I Blog, Therefore I Am.: Current Events

, by Abbie

ALL SET?

Less than 6 hours from now and the voting precincts will open for the very first National Automated Elections in the Philippines. Are we all ready? Are we all set? I cannot properly organize my thoughts on this election so I made a list instead for easy writing.

1. I want to be a Citizen Journalist or a volunteer for this election, I even filed a leave for May 11. But I was pulled for a special project at work (also related to the national event) which I cannot post here. So volunteering is not going to happen.

2. I'll try to vote early. We are not familiar with these PCOS machines so we better be there as soon as we can.

3. For those who will report tomorrow, one of the most important things you should do is to make sure that your gadgets and tools are all charged up.

4. The hashtags and keywords for election news monitoring for Twitter are #juanvote, #eleksyon, #halalan, #purplethumb. The most popular and often used among them is #halalan, thanks to ABS-CBN.

5. If you don't vote, you don't have the right to complain about the government. Your vote is your voice!

6. There's no such thing as a "wasted vote". Vote for whom you feel is right. Even if he/she is an unpopular choice. Don't be swayed by surveys.

7. There's no such thing as a "family vote" or "girlfriend/boyfriend vote" for us. We will vote as to what we feel and think is right. Fortunately, we will all vote for the same President and Vice President.

8. I am probably the only believer that one can win an election even without paying off people.

9. "Hoping for the best but expecting the worst" - my thoughts on these PCOS machines. I hope I am wrong.

10. My uncle, brother of my mom, is running for Vice Mayor of our town. It's a very competitive race. The driver/bodyguard of my uncle was even shot dead last week. Scary.

11. I will check the voting record of my Congressman after I made this post. Looks like he's a shoo-in for re-election since two of his opponents are unknowns. Nevertheless, I have to check what he did in the last 3 years. I can always pull a blank.

12. I will NOT vote for Estrada, Defensor, Enrile, Lapid, Revilla and Sotto. But looks like these ogres and entertainers will still be back in the Senate. Enough of these traditional politicians. We need new blood. Consider Alex Lacson.

13. I like Gibo. I admit that there were moments in the last few weeks when I want to switch to green. The only thing that is preventing me is the fact that Gibo will never turn his back on GMA. Ever.

14. I am mighty scared of Erap 2.0. Read this post of RJ Marmol and her valid points.

15. Gibo is leading the online surveys and even the online positive mentions since most of his voters are here. Internet penetration in the Philippines is still low even if 13.4 million Filipinos are in Facebook.

16. The only President I will fully accept and support is Gibo or Noynoy. Enough said.

17. I am Pro-Noynoy but I will not be Pro-People Power if he will lose in the elections.

18. I have a lot of reasons why I am going for Yellow & Blue. Here's a simple explanation and analogy:

During yearly evaluations in our company, we have our Key Results Area (KRA) and Behavioral Scores. Though KRA is very important, I always make it a point to give more value to the Behavioral Score of my people. I believe that you can always teach people skills, but you cannot change one's behavior and attitude that easily. As one article says, you cannot delegate sincerity and honesty. People may judge me but I believe that Noynoy and Mar are two of the most genuinely nice leaders that the Filipino people can entrust their future on. I am not voting for the lesser evil, I am voting for THE good one. We need to bring back the moral goodness in our government.

2Comments

, by Abbie

In Current Events, Events

TOP NEWS EVENTS OF 2009

This is first part of a series of my annual year-ender post. This was inspired by the Top 10 of Everything list of Time which they also publish yearly. I neglected writing on this blog for quite some time so I will post in length by batch my TOP EVERYTHING for this year.

TOP NEWS EVENTS
I classified this as the Top News Events of the year which affected me most - political, national, current events, scandals, pop culture - whether it's positive or negative.

The Obama Inauguration
I was glued to the TV and the Internet last January 21 (Manila Time) for the oath-taking and inauguration of the first Black US President, Barrack Obama. It's a momentous event for me not because of the politics behind his victory, but because of what he represents. His winning symbolizes that anybody can dream dreams regardless of odds and tradition.

Cory's Passing
Like most Filipinos, I was deeply saddened by the death of Former President Cory Aquino last August 2009. Together with my family and Witt, we lined up in Manila Cathedral in Intramuros to see her remains and to sympathize with her family. Her death paved the way for the younger generations to know more about her conjugal heroism with her husband, Ninoy, and their great contribution to the Philippines.

The Famous Le Cirque Dinner
Guess who spent $20,000 on a Le Cirque dinner while the Philippines is mourning for former President Aquino? There are so many disastrous things that GMA did this year but this one is my favorite. It's so in your face! $%#^*@!#

The Hayden Kho Scandal
Hayden should thank Ondoy, Pepeng, Manny Pacquiao and even Krista. We will still be talking about Hayden (and Maricar, Katrina, Vicky, and the Brazilian Model) until now if not for the typhoons and people I mentioned in the first sentence. Isa kang henyo, Hayden!

Nonoy & Mar's Announcements
Noynoy is the unexpected game changer for the 2010 Philippine election. His mother's death gave him the opportunity to seriously run for the highest position in the land; capitalizing on important values like prudence, humility honesty. A lot has already been said about this so I'll stop now.

Erap's Announcement
Enough already! The scum wants to try again. Anyone who reads this blog knows how much I hate the guy.

Ondoy
Definitely the newsmaker of the year (with Pepeng trailing behind). Typhoon Ketsana came gently into the good night of September 25 without us knowing that it will bring massive rain water for eight straight hours that will result to the great Manila flood in recent memory. Ondoy is heart-breaking because it devastated and affected people whom you actually know. Everyone has an Ondoy story to tell. Whether it's a story of loss, heroism or bayanihan, everyone has a tale to tell. It was a chaotic two weeks for the Philippines but it also showed how Filipinos can rise from tragedy and help those in need.

Other runners-up on my list of Top News Events are the Maguindanao Massacre, the ZTE debacle and Manny Pacquiao (his winnings and the Krista-gate).

Photo Credits: TIME, CNN, New York Post