Philippine Election 2010: Advice for Noynoy Aquino

By Frony Fortich

Columnist, Sunday Post

As one who considers Noynoy Aquino to be my idol, I am going to bring a copy of this manuscript to the candidate, who lives a few minutes away from my apartment.

 Finally on the 40th day of death of President Cory Aquino, Noy Aquino finally declared himself as a candidate for President.

 There was excitement as Senator Noy Aquino ascended to the rostrum at Casino Filipino. As he delivered his speech, there was a stark difference between Senator Benigno Aquino and his son. Clearly, his type of speech was conversational, quite boring and was deadpan, to say the least.

 He hardly talked about the proposed changes, and the programs of government that he was going to implement to implement. To me he was an even prey to dirty politics. Already, word is spreading around that he is just riding on the legacy of Ninoy and Cory Aquino, his venerable parents.

 It is time, Noy needs a changeover. Firstly, he needs the services of a coach, to train him in public speaking putting more fire and emotion in his speeches. Filipinos always look for candidates who could deliver fiery speeches. Believe me a good speaker does not even have to promise falsehoods. He can still be a fiery speaker and still speak about the truth.

 For Noynoy Aquino's campaign to be successful, he must have a speech writer, the likes of Teddy Boy Locsin to prepare his speeches, and public pronouncements.

 He must also organize a writer's bureau one, to prepare information on his programs of government and other department, the press bureau to organize the TV and newspaper interviews.

 Another group must have to deal with Internet activities, establishing websites, facebook, Twitter,

 and other popular sites in  the internet. Sending emails to private individuals should also be done.

 Fund raising can also be done in the Internet. President Barack Obama credited his victory to a successful Internet campaign, this can be replicated in the Aquino campaign. A presidential candidate has already started a campaign encouraging people to establish facebook account using their laptop facilities.

 Noynoy Aquino, has millions of supporters who are not only willing to be volunteers but also willing to contribute. Firstly he should announce in the papers, account numbers where people can deposit

 their donations and those for the piso sa piso donations, boxes in malls and groceries where people can drop their money or donations.

 Organizations which can be authorized to raise money should be accredited for purposes of accounting otherwise some groups would take advantage of the eagerness of donors. That way every donation would be fairly accounted. And Noy should announce on a regular basis, how much amount has been raised and how the money was spent. Since this is a public concern Noynoy should assure the contributors that their money is well spent including using an auditing group. These acts would help raise the level of awareness on the part of the contributing public that Noynoy has a different and unique campaign. Noynoy has a league of volunteers and even that should be well managed para hindi kalat. Noynoy has an uncle who is smart when running a political campaign. He is Paul Aquino and Butz Aquino, they have expertise in running political campaigns. Lupita Kashiwara, Ninoy's sister can also be utilized, although she is presently with the administration of President Gloria Macapagal. 

 I hope that Noynoy can win and change the politics in this country. Of course, he should organize a council of leaders to chart the campaign drive so it can be well organized and potent and their advices can be listened to. 

Stray Dogs in the Philippines

By Joe Espiritu, Sunday Post

Some barangays, which are above Bunga Ilaya, particularly Laca and Buyog and farther beyond are scared of a pack of wild dogs roaming at night. People had called them lobo, which is supposed to be a Visayan version of wolf.  This roused our interest hoping that Angel Locsin might be one of them. This earned us dirty looks. It seems those guys were serious.

 Canine marauders wander at night attacking livestock from pigs, goats to carabaos. They had already caused damage, inflicting teeth marks on unprotected bellies and necks. Folks are afraid that they will ultimately attack little children roaming at night. This would pose danger to the populace if those animals contacted rabies.

 Since sources of those stories are barangay secretaries of Laca, Buyog and some citizens of Cantuyoc, their stories could be taken as true. Those dogs grew up in the garbage dump located in Bunga Ilaya. Some people owning land near the dump saw habitations of dogs around the garbage dump. Those are available. Garbage is usually source of something edible to those unfortunate animals.

 Once they set up their dwellings, the mate and breed. Naturally, they consider intruders animals or humans as hostile. Once their numbers grow, food supply becomes scarce. This is a perfect proof of the Malthusian Theory. While food is abundant those animals proliferate. However, when food is scarce, they start to scavenge. When they hunt for prey, they become a threat.

 Not all native dogs are timid. Some are ferocious by nature. Even the most timid dog becomes dangerous when hungry. Untamed they may rely upon their feral instincts to survive. They may find small animals such as young goats and pigs easy prey. According to recent stories, they are now hunting in packs. It takes only one rabies-infected dog to spread the incurable disease.

 The law or rule against cruelty to animals must be temporarily; this dog pack will have to be eliminated. The first encounter with a wild dog was with an immature one. It is no different from the domesticated species. It does not respond to friendly advances. Someone we know brought home a cute puppy from the dump to raise. Even after a long time despite friendly advances and offers of food, the puppy remained wary. It petted, it will shy off and if cornered it will bare its teeth. It had not outgrown its fear of humans.

 We wonder why barangay authorities of those places did not raise an alarm. Perhaps the treat is not so serious but if one hears the stories of Kiling Bayron and Henyo Edubas, barangay secretaries of Laca and Buyog respectively, they would elicit concern. A fellow cannot doubt the word of Kiling Bayron; he cannot lie convincingly to catch a girlfriend. Neither would one doubt Henyo Edubas. He would not lie even if his  life dependson it. .

 Perhaps, the proper office to catch those dogs is the DA. They had been conducting campaigns against rabies. The problem is how to catch those dogs so that they can be immunized. We suggest is to assemble a safari of dog lovers, those who prefer the cooked variety. There would be many who would be interested.