In for an interesting race

The internationally-acclaimed Loboc Children’s Choir of Loboc, Bohol will be performing in a benefit concert this coming October 24 at the Onstage Cinema One of Ayala Center Cebu. The matinee show is at 3 p.m. while the gala presentation is at 6 p.m.

The concert is being organized by the Quota International of Metro Cebu for the benefit of the SPED Center at the San Nicolas Elementary School as part of its celebration of October as Children’s Month.

The concert is co-presented by Ayala Center Cebu, SMART Communications, DOT, RCTV, Y101, and Club Radio. It is also supported by Gold Sponsors The Freeman, DYLA, F.F. Sibi Printers, Hotel Pier Cuatro, Ocean Jet, and the Office of the Cebu Vice Governor.

The Loboc Children’s Choir is one of the most successful choral groups in the country and is made up of 18 schoolchildren aged nine to 13. It has won various competitions here and abroad.

For the concert, the choir will perform a repertoire of classical, Filipiniana, folk, contemporary and children’s songs. Tickets are available at The Concierge of Ayala Center Cebu. For further details, visit www.lccconcert.tk.

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It has become a sort of habit of mine to do a quick poll of people I meet regarding their presidential preferences, in as much as the country is headed inexorably to one of its most anticipated presidential elections.

Let me warn the reader, however, that my personal quick poll is limited to the few people I have met, in the few places that I have been. I am not a very popular person, so to speak, and my movements are strictly defined by utility and practical expense.

 What surprises me in my quick poll is that what I have found out does not seem to jibe with what the hype is about in media. It seems that the trend in my poll has remained consistent with Manny Villar in the lead despite the seeming media fascination with Noynoy Aquino.

Since my quick poll is personal and unscientific, I just ask for name preferences and refrain from going into more details like why. I don’t know but Noynoy just hasn’t caught up, much less overtaken Villar, contrary to what I have read in the papers or heard and seen on tv.

Lately, however, I have added a new dimension to my informal survey. Since Villar does not have a running mate yet, and the name Willie Revillame has been sticking to our consciousness like a leech, I asked people what they thought of the tv host as Villar’s vice president.

 And boy were the results so damning! My respondents say they abhor the thought of Willie Revillame in such a dignified position as vice president. Those I asked said while they are for Villar, if he chooses Revillame, they may even replace him as president with someone else.

 And again a surprise. Asked whom they might replace Villar with if he ever chooses Revillame as running mate, they said they might vote for Gilbert Teodoro. I asked: “Not Noynoy?” They said: “No. Gibo.”

 Trying to play another name into the picture, I asked: “What if Villar chooses Jinggoy?” The answer was even more surprising: “Better.” “Better than Villar-Revillame?,” I persisted. “Better than Noynoy-Mar.” Wow. We are truly headed into interesting times.

 Again, my survey is limited to a few friends, relatives, acquaintances, and those I meet in the course of my job. Not very many respondents to be representative, but varied enough to be truly revealing and interesting.

I am also limited largely to Cebu, although I have had some brushing contacts with people from Eastern and Western Visayas. To recap, it is Villar among presidentiables. Suicide if with Revillame. Too close to call with Jinggoy Estrada in a head-to-head with Noynoy-Mar.