A deadly kiss of death endorsement

By now, I’m sure that a lot of our readers now know that I was in Manila last Tuesday to be the special guest of the tv show of Manoling Morato and Maggie dela Riva dubbed “Dial M” on NBN channel 4. This was my second appearance on his show as I was also his guest a week ago. But I had company last week in the person of Mr. Abbey Canturias, Managing Director of the Campaigns & Images Group (CIG) as he wanted to explain to the listeners of NBN 4 on how surveys are conducted.

Isn’t it strange that in this election, it is a government-owned tv station where people are free to be interviewed, while you just cannot get an interview in the other networks that are privately-owned. As we already wrote before, these Presidential elections have proven once more that politicians can use the mainstream media outlets as their propaganda machines. If only I was living in Manila, I’d probably be interviewed by NBN when I can.

But last Tuesday, Manoling Morato and Maggie dela Riva had no other guest; hence we were able to talk about the current political situation to the hilt. My favorite one was on the issue of Kiss of Death, that when Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (GMA) endorsed Lakas-Kampi Presidential bet Sec. Gilbert “GIBO” Teodoro, this was tantamount to a “Kiss of death” for his Presidential bid. But with the way GIBO has been drawing huge crowds in his rallies, this statement is no longer accurate.

If Liberal Party bet Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino is attracting crowds in his campaign sorties, it is due to the fact that his famous celebrity sister Kris Aquino now accompanies him. Nope, they have put Baby James under house arrest for making that off-the-cuff remark rooting for Villar! If there are crowds in the campaign sorties of Sen. Manny Villar it is due to the presence of Willie Revillame. But there are no superstars accompanying GIBO Teodoro in his campaign sorties, hence the crowd he draws went there to see him. That so-called “Kiss of Death” hasn’t tainted GIBO; that thousands of volunteers are for GIBO is your proof!

But there is a kiss of death, which has truly resulted in deaths. I’m referring to the endorsement of Andal Ampatuan Jr. of Maguindanao massacre fame who said that he could only get justice from an Aquino administration. Could this be because the Ampatuans got their break into politics during the days of Pres. Cory Aquino?

Then there is the endorsement by Communist Party of the Philippines and New People’s Army (CPP/NPA) Chairman Jose Maria “Joma” Sison for Sen. Manny Villar! Now isn’t this a bonafide “Kiss of Death,” after all, the NPA cadres of Joma has killed hundreds if not thousands of innocent Filipinos in its four decade old insurgency. Now this is a deadly “Kiss of Death!”

If the Senatoriables under the Nacionalista Party (NP) wins, that would mean that our fight against the insurgency would now shift in Congress or the Senate! As we wrote before, allowing the Communists in the NP is the biggest mistake of Villar because the hundreds of thousands of soldiers and policemen who are in the forefront of the campaign against the insurgence would never go for him.

Last Tuesday I arrived in Manila early in the afternoon and we went to the Green Team headquarters along EDSA across SM. It was a chance for me to meet Atty. Romulo Macalintal who was lecturing the jampacked hall about the automated elections and what they can expect to happen, just in case. Atty. Macalintal clarified one thing, that this elections isn’t fully automated as you still have to get your ballot, fill up which candidates you are voting for then you have to slip the ballot into the PCOS machine. That’s when the automated counting begins.

After his lecture, someone who recognized me through my columns announced that I was in the hall. Soon, I was asked to speak about what we were doing in Cebu. Of course I told them about our day with Nikki Teodoro last Sunday and that the Cebu Green Team also held an interfaith rally. We compared notes; but one thing was certain: GIBO had a large following in Metro Manila of young and old volunteers who are not politicians but believe that GIBO is the right man to be our next President.

After my speech, the volunteers wanted to take pictures with me and even asked for my autograph, like I’m a moviestar, hahaha! Then a gentle old lady approached me and said, “Bobit, do you remember me? I’m Pansy Paterno!” Who could forget that beautiful woman who headed the PanAm office at the Magellan Hotel? Yes, Pansy Paterno told me that she never misses my Philippine Star columns and told me to send her regards to her Cebuano friends. Yes she is rabid for GIBO and believed in what I told the crowd, G ibo I s B est O ption for our country!