Black propaganda in Philippine politics

Political jousts in this country are eternally exciting, entertaining, somehow also enlightening and, from the point of view of those who become objects of vicious black propaganda attacks, absolutely infuriating.
Remember the malicious tag of “Brenda” hurled against a leading presidential candidate a few years ago that was intended to put her mental faculty in serious doubt? Or the cruel calumny of being gay which was attached to a former senator?
The current political campaign has not been wanting in this diabolic practice. And while some of the charges and accusations against some political personalities appear to have credible basis, many others are obviously nothing but malevolent character assassination. It is, therefore, up to the voters and the public at large to distinguish those that are truthful and those that are wicked lies.
Among those who became open targets of very serious accusations are Vice President Jejomar Binay for alleged plunder related to the construction of a building and a school and the purchase of hospital beds and facilities. Senator Santiago has denounced  continuing innuendos about the state of her health, and asserts that she has successfully licked the lung cancer that she herself admitted, had afflicted her.
Senator Grace Poe is still besieged with insinuations that she is actually the offspring of an illicit relationship between a former President and a former actress. This, aside from persistent issues about her Filipino citizenship.
Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte is hard put in parrying charges of hiding enormous wealth in several secret bank accounts with transactions amounting to P1.2 billion. Earlier, he had to face the fury of an enraged public offended by his lewd “joke” that he should have been the first to ravish a pretty Australian missionary who was sexually brutalized by several inmates in a Davao City jail who then slashed her throat.
Mar Roxas, with his concededly spotless record of public service was not spared from the malicious insinuation fired by the Davao Mayor that he is “bayot” (gay) and that he is weighed down by an indecisive character that has given rise to his supposed “teka, teka” attitude even when confronted by critical situations.
Expectedly, it is Senator Bongbong Marcos who is getting the brunt of brickbats among the vice presidential candidates. But you know when black propaganda gets completely out of hand? It’s when a simple, unassuming, soft-spoken, self-effacing Leni Robredo becomes the target of outrageous claims meant to tarnish her reputation.
Initially, she was said to have received P500 million from the Liberal Party just to agree to be the party’s vice presidential candidate and running mate of Mar Roxas. After this failed to gain traction, an absurd story accusing her of buying a luxurious bed with a stratospheric price of P700,000 was peddled! Obviously, this is intended to besmirch her public image as a simple-living widow who leads a nearly austere existence. There was even the dastardly attempt to put to ridicule her very act of riding a public bus in going home every weekend to Naga City after attending to her Congressional duties. The canard being passed off as immaculate truth is that she or her family owns the public buses that she takes in going home to the province.
Now that she has surged in the ratings, even more accusations are coming out of the woodwork: illegal donations, patronage politics, and other easily-refutable issues. I suppose that the Filipino saying really holds true: Ang pinaka-mabungang puno ay ang pinaka madalas binabato.
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ON ANOTHER FRONT, surveys or no surveys, the political stalwarts of Pangasinan are convinced that Mar Roxas will be the “flavor of May.” That is the conviction of Rep. Gina de Venecia of  Pangasinan’s 4th District. She believes that Mar Roxas has the support of the silent majority. “The surveys do not reflect what I see on the ground.  I know this because I meet them on my daily visits to the public markets in the whole province.”
For months now, Manay Gina has been actively campaigning for Mar and Leni Robredo in Pangasinan, which is the 3rd vote-rich province in the country, with 1,705,260 registered voters.
Rep. Leopoldo Bataoil of the 2nd District also agreed, adding, “Mar Roxas is the best among the rest. His outstanding performance in various agencies, vast experience, track record and brilliance make him the best option for our country.”
This claim was made more evident by the massive showing of Roxas supporters when he arrived in Dagupan City, for the last presidential debate.
Roxas supporters gave him a ”yellow-carpet” welcome when he arrived in Dagupan City. He was escorted to the debate venue by hundreds of bikers as thousands of supporters, garbed in Mar-Leni yellow, lined up on both sides of the street, waving matching yellow flaglets.  When Mar reached the venue, an overflowing crowd of loyal supporters welcomed him with a marching band playing his campaign jingle. Visibly moved, Roxas came out of his vehicle and greeted his enthusiastic supporters amid a shower of yellow confetti. It was a campaign moment for Mar!
Some 6,000 of his supporters later convened in two viewing venues to watch the debate.
In addition to Reps. De Venecia and Bataoil, Roxas also enjoys the unwavering support of Rep. Baby Arenas of the 3rd District, Rep. Marlyn Agabas of the 6th District, Mayor Belen Fernandez of Dagupan City and Mayor Bobom Perez of Urdaneta City.  Dagupan is the number one vote rich city in Pangasinan with 105,183 voters, Urdaneta, the 3rd vote-rich with, 76,296 voters and San Carlos City under Rep. Arenas, the second vote-rich city with 96,875 registered voters.

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I had the opportunity to listen to Cong. Roberto C. Mascarina talk about the Ating-Koop Party List at the Nation’s Leaders Forum sponsored by the  Capitol Christian Leadership held at the Faith Baptist Church Social Hall in Quezon City last week. The first nominee of Ating –Koop Party List, “Ka Bert,” as he is popularly called, is a true-blooded cooperator after almost 27 years of success of Barangka Credit Cooperation which he founded with his fellow cooperators from the Universal Textile Mills, Inc. in 1986.
Ka Bert stopped studying at the University of Santos to work at the textile mills to support his family, and sleeping under a creek near the construction site. His salary could not sustain his family and personal needs. By God’s grace, he found an answer out of his predicament. He organized a cooperative (otherwise  called credit union), which helped him and his cooperators save and earn money, thus avoiding the wild interest rates charged by 5-6 creditors. Today his coop has hundreds of members throughout the country, enjoying the benefits of medical care, loans (which they pay regularly), education for their children, among others.
Let’s vote for this party list.
About Capitol Christian Leadership, this was founded by the late journalist Leon O. Ty and Dr. Gregorio J. Tingson, and currently has former Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno as honorary chair and Rev. Jose Lagunsad Gonzales as chair. Other officers are Bishop Juan S. Pring, Aida P. dela Cruz, Jean M. Puno, Perla Agustin, the Ildefonso J. Remolona, Atty.  David D. Aguila, Gilda U. Delegencia, and Ptr. Leo S. Salibio.
CCL is observing its 48th year of existence, with the theme “Building a Godly Nation.” Its mantra is, “Righteousness exalts a Nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people” (Proverbs 14:34). Every Tuesday, it holds a forum featuring respected personalities, from government to private individuals. For the May 9 elections, it has sponsored vice-presidential and local candidates. (Philstar.com)

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