The 2010 Philippine elections is just 10 months away and again, we need to choose a new president for the country. No one has confirmed that they are running for the presidency; obviously, they will be filing their certificate of candidacies on or weeks before the very last day of COC filing. Even though no one has confirmed yet who will be running either for president, vice-president or senators, we are already getting the hunch on who will be aiming for public office (again).

A socio-political networking website, www.politicalarena.com, is said to enlighten us voters (and aspiring voters) to know the background of politicians who, according to “public opinion”, will run on 2010. It’s the first of its kind here but it’s not owned by the Comission of Elections (COMELEC). This project is in partnership with 88db.com, meaning they funded the whole website.

I was one of the bloggers who attended the launch of Politicalarena.com at the Manila Peninsula 3 weeks ago. Probably other bloggers were not available to attend the event (because it was at 9 am on a Thursday (?) ) and at that time I don’t have a day job yet so it’s just me and Karla who went there. Aside from the launch of the website. they also had a signing of the “anti-smear campaign” among the political figures present there such as Sen. Chiz Escudero, Hon. Gilbert Remulla, Hon. Raffy Biazon, Hon. Teodoro Casiño together with COMELEC Commissioner Jose Melo, NAMFREL Ambassador Henrietta de Villa, PPCRV’s Bro. Clifford Sorita, Fr. Anton Pascual of Caritas Manila and Reginald Velasco, Secretary-General, Kampi. Apparently, the politicians who signed the anti-smear campaign will be running for public office for their next term (or a higher position). Ex-Senator Nikki Coseteng was there also but she did not sign the anti-smear campaign MOA, does that mean that she will not be running for office again?

When the floor was opened for questions to COMELEC Chairman Jose Melo, COMELEC Spokesperson James Jimenez and General Manager of Politicalarena.com Racquel Cagurangan, the first media practitioner who went to the mic (I forgot who he was, I think from Business World) immediately fired one of the most controversial questions to COMELEC Chairman Melo: How come that the machines that were intended for poll automation weren’t tested? (rephrased) Inside my mind I said, “You just have to put Chairman Melo on the spot when the topic or event on hand does not even talk about poll automation.” Actually, most questions there weren’t about the website, it was more of the poll automation. It seems that most media practitioners don’t really care about how the website will be relevant/irrelevant to our voters. Good thing I was seated in a table with individuals from Radio Caritas. A little exchange of ideas and opinions about the website. Here are some of the things that seemed dubious about website:

• Funding – According to the Racquel Cagurangan, General Manager of Politicalarena.com, the funding came SOLELY from 88DB.com.
• Who initiated it? – It was 88DB who initiated this project then became “in-partnership” with COMELEC. 88DB wanted to become the pioneer in becoming the ‘first socio-political networking site’ here in the Philippines.
• Candidate profiles – It will be the duty of the candidates’ staff to update the profiles there. At the same time, the candidates themselves are expected to “reply” to the questions for each candidate. Also, the candidates that you can see on the page were based, according to Cagurangan, on the “public perceptions”. I don’t know if they did a survey for this of what but this is what bothers me because this is beneficial only for popular candidates. Now how about the aspiring candidates who don’t have money for the campaign? If politicians would like to remove their profile on the site, they may do so but they have to submit a formal letter to them. Sen. Ping Lacson already withdrew on the presidential race and had already sent a formal letter to them. Political Arena reconfirmed it to him. Why is there a need to follow up on him?
• Anti-Smear Campaign – Ideally, the website should not be an arena for destroying the reputation of another candidate. Wow, is this really gonna happen? Signing the MOA for the Anti-Smear Campaign won’t make any difference. According to Cagurangan, their job won’t go further than maintaining the website. Meaning, they take care only of the technical stuff but moderating the things that are being said there, it’s not their job anymore. They will only be moderating the comments and uploaded items when they violate the provisions in the user policy. The basic provisions are the usual ones for forums and social networking websites.

To sum it all up, I know that this is a good avenue to get to know the presidential candidates especially for the OFWs who plan to vote on 2010. The politicians I saw there are the same trapos.

Prof. Danny Arao’s blogpost about bloggers who become “sell outs” in the blogosphere is indeed thought provoking. I have been blogging for a long time but it was only until now that I get to meet some other bloggers in “real life” through the the different blogger or media events organized by different marketing or pr agencies. It’s only now I realize that there are some perks by becoming a blogger. I must admit it was fun since I get to experience things I have not done before ( especially the food that I have not tasted before). In exchange of letting me experience those perks of course I should return the favor by writing about their product or event etc. That’s ‘social exchange theory’ in real life, but it’s not being forced. Even though they feed me with all the food they want, nothing can control me on what I will say. I will still write a bad review if I didn’t like the taste of the food or if the service is bad. I make sure that it’s being done constructively and not because I am being too personal about it.

Prof. Arao’s article poses a question towards bloggers self motivation in blogging. It is a fact that there are some bloggers who are just concerned about blog monetization and not about the content. Spamming their blogs with topics that are “marketable” or has “high value” leaves the objective of the whole blog itself. I am not saying that everything should be political or highly intellectual. There are lots of things to write about not just “high valued” topics. These “high valued” topics are then translated into monetary value and that’s how the ad networks work. I learned this from Karla, who is a geek in those kind of stuff, and explained to me on how to earn money by just blogging. It was only a few months ago when I started Google Adsense and I only have a few dollars. I appreciate the dollar amount but it’s not really the end goal.

Another thing also that he mentioned was to consider our audience, i.e. our readers. Prof. Arao mentioned that we have to be responsible on the things we write or what would be the consequence and outcome of this to the audience. Yes, the blogosphere is a public domain, however this is a different kind of domain wherein audiences can create their own identity, i.e. reality. We cannot say that the intention of the blogger would reflect in what he/she writes. In this scenario, the blogger can transform his/her identity without the readers knowing it. The identity of the blogger is not attached to the article he/she wrote. As for the readers, they have their own mind as to how they will interpret the things we write. I believe that agency ( the individual) is still important and that not all human beings are always pre-determined by market forces. It is a give and take relationship. Readers will say what they want to say, or they can also re-interpret what we say and make it into their own ( like what I am doing now ).

In conclusion, I think that people have different motivations on why they blog and we should respect that. Blog monetization is not totally bad at all, being a ‘sell out’ is bad. I think that Prof. Arao’s post excludes people who really do blog monetization ( coming from the title of the blog post itself). I would like to say that they are also writers who contribute and create meaning to the blogosphere. It somewhat creates “exclusivity” among ” responsible” bloggers (as what he is imposing) vs the “irresponsible” bloggers. Does this mean that there is a distinction being made? What makes a blogger “responsible”? If there is such thing, what are the criteria on being “responsible”?

Now for you as my reader right now I pose these questions to you:

Why did you read this blog post?

(if you are a blogger) Why do you blog?

What do you think is a blogger?

You might want to read this related blog post about audiences

http://www.rockerfem.com/2008/08/20/expecto-patronum-to-the-dementors-who-want-to-stop-the-magical-mystery-tour/

I know this is late but this is the only time I have organized my thoughts about this. I really feel so betrayed when Erap was pardoned by GMA. It was 2001 then, my senior year in St. Scho Manila. I, together with my batchmates then, lead anti-Erap rallies in St. Scho which eventually made us part of the actual EDSA dos when the envelope wasn’t opened during the Impeachment trial. I had the chance to actually experience the Impeachment Trial then, when we supported Clarissa Ocampo, who was a Scholastican then when she was in high school. I participated wholeheartedly during the EDSA dos which I believe became a part of who I am. This was the time that I feel that I am contributing something in history and in society; being a productive member of society. When the man who committed plunder and dishonesty to the Filipino people stepped out of Office, it felt empowering. I was part of the youth then, ( and I believe until now. hehe) 18 years old getting ready for college, it was really very empowering. It felt like I can actually make things happen and ready to face any challenges that would come my way.

6 years after, now part of the labor force, no longer that positive in things to come in Philippine Politics only made me more disenchanted ( thanks to Max Weber), with my reality. Actually experiencing being the breadwinner of the family, I can no longer feel my youthful self; that empowered young woman then. I am now facing the reality of life, how hard it is to make ends meet. Thankfully I can still have some simple luxury in life but thinking outside of my personal self makes me wonder where is justice?

Having a sociological mind still haven’t gone out of my system. Adapting from C. Wright Mills ” The Sociological Imagination”, public issues do not separate from private issues. These 2 domains do not have absolute separatism from each other, in fact they overlap. Dichotomies like these might create conflict on one’s notion of reality but it could also help us create pragmatic decisions. Wow, I remember my Sociological Theory professor, Ma’am Marcia. Let me reiterate, acknowledging the existence of both dichotomies will help us pragmatic about it. Now, grounding this “theory” to my actual experiences based on the socio-historical circumstances I am currently experiencing, I would say that I am still on the verge of thinking about it. A public issue such as GMA’s pardoning of Erap directly affects me because I for one contributed to his ouster and I felt that my sense of self that felt then was empowering felt betrayed. My principles on this particular issue affects on how I think about the government, justice system and even my own culture. As I remember while I was watching ANC, an Anthropology professor from UP Diliman was interviewed and according to him this particular issue is a clash of Filipino values: the value of being forgiving and the value of being firm on making decisions. Again, another dichotomy here that is being worked here. I believe that this is a clash of 2 bigger dichotomies, traditionalism and modernity. Different cultures have molded us to these 2 ideas, and now conflict is arising. It is really mind boggling on how you would incorporate these 2 far-fetched ideas into one unifying pragmatic action.

On the macrolevel, it is a rational decision for GMA to do that since she is desperate for the support of the Filipino masses. Rationality, as I could remember is doing calculable actions no matter what it takes just to meet the ends. I remember Machiavelli’s “The Prince” here. For Social Science majors, you know what I mean. GMA’s actions were calculated and all the qualms of other institutions or parts of society ( coming from the functionalist perspective) doesn’t really matter, because the masses play a bigger part in the upcoming 2010 elections. Just imagine all the waste of time and money then. It seems that everything is really a show. Borrowing from Goffman’s ideas, this is just a role play; a theatrical show but in this particular situation, people were not internalizing their roles. Well Goffman didn’t say that everything is consistent because people play different roles in life. Clashing of values play a big role in the inconsistencies of people’s decisions, I believe.

Am I still making sense here? To sum it all up, I am just expressing my dismay on pardoning Erap for everything he has done to the Filipino people. This is no different with the Marcos situation, look at them in government office again. I don’t want to be disenchanted with my reality, as much as possible I want to have a positive outlook in Philippine society.

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