What is certain

from HE SAYS by Aldrin Cardon (The Daily Tribune)  Jan 13, 2010
http://www.tribune.net.ph/commentary/20100113com6.html

A comment, coming from a public relations man, raised a howl in a small group gathering recently to organize a team which would help Noynoy Aquino gain some boost in what appears as a dull media campaign.

The PR man believes Noynoy’s rating in the presidential surveys would no longer rise above the 46 percent among people polled by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) from Dec. 5 to 10. But the PR man was quick to supplement his claim by saying it doesn’t mean Noynoy would not win the May 10 polls, only that his rivals would gain a chunk from each others’ ratings, including from Noynoy’s, and that a very close fight might ensue between him and whoever rises to become his rival.

The latest SWS survey proved just that, regardless of whoever commissioned the poll, as Noynoy lost two percent of his December standing to Manny Villar’s 33 percent, which is a big jump from the 27 percent he garnered in the previous survey.

Noynoy may or may not believe the survey commissioned by Rep. Ronnie Zamora, a Villar ally, but it is worth considering if he would want to retool his image further and protect the substantial lead he holds over his closest pursuers with still four months left before D-Day comes.

For one, Noynoy has not done anything substantial to enhance his image as a worthy leader to replace a corrupt one in the months after he had gained an unbelievable high of 50 plus percent in a Luzon-based survey prior to Mar Roxas’ decision to step down.

Granting, for the sake of argument, that that initial survey was a clean one, Noynoy’s rating was obviously boosted by the people’s sentiment against Gloria Arroyo and the death of former president, Cory Aquino.

But it did not help that Noynoy has become an elusive subject soon after that.

On questions regarding Hacienda Luisita, it was Mar Roxas, his vice presidential candidate, who was made to answer reporters’ questions, with the Liberal Party (LP) issuing statements in his behalf on future issues related to the Cojuangco family-owned land.

While his slogan: “Tanggalin ang Tiwali, Itama ang Mali. Laban ng Tapat, Laban ng Lahat,” sounds appealing to people longing for change, other contents of his blog site remained on the traditional side (contrary to his camp’s claim of new politics, whatever that means), they have yet to spur action among his numerous supporters in the manner, say Gibo Teodoro’s team has been doing with the very small core group the Malacañang bet has gained.

Only GMA is pulling down Teodoro, one that is very likely to cause his flat fall.

But Noynoy is different from Gibo. He has a built-in machinery of old Cory supporters, the civil (some call ‘em evil) society, the Church and the mainstream media. Yet Noynoy has not used their full potential for his candidacy, unlike, say Villar.

Villar, moneyed as he is prepared for this haul, has been using various media to get the people’s attention.

Villar’s street talk is sending the message across. The jingle asking voters if he had swam in a sea of garbage and spent Christmas in the street is a work of a genius, even small children are singing it for their bedtime lullaby.

Many say a candidate would win it if children would recognize his jingle right on the first note. Chiz Escudero would perhaps attest his “Sugod kasama si Chiz” in the previous elections did wonders for his candidacy. Or maybe ja-ja-ja-Jamby.

Or it would work against a candidate, like in the case of Migs Zubiri’s “Boom-tarat-tarat,” which boisterous children quickly reinvented as “Boom-kurap-kurap.” And we all know how Zubiri worked harder to get that last senatorial berth.

But not Ogie Alcasid’s sentimental take on Ninoy and Cory Aquino’s heroism in Noynoy’s “Hindi ka nag-iisa” theme. Ninoy and Cory are heroes, alright. But Noynoy has not proven himself as yet if he is worthy of the same reverence.

In fact, the people are still waiting for Noynoy to walk his talk (or at least talk before he does his walk), and prove himself worth of being entrusted with the country’s leadership.

Because if he can’t do that, there are other candidates the people would consider worthy of their votes.