauge to determine the composition of the winning bets.
SWS and WCC had the same top 12 list. In April, not much changed except that WCC had Ramon Magsaysay within its top 12 in place of Enrile.
Will two weeks more of campaigning make a big difference to establish the Catholic vote in this coming polls?
THANK YOU, TORONTO!