The candidates - up close and personal

The Philippine Star conducted one-on-one interviews with the presidential candidates. Sara Soliven de Guzman was able to observe their mannerisms, body language, eye movements and their general behavior whenever crucial, controversial, irritating, or easy questions were asked.

Her general observations on Villar, Erap and Gibo fit in the general expectations or their known reputations. It is her observations of Noynoy which are more revealing, as they do not generally conform to the 'rumors'.

According to her, Manny Villar brings in an “entrepreneurial spirit” in the presidential race. He was frank, earnest, tactless. He had wit, intelligence and fiery drive. He surely will never run away from this fight!

Joseph “Erap” had a congenial presence. He is a seasoned, charming, candid, friendly politician. Erap is the “most charming” presidential candidate. He’s got the will to survive (in this race)!

Gilbert Teodoro had no “airs” whatsoever. He was very modest, friendly, and docile. He had a very pleasing personality, very respectful, quite spirited, serious and intelligent. He is the “politician” in the purest form of the word amongst the presidential candidates. He thinks fast, quite cunning and calculating, very sharp and clever. He is very convincing and irresistible.

Noynoy Aquino was generally kind, courteous, soft-spoken and tranquil. He exuded confidence especially when it came to affairs of the state. He is not naïve. He is the “pure statesman” in this presidential race. He is like a walking encyclopedia. Amongst all the candidates, he knows that a revolutionary change is just what the world and the people need. His vision has clearly put him way ahead of the rest.

I think I know who Ms. Soliven is voting for. I think we should go for him too.

Villar's net worth rises faster than GNP

A presidential campaign costs hundreds of millions if not billions. Manny Villar reportedly spent over half a billion in ads alone in October-December last year. Yet if he wins, he stands to earn just 60k pesos a month, which is in a 6-year term a little over 3million after taxes. Villar's spending is way over the top but the other candidates are also spending a small fortune.

Using available data from the Internet, below is a table of the candidates net worth over the years and the Philippines GNP. The data comes from a PCIJ article on the candidates rise in wealth despite poll expenses. The Philippine GNP data is from the IMF's World Economic Outlook. I used the previous available data to fill up the years with no available data. Then I prepared a simple line graph to see the relative rise in the figures.

As was observed by the PCIJ, the candidates’ rise in net worth typically came after an election year - while they were supposedly serving in office, while they should not have benefited from business from which they should have divested their interests. PCIJ also observed that the spike in their net worth even defied the slump in both local and global economy because of the financial crisis in 1997 and 2008.

The graph clearly show that Villar's (and to some extentGibo's ) rise in net worth is higher than the rise in GNP. The red line shows the Philippines GNP in current prices, the orange line is Villar's net worth, the green is Gibo's, Erap's is the dark orange, Dick's is the pink one, Noynoy's is the pitiful yellow languishing at the bottom. Erap's net worth rose sharply after getting elected in 1998. Gibo's net worth rose because of some lucky inheritance.  What is Villar's excuse?

	Noynoy	Erap	Gordon	Gibo	Villar	Phil., GNP (US$)
1992		3.41	8.3		75.43	52.982
1993		3.41	8.3		75.43	54.368
1994		3.41	8.3		75.43	64.084
1995		3.41	11.87		75.43	75.525
1996		3.41	11.87		319.92	84.371
1997		3.41	11.87		319.92	83.736
1998	8.7	3.41	11.87	80.17	319.92	66.596
1999	8.7	35.86	11.87	80.17	319.92	76.157
2000	8.7	35.86	11.87	80.17	319.92	75.912
2001	8.7	35.86	11.87	74.54	319.92	71.216
2002	11.98	35.86	24.92	74.54	481.5	76.814
2003	11.98	35.86	24.92	74.54	481.5	79.634
2004	11.98	35.86	24.92	74.54	481.5	86.930
2005	13.46	35.86	24.92	232.43	759.82	98.829
2006	13.46	35.86	24.92	232.43	759.82	117.534
2007	13.94	35.86	26.52	232.43	759.82	144.043
2008	13.94	35.86	26.52	232.43	1050.00	166.909

Manny Pacquiao on the Jimmy Kimmel Show 2

Manny Pacquiao again appeared in the Jimmy Kimmel show, this time to promote his fight against Joshua Clottey. The first time he appeared on the show he was rumored to bring along Krista Ranillo. He sang "Sometimes When We Touch" in that show. This time to make amends to his wife, he reportedly brought along Jinkee. And to top it all, he sang a reaffirming "Nothing's Gonna Change My Love for You".

Before his song number, Manny took a dig against Mayweather for the Fraud Gayweather's insistence for a blood test close to the fight. Manny said the boxers' job is to fight and not to make the rules. He repeated his willingness to fight anybody.

Sweet sweep for Purefoods

Congratulations to the Purefoods TJ Hotdogs for sweeping the Alaska Aces 4-0 in winning the All-Filipino Cup 2010. Their 10 point margin in the last game is the biggest win in the series. The 2nd and 3rd games were just 1 point wins and both came from questionable calls or non-calls in the end game. But this last win is also the sweetest because they won it in a clear and uncontroversial fashion. They deserve this title.

Alaska came out flat in the series, unable to match the energy of the supposedly tired Hotdogs. Wala pa ring tatalo sa Alaska?

It looks like my son 7-yr old Popoy will also be an avid sports fan. He roots for Purefoods. He took an interest in the game because of the fine semifinal series against SMB. To keep his interest I told him I'm for Alaska. Now he has bragging rights till the next championships.

PLAK! Hindi lahat pera ang katapat

Manny Villar thinks that everyone has a price. Unfortunately, Enrile, Erap and now Gordon, prove that this is not true. The way rumors circulate that he is GMA's hidden candidate make many believe it is not a rumor anymore because everyone's saying it. Villar sorely needs the services of someone like GMA's Defensor.

Gordon says he is fed up with Villar camp's propensity to use his money to get what he wants, including the presidency. "You can buy some of the people some of the time, but you can't buy all the people all of the time." The expected reaction from Villar is the usual hollow blanket denial. Enrile and Erap might have some credibility problems but somehow people believe them when they said Villar tried to buy them off. Now that Gordon is saying the same,  more people will be inclined to believe it.

It's Gordon's integrity against Villar's integrity. Let's see how Villar buys out the story.