Mar's 800k votes hump.

Just 5 hours after the polls closed last Monday, Comelec released figures that say 57% of votes has been counted. Noynoy led Erap by over 3 million votes. Binay led by close to 800k votes over Mar.

As more votes are counted and transmitted, one would expect the lead to widen. It happened in the case of Noynoy. With 90% of votes in, his lead is now over 5 million. But in Binay and Mar's case, the lead just hovered around that 800k hump. After 3million votes and an 800k lead, Binay just coasted along. All the way to the finish?

Hmmp.

Post election thoughts

It appears Binay will win the VP contest. With 4M+ votes to count, he leads by just under 800k votes over Mar Roxas. Ever since the start of the counting, Binay had that consistent 800k lead. As more votes get counted, that lead stays the same. Wonder where that 800k came from? Regions 4 is so close to home and yet he did not take care of it.
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The total votes for president was close to a million more than the total votes for vice president. It means there are many people who did not vote for a VP. Or many VP votes were invalidated. Erap was caught on cam to having not voted for a VP. Probably his experience with GMA made him do it.
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Did Mar get overconfident? Maybe. The surveys said his lead over Loren was comfortable. And she looked she had nowhere to go. With INC's endorsement locked up a long time ago, they did not see Binay. Now Chiz feels like a kingmaker. He can claim his endorsement clinched it for Binay.
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Villar: Ako ay may sipag at tiyaga.
Gibo: Ako ay may galing at talino.
Noynoy: Wala yan sa mommy at daddy ko.
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Pinoys don't mind performers-turned-politicians-who-don't-perform as long as they are not tainted with corruption. Joey Marquez lost. Lito Lapid and Bong Revilla won. It also helped that they stayed away from GMA in this campaign.
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This election's vote is a vote against GMA. Gibo despite all his galing at talino lost big. Villar despite his billions and sipag at tiyaga lost billions. All because of the GMA connection. Erap the ex-convict was ahead of the two. Binay postured himself as anti-GMA. He branded Mar as pro-GMA. He leads as of now.
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Chiz enjoys his kingmaker role. But he better make sure that his VP behaves, or else he will go down with him.

My 2010 election experience - a tale of an almost disenfranchised

PCOS machine

My wife and I were at the polling precinct before 8am. We knew where the room was, we knew our sequence numbers, and we brought along a codigo of our choices. We were also aware that our precinct was clustered along with 4 others. We thought voting in this automated election will be a breeze. It wasn't. It was almost a frustrating exercise.

We went to the 2nd floor where our precinct is. The actual polling place (wehre the PCOS machine is) is on the first room on that building wing. Our cluster is made up of that precinct and the next 4 rooms. But voters are made to line up past to the next room where they give out numbers. Election helpers call out the numbers and the voters will transfer back to the 1st room to vote. Only up to 10 voters are admitted into the room.

Comelec again made a lapse in judgment. When they clustered precincts because to minimize the number of PCOS machines to be used, they should have allowed more than 10 voters at a time. In the manual era, when there was no clustering, they allowed 10 voters at a time. Today, with clustering - effectively making a precinct 5x as big as before, allowing only 10 at a time will naturally create long queues. I think they should let in 50 at a time. If 50 is deemed too big, then 25-35 is certainly better than 10.

Anyway, I finally got to the voting room after an hour and a half. I counted more than 20 markers on the watchers table, including the ones being used by the voters. There were also enough desks for the voters to use. Comelec could have allowed more than 10 at a time. Is there a plan to disenfranchise voters?  I finished marking my ballot in just over 2 minutes, carefully not marking outside the of oval shape. I heard comments that ballots with shading outside the oval are rejected by the PCOS. When the PCOS screen said "Congratulations!", I managed a smile despite the tiresome wait. I have done my part to change this administration.

Final thoughts on this election

People should vote for change. This administration has brought us Joc-joc, Garci, ZTE, Neri, Winston, Abalos, C5, ad nauseam. If we don't vote to change all that, they will not only go scot-free, we're bound to get more of that.

People should also vote for a vice president and senators who will help accomplish that change. Villar will lose but he will still be a senator with a chance to be senate president. Congress will still be controlled by GMA, who herself will be a congressman with a chance to be Speaker. In that scenario, President Noynoy can be impeached easily. That tack will be pursued by GMA and her minions much more so if the VP is on their side. That's why I think they're buttering up to Binay (Loren is so far behind). He will be easier for this admin to work on. So, to avoid all that possibility, the country will be better off if the whole team for change gets elected - the president, vice president, and the whole senate slate.
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People give more credence to self rated poverty surveys than to official government poverty statistics. After all, poverty can be argued as a just state of mind. So, despite the catchy jingle and all his proclamations of his poverty the big question is why don't people believe that Villar was poor?
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Gibo won handily in a mock election at a government office. This is far, far, off the nationwide survey results from the regular pollsters. Some say this is because the people in this office are technocrats and they go for technocrats like Gibo. Hmm, maybe. But many people here think like bureaucrats. I think that people in this office have found their comfort zone. They are very comfortable in their positions that they want the status quo to remain. Garci, Joc-joc, Abalos, GSIS fiasco, etc do not bother them at all.

As we comfort the disturbed, we should also disturb the comfortable.

My women's tennis album XXXI - Tamira Paszek

Back to the heat

After a hot week at the office, my family went to Baguio City. The city is busiest this time of the year. Popoy and Vito hate long travels but we convinced them to make this trip. Vito has been to Baguio before, he likes it but he hates the long journey. Popoy hasn't been there yet, and he hates being out of his comfort zone that is watching TV and playing with this cousins. They were initially cold to the idea, but the moment they felt the cold breeze, they immediately warmed up to the City of Pines.

I got the chance to watch Mayweather-Mosley too. The kids enjoyed Burnham Park and the Wright Park. The wife escaped from the searing Manila heat. In all, we had a good time. It's just bad we have to return to the heat today.

The bureaucracy for the bureaucracy is very-crazy!

Bureaucracy has been defined as the combined organizational structure, procedures, protocols, and set of regulations in place to manage  activity, usually in large organizations. It is often represented by standardized procedure (rule-following) that guides the execution of most or all processes within the body; formal division of powers; hierarchy; and relationships, intended to anticipate needs and improve efficiency (source: Wikipedia).

Has bureaucracy realized its intentions? Judging from the way the government sector is vilified by its public, the answer is an obvious no. Why so? The government bureaucrats get much obsessed with the rules, regulations, and procedures that they readily lost sight of what they were supposed to do in the first place.  The process becomes more important than the output supposed to be produced.

If bureaucracy is harsh on the public, it is much more so on the government employees themselves. Imagine a bureaucracy for the bureaucracy. It is very-crazy.
(images from http://www.powayusd.com and http://positivesharing.com/)

Mayweather beats Mosley, money shames sugar

I just watched Mayweather vs. Mosley at the SM Cinema in Baguio. It was an impressive unanimous decision win for Money. It was a sour performance by Sugar. Shane upped his attack in the second round. He caught Money with a good punch that almost sent him down. In the third round, Money stepped up his offense. Shame had no counter-attack for the rest of the way. In the judges' cards, Shane won only the second round. When Money was asked if he's willing to bend on his demand for blood tests so the Pacquiao fight can materialize. He basically said no. After his impressive win over someone of took blood tests, he is on a higher ground to demand such tests.

I think Money shoots up to number one in the pound for pound ranking, overtaking Pacquiao. I don't see Pacman giving in to the blood test demands. Even if he loses in the elections, I don't think he'll fight Money.

Iron Man 2 delivers

I liked Iron Man 2. My kids, Vito and Popoy liked it as well. Genius Tony Starks (Robert Downey, Jr.) has that arrogant streak that befuddles everyone around him, including his friends but more so his enemies, specially those who try to control him and compete with him in vain.

The movie is not boring because the battle scenes are not overly drawn, unlike Transformers 2. The producers did a good job interweaving possible future movies into the storyline. They first did that in the Incredible Hulk 2 where they dropped hints of Iron Man 2. This time they're effectively announcing an Avengers movie with Iron Man but without Tony Starks. How will that be? asked Tony himself in the film. I think in the Avengers movie they'll be showing Iron Man in full costume all the time. Most probably they'll be using another actor.

Midway in the movie, Agent Coulson said to Tony that he is being reassigned to Mexico. I thought that was too much info and that detail had no bearing in the movie. And they just wanted to give the actor some speaking lines. We left while the credits are rolling and Highway to Hell is blaring. Bad move. People say at the end of credits they showed Agent Coulton found Thor's hammer found in Mexico. This is a hint of a Thor movie. We missed that.

There are some forgivable flaws. For all his genius, Tony Stark did not provide Iron Man suits any security features. He could have made the Iron Man suits work only when he is wearing it, after all he said he is Iron Man. As it turned out, anybody who steps even in for the first time it can make full use of its weaponry and flight capability.

People who expect prolonged fight scenes may find the manner Iron Man defeats the antihero too short. But it's alright with me and my kids. It makes us look forward to the next one.

Ang bise presidente ko may B - betkabs / Binay admits infidelity

Nobody cared much when Mon Tulfo wrote about the wife of a candidate for a national position who found out that her husband has a fashion model for a girlfriend. It was almost a dead giveaway as it mentioned that the photos were given to the candidate’s wife by a close rival

of their son who is aspiring for a local post. Plus, the second item in that column was about the mayoralty contest in Makati being a a three-cornered, close fight among Binay's son and 2 others.

Now cheesy photos of Chiz's vice president surfaced on the Internet. Faced with these, Binay himself has admitted that he had an extramarital affair. In the spirit of transparency, it's time for Chiz to update his commercial endorsement of Binay - "Ang bise president ko may B - betkabs! Ang bise presidente mo ba meron din?".

White hair chronicles XXVI - the age of hex and lotto

Pinoys have many ways to evade direct queries about their age. People pushing 30 say "nasa kalendaryo pa (it's still found in the calendar)". People older than 31 will say "nasa lotto pa (it's still in the lotto)". The age query will be followed up by "which lotto?". There are many lotto games in the gambling country that is the Philippines. The newest one, the Grand Lotto 6/55, gives many of my friends a reprieve, since they will soon be over the Super Lotto 6/49.

I used to tell people my age in hexadecimal terms. So back then when I say I'm 29, I conveniently omit to say that's in hex. Technically I didn't lie. People would tell me "maaga kang tinubuan ng puti (you had white hair early)". But I got away with it. I stopped using hex when 2A years old sounded like a ridiculous giveaway.

I can still say my age (in hex) is still in the calendar. Pretty soon I won't get away with it. But I can claim it's still in the lotto. Don't ask which. When I run out of lotto numbers, I will then say it's still in the Bingo. Ahh, but that's still a long time from now.

Vote for change

For government employees:

Do you want reforms at GSIS?
Do you want government scams to continue?
Do you want the corrupt to be prosecuted?
Do you want our political institutions to be saved?

Do you want change?

Vote for change!

Who's afraid of a parallel count?

Who's afraid of a parallel count? While many sectors, including 6 of the 9 presidential candidates, propose a parallel manual count in the computerized elections, the Comelec say it is not necessary. The other 3 candidates (Villar, Teodoro, and Gordon) share Malacanan's stand for not favoring one. The 6 are afraid their votes won't be counted right by the machines.

Teodoro, being the official administration candidate, supports the administration stand. Dick is having a limp stand. Villar is being a gracious guest of the administration.

Why is it needed? A parallel run is one of the ways to change from an existing system to a new one, in this case from manual to computerized elections. A manual count will be used to compare the output of the computerized run and prove the reliability of the new system. Machines failed in the advanced voting and some security features are not fully implemented like UV markings. These factors merit the need for a parallel count.

Why we should not be afraid of a manual count? A manual count will just validate the results of the computerized count. The possible scenario of results from the two counts not matching is not reason enough to stop manual count. The two counts should match anyway. Discrepancies should be easy to explain, like shading less than 50% of the space.

Why are some officials so brazen in their attempts to rig procurement contracts? It is a game of follow the leader. Most probably they know something that make the higher-ups beholden to them, kaya malakas ang loob nila. The same way past officials got away too. Their mindset must be, bakit sila lang? They should soon change their official name to COMOLLECT.

Villar desperate for a Black Swan Event?

Manolo Quezon wrote yesterday about Cory's death being a Black Swan Event. A Black Swan Event is something no one expected, and that no one foresaw, and viewed as impossible. Cory's death, MLQ3 says led to our Great Awakening and the Great Remembering. Or shall we say re-awakening and re-remembering that still buoys Noynoy on top of the surveys.

Villar now thrusts her frail octogenarian mother crying to the public "stop picking on my son". Desperate move. Instead of answering squarely the latest accusation of his rivals, he acts like a bullied kid, makes sumbong to his mother and asks her to make the accusers stop. The melancholic paawa effect does not stop there. She nostalgically sang "Stardust" and ends up sobbing.

Politicking? No, if you ask them. But what if this is desperate move is more sinister than it appears? The 86 year old woman should have been insulated from the dirty world of politics. It's a give and take game. Spare the old woman the aches of hurtful campaigning. It now seems Villar's sisters are as desperate as he is, allowing their dear mom to be dragged into this.

Villar and company must be reminded that a Black Swan Event is not premeditated. Noynoy certainly did not want his mother dead so he can be president. I hope no one is that desperate.

Watch Glee Season 1 Episode 15 online - The Power of Madonna

Synopis: Mr. Schuester is concerned that the girls in the glee club are being disrespected and bullied by the guys. Looking to Madonna and her musical message of equality as inspiration, he challenges the entire team to choose Madonna songs as their next assignment in the hopes that the girls embrace her strength, independence and confidence and that the guys will see the error of their misogynistic ways. The glee club takes the assignment to heart as they perform some of Madonna's greatest hits, including "Express Yourself" and "Like A Prayer." Meanwhile, Kurt and Mercedes give Sue a vote of confidence with a makeover that is definitely in "Vogue"Source: FOX

Click on the image to open the video.

The people know GMA's color

This micromanaging government feigns innocence that it wanted the prime suspect in the Maguindanao massacre to turn yellow and endorse Noynoy. Everyone knows it could happen without the approval of higher ups.

What I find more intriguing is the new colors worn by the other suspects. The suspects now wear yellow, as shown in the photo when they were escorted by jail officers to the hearing at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig yesterday.

Before, suspects were shown wearing other colors. Just last month, suspects in a drug case wore green when they were presented to media.

For a long time, suspects used to wear orange. The last photo shows PGMA and suspected terrorists who were presented to the media.

But no matter what color they try suspects to project, to a man, GMA's motives are suspect. We all know her true colors. After June 30, the people will make her wear the usual orange.

My women's tennis album XXX - April 2010

Watch Glee Season 1 Episode 14 - "Hello"

I like Glee. It has become one of my favorite shows, maybe because of how they seamlessly intertwine different songs into an episode's theme. The newest episode is titled "Hello". Fitting, perhaps, because of several month hiatus from the last episode. The songs in this episode have the word Hello somewhere in their titles: “Hello, I Love You” (The Doors), “Gives You Hell” (All American Rejects), “Hello” (Lionel Richie), “Hello, Again” (Neil Diamond), “Highway to Hell” (AC/DC), and “Hello, Goodbye” (The Beatles).

Episode summary: Finn and Rachel are finally a couple, but for how long? Jesse St. James (Jonathan Groff), lead singer of Vocal Adrenaline, catches Rachel’s eye and sways her heart, but what are his real intentions? Looks like he and his coach (Idina Menzel) are up to no good. Will gets to kiss two women, but somehow ends up alone. Sue Sylvester is back as an even more conniving coach of the Cheerios. Quinn being out of the picture, Heather and Santana do her "dirty work". (Source: FOX)

Click on the image to open the video.

Ampatuan endorses Villar

The prime suspect in the Maguindanao massacre, Andal Ampatuan, Jr., is endorsing Manny Villar. Ampatuan wears orange-blue rubber baller ID bands of Villar and NP senatorial bet Gilbert Remulla. "Ito (shows baller bands) ang kandidato ko," Ampatuan Jr. told reporters during his transfer to Camp Bagong Diwa.

Read the full story here.

White hair chronicles XXV - Tales of the Mauban

On a whim, my office mates decided to go on an outing to Cagbalete, Mauban, Quezon. It was almost unplanned that it befits an entry to Facebook's "Mabuti pa ang biglaang lakad natutuloy; ang planado, hindi". Everyone's glad the trip pushed through. The fine, white sand compares with Boracay and Puerto Galera minus the gimiks. Cagbalete is the nearest of slice of heavenly calm and quiet to Manila. This white hair chronicler just tagged along with the group, leaving all the planning and details to the younger set. One of the benefits of white hairs.

From Mauban, Quezon, we hopped on a fishing boat that traveled around 45 minutes to the side of Cagbalete Island facing the Pacific Ocean. We had to transfer to a smaller boat that got us closer to shore. The shore had plenty of needle pine trees and a cacao species also abundant in Mindoro. There were long-legged birds on the shore that must nest deep inside the island. Aside from enjoying the beach, bird watching could be another enjoyable activity here.

We hopped back to the small boat after depositing our luggage at the MVT Sto. Nino resort. We were going to nearby Perez island for lunch. We passed by the Baliscar Island, a lonely uninhabited rock island that is said to be home to snakes and birds. Our boatmen said it is possible to venture and explore the barren island but the four inch jagged rock floor seem uninviting. Maybe next time when we bring rubber boots.

The sumptuous lunch at Perez island and the cool sea breeze lulled us to take a nap. When we got back to Cagbalete, it was almost sundown. The sun setting over the needle pine trees offers a grand view.

What I like best about Cagbalete is the peace and soothing calm it offers. Those seeking nightly beach parties have will be bored to death here. The island has electric service only from 6 pm to 6am. The resort have bare but adequate necessities. There are open huts and rooms. Best of all is you could just pitch a tent or hang a hammock and stargaze all night. Cheap thrills that white haired guys seek once in a while. There is not much corals nor tropical fish from where we stayed. I did not find Nemo here but ask me to come back and I'll tag along again.

The sunrise over the Pacific Ocean is majestic. This white hair chronicler now proudly admits he looks like a young Benjamin Button. In Perez island, folks imbibing the famous lambanog were over heard to say "Patagayin niyo yung matanda" (offer the old man a drink). And there was this very elderly 80-ish groundskeeper who asked him "wala pa ba yung sundo niyo, lulu?" (Is your boat here yet, grandpa?). I don't mind, though.

I really like this place. After all Mauban means white-haired.

White hair chronicles XXIV

Two weeks ago, more than thirty years after my elementary graduation, I was invited to the recognition day of my beloved San Juan Elementary School, a public school. I was asked to speak before excellent kids from Grade 1 to Grade 6. When they were told the year of my graduation, a teacher was heard to remark he wasn't born yet at that time.

Indeed, it was a long time ago. I have gone full circle. I remember having received some of those awards myself. Anyway, I told them the usual blah-blahs. I told them that their time spent in those classrooms will serve them in good stead later in life. That being a long time San Juan residents, my father, my siblings and I all graduated from the school.

I also told them that my even if my batch went on to different schools, we all had an easy time not just because of the lessons learned but also because of the discipline acquired. I told them I had the chance to work abroad and I observed Filipinos to have the ability to adapt to any situation. We are also persevering - matiyaga. That is why there are many Filipinos able to find work everywhere. Those traits – perseverance, discipline, adaptability - I learned at SJES.

It was also a nostalgic trip for me. The gym where the program was held is the same grounds where we played running games. In hindsight, there are many things I failed to say to the kids and their parents. I would have wanted to tell them that the '70s were difficult times. It was a time when one man tried to stay in power forever. It was also Erap's first term as mayor. And his family has controlled San Juan politics since then. We are still in difficult times today. Today we still have one person who wants to stay in power forever. Times have not changed much.

April Fool's, is the joke on Gibo?

Gibo resigned as party chairman to protest against the lack of support from GMA. He is the 'official' candidate of the administration but he has not received the support he needs from the president. In February, he spent just P60 million on TV ads while Villar has splurged P120 million. GMA herself has put on more pasasalamat posters around Metro Manila

The Inquirer today put up a story on the breakup of the Arroyo party. It may later retract the story and claim it's an April Fool prank. But the signs are there -  the defections, the lack of funds, and then Gibo's resignation.

The breakup came after a survey confirmed the slide of Villar in voters' preference. Noynoy now has a commanding 9pt lead. The momentum is starting to build up again. In no time at all, the lead could go up that cheating will be very hard. Perhaps in panic, the administration decided to consolidate its support to a single candidate resulting to defections to its not so secret candidate. Still in denial, the galing at talino but dense candidate still doesn't get it. The joke is on Gibo.