halalan 2010: a source of pride

i read a post last monday about being ashamed to be Filipino during the election. i didnt read the context. perhaps because he didnt agree with the front runners of the count.

i couldn't disagree more. it's wednesday, just two days after. and comelec has tallied more than 70% of the returns. some aspirants have conceded. the election turned out to be orderly and honest even, generally peaceful.

and the best indication: LIFE IS BACK TO NORMAL! two days after! im back to work. everybody is. and even as we discuss and share experiences, we are no longer debating outcomes and results. we are eagerly but peacefully awaiting the pronouncements. amazing.

im mighty proud of each and every Filipino who voted inspite of, despite of. im very proud of the volunteers who did their best. im so proud of the teachers and staff who were able to make that big jump from manual to electronic. and for a lot of them who are more advanced in age, we know how daunting technology could be.

halalan 2010 will be a watershed point in our electoral history. and my 'controversial' point: this will be one of the defining milestones of the ate glo administration. it had to take her pure political will to finally make sure automation happens. im no ate glo fan. but i have to give her that credit.


and as my response to fellow fab, gibbs post on money villar:
marketing 101: all the promotional money, all the best campaigns fail if you have a product problem. politicians, as a product, are all about promised benefits. consumers are asked to evaluate whether those benefits will be delivered as promised. on the absence of actual experience with the product, consumers will evaluate on the basis of available information: past performance, consistency, reliability, value, etc. much information was disseminated that failed to show consistency: billions spent on campaign reconciled with a promise of corruption-free government? a shared history of poverty with the masses versus land-grabbing? picking a running mate for political expediency? so many questions, enough to plant seeds of doubt, of mistrust. too bad, trust is the currency of governance.