Miss Universe Pia Wurtzbach and President Noynoy Aquino
Earlier, Miss Universe 2015 Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach made her courtesy call to Philippine President Noynoy Aquino at Malacañang Palace. She was accompanied by Miss Universe Organization (MUO) President Paula Shugart. As expected, the country’s leader is mighty proud of Queen P’s achievement, as we all are. And they exchanged pleasantries very happily (check video below).
By the way, Pia is wearing a Filipiniana gown made by Albert Andrada.
Watch the video coverage of the said courtesy call now.
Today (and not May 26 as the poster above states), an indie movie with a respectable cast of Film and TV performers will open on limited run in Metro Manila theatres.
Noy, the Movie – directed by Dondon S. Santos from the screenplay of Shugo Praico – stars one of the Philippines’ current showbiz heartthrobs Coco Martin together with Cherry Pie Picache, Joem Bascon, Erich Gonzales, Baron Geisler and Vice Ganda. It tells the story of a family breadwinner who posed as a journalist tasked to cover the campaign trail of his namesake – Senator Noynoy Aquino – in the 2010 Philippine Presidential Elections. It contains actual documentary footages combined with a family drama that revolves around poverty, survival and hope for the Filipino family.
Here is the movie’s official trailer:
video courtesy of YouTube/cocoholics07
Check out the official website for more info about Noy the Movie from CineMedia and distributed by Star Cinema.
Shalani Soledad, 30, is a councilor of Valenzuela City and has been the girlfriend of Senator and President-Apparent Noynoy Aquino for a few years now. This beautiful, refreshing and soft-spoken lady went all out during the Presidential campaign of her boyfriend. Recently, she appeared on “The Buzz” in an exclusive interview with future sister-in-law Kris Aquino on the status of her relationship with Noy. Watch the two-part video below:
videos courtesy of YouTube/showbizpinoy2
Okay, guys, now that you have watched her interview above, what do you think? Will she walk down the aisle with the future President within the next 6 years and become the Philippines’ next First Lady? Or will she be patient enough to wait longer than that should there be no marriange plans in the offing for President-Apparent Noynoy Aquino?
Your guess is as good as mine. Methinks there will be wedding bells in 2-3 years’ time! 😉
The official Comelec tally is not yet over but his opponents (save for one) have already conceded. Sen. Noynoy Aquino is just awaiting proclamation. He is going to be the new Philippine President. In the country’s first-ever automated elections last Monday, May 10, the son of Philippine Hero Ninoy Aquino and former President Cory Aquino claimed victory. He will definitely have his hands full for the next six years. But with the support of the Filipino people, there is nothing that can hinder the whole nation from entering a new era in its modern history. This is the best time to resurrect one of the most popular lines during Ninoy Aquino’s time – “hindi ka nag-iisa!” (You are not alone!) – with Noynoy’s name in lieu of his father’s.
Let’s keep in mind that Noynoy Aquino is not perfect. He’s just like one of us ordinary mortals, except for the fact that bloodline places his fate as the new leader of the Philippines. Every single Filipino should throw in their unconditional support and cooperation to make sure that the country can gloriously rise from all the problems plaguing it.
Tomorrow, May 10, is a historic day in modern Philippine history. First off, the country’s first automated elections will be conducted. But more than the pressure of dealing with PCOS machines and compact flash cards, the far more crucial event is the selection of a new President to lead the Republic. There has been a lot of dilly-dallying in the selection of my senatoriables, but when it comes to that one person Filipinos will look up to as leader for the next six years, my choice has decidedly zeroed in on Noynoy Aquino. Nobody comes close. Not even Gibo Teodoro who is a far second in my card.
Call it pervasive idealism, but my reflections on the Presidential post have led me to believe that there is one – and only one – person who can lead the Philippines to a better tomorrow. When Noynoy claims “hindi ako magnanakaw” (I will not steal), I don’t just tend to believe his conviction. I truly believe him. Many anti-Noynoy groups will put me down, but I don’t mind. At the end of the day, nobody can put a good man in Noynoy down. Mudsling him with all the black propaganda tactics available, but the voice of the majority will prevail in the end.
And don’t start me with surveys. Noynoy is comfortably on top. For his opponents who trash these social weather findings, my only question is…would you question the results like crazy if your name is the #1 choice of respondents? Just as I thought.
As for Vice-President, Mar Roxas is – just like Noynoy – my one and only choice for the second-highest position in the land. I’m up for analogies. Noynoy and Mar is a tandem that works like coffee and donuts, or tea and scones (if you’re high-strung), or milk and cookies (if you’re juvenile). They are two jigsaw puzzle pieces that will fit each other, complement if you will. Noynoy is the thinker to Mar’s planner. Or Noynoy is the moralist to Mar’s economist. They’re tailor-made for each other. Breaking the pair is like giving in to a compromise that will never achieve the best results possible.
Tonight, before I go to sleep. I will say an extra prayer for the Philippine nation and the Filipinos. I will pray that good judgment will prevail in the minds and hearts of every single voter so that we can all look forward to a resurgence of true democracy and unstinting leadership. This is no longer wishful thinking. It is a dream that should finally come to fruition in its real sense.
The heavy political campaigning for the national elections this coming May 10, 2010 is nearing the homestretch. So I thought it best to share the more appealing TV ads from among the endless infomercials that flooded the small screen since January. I would consider these my favorites not because I’m endorsing them but due to the fact that I liked how they were conceptualized and presented.
#1 – Bongbong Marcos’ Asikasong Bongbong/Tuloy Pa Rin Ako TVC
video courtesy of YouTube/boojocular
The updated version:
video courtesy of YouTube/gabbyshoe08
Hands-down, this is the most refreshing, most technically well-made and least hard-sell among them all. I haven’t really considered giving my vote to Bongbong Marcos for Senator, but I’m this close to including him in my short list. I really like the low-key but tasteful approach to his campaign without losing the drive for popularity along the rocky road of Philippine politics. You should also watch the updated version of the same (released just last week) right after which is quicker-paced and more engaging (apologies for the poorer quality because it is just a direct transfer from tv.)
#2 – Manny Villar’s Scroll TVC
video courtesy of YouTube/zhangwuvids
Among the gazillion of Manny Villar’s ads, this one is the more creative in the sense that it used a scroll that reads forwards and backwards and making sense in both – much like the palindrome “Madam, I’m Adam” which can be read the same from either direction -start or end. I wouldn’t go far in saying that it’s the most original because it was adapted by TBWA/Philippines from the “Truth (Upside Down)” political ad of Argentinian candidate Lopez Murphy in 2006. Short of sounding defensive, though, let me state that I am not backing Villar’s presidential bid. Orange I am not. You can call me a lemon….or a dalanghita but never a kahel.
#3 – Noynoy Aquino’s MTV-style/Rap Ad
video courtesy of YouTube/noytv
This is Noynoy Aquino’s most enjoyable TVC. Never mind that he showed his laughable rapping skills, but he drives the message more effectively than his other opponents, especially the youth which is the main target of this ad. Add to that the quick cameo of his nephew Baby James Yap and he’s all set to conquer Malacanang.
Special Mention: Adel Tamano TVC/Ogie Alcasid endorsement
video courtesy of YouTube/asteriskec
I want to give a consolation prize to Adel Tamano’s TV ad which shows singer/comedian Ogie Alcasid endorsing his senatorial bid. There’s nothing extraordinary about the same, but I’m a sucker for infomercials that are clean and polished and straight to the point – never tiring to the eyes and the ears at all. It’s a pity they don’t show the ad as often as they want to. Airtime costs must have really jacked up to high numbers because of the elections.
There you are. My Top 3 favorite political ads plus one special mention. If you’re in the Philippines right now, you will definitely feel the election fever going on. And since tomorrow – Sunday, May 2 – will be the last day of political campaigning nationwide, I expect all the Presidential candidates to go on a full-blast, no-holds-barred and crowd-filled last hurrah to win more votes.
By the way, this is going to be another long weekend after Malacanang announced that Monday, May 3, will be a non-working special holiday in observance of the Holiday economics that come with May 1, Labor Day, falling on a Saturday.
Spin doctors (and advertising agencies) in the Philippines are having a heyday competing with each other in presenting the most novel, most inspiring, most eye-catching, most convincing and most effective TV commercials for the Philippine Presidential bets for the national elections come May, 2010. Here are the latest batch of them and see how the contenders have slowly evolved from the start of their respective campaigns up to now.
Here is Sen. Noynoy Aquino doing rap with the youth, common masses and nephew Baby James (Yap).
video courtesy of YouTube/botohan2010
Here is Administration bet Gibo Teodoro doing a Top Gun in his “Lipad” TVC.
video courtesy of YouTube/giboteodoro
Here is Sen. Richard “Dick” Gordon’s “Sleepless” TVC.
video courtesy of YouTube/PINASWATCHER4
Here is Sen. Manny Villar’s TVC with Comedy King Dolphy as his biggest endorser (as if!)
video courtesy of YouTube/mannyvillarvideos
Here is Bro. Eddie Villanueva’s MTV pitch to the youth (c/o rapper Gloc 9)…very yellow and very catchy!
video courtesy of YouTube/micgen01
Personally, all of the above are effective commercials and it just depends on who you are supporting right now. I have never been secretive about holding on to Sen. Noynoy for the Presidency, but I doff my hat to the four others for coming up with truly solid TV campaigns.
The race for the Philippine Presidency is starting to heat up pretty well. Actually, the candidates’ initial salvos were fired during the last quarter of 2009 with Presidentiables Manny Villar, Noynoy Aquino, Erap Estrada and Gilbert Teodoro separately pitching in the start of their courtship of votes from the close to 50 million Filipino voters.
By now, they have entered the 2nd phase of their tri-media electoral campaigns. Below are the latest TV advertisements of the candidates haggling for airtime during both daytime and primetime shows.
Senator Noynoy Aquino, still the leader in all the social weather polls, opted to enter into a covenant with the Filipinos using the effective catchphrase “Hindi ako magnanakaw.” (I will not steal) Truth be told, he is the only one among the four who can believably use this line.
video courtesy of YouTube/reymelsylvester
On the other hand, Senator Manny Villar shared his vision for the Philippines of a country that thrives in wealth and family togetherness and the absence of corruption in government (yeah, right) In all honesty, I’m so tired of all his commercials on TV (and now even on radio) and can just imagine how much more money he will spend in the next few months to insure a victory in the elections.
video courtesy of YouTube/botohan2010
Gilbert “Gibo” Teodoro – the third wheel, if you will – started airing his latest commercial that stresses on the word “Posible” (Possible) where he adheres to the belief that anything is possible if there is unity among the Filipinos – simple dreams of a simple but comfortable life for everyone. This follows his Galing at Talino campaign.
video courtesy of YouTube/burogski
The tail-ender in surveys, Senator Dick Gordon, sees himself as a “Transformer” together with his running mate, Bayani Fernando. Among the four, he is obviously the most hands-on in terms of track record in performing executive and administrative position. I don’t know how far this will take him in the campaigns (and on election day itself) but he deserves an ‘A’ for effort.
video courtesy of YouTube/teamdickgordon2010
I no longer included the TVC of former President Erap Estrada because he has not released a new one alongside the four above.
Top of your mind now, who would you pick as your President based on these clips alone?
Here is the second part of my blog featuring the Presidentiables in the Philippine National Elections come May of next year. Please don’t get me wrong. I did not stack the remaining aspirants in the bottom four just because they are not as popular as the first group. It’s just that my thoughts about Noynoy Aquino, Manny Villar, Gibo Teodoro and Erap Estrada came very quick.
Without further ado, I shall continue with my Christmas (wish) list for the rest…
Will Senator Richard “Dick” Gordon make a good President? Well, only time will tell if he has it written in the stars. In the group of 8, he is actually the no-nonsense speed talker who can spew speeches, comments, tirades and what-have-you at the wink of an eye. His style and image tends to border on the dictatorial but with how he transformed Olongapo (and Subic for that matter) into the fully-developed province it is right now, there must be something right in how he ruled his provincemates with the proverbial iron – albeit hands-on- fist. Without a doubt, he is a cinch to eclipse the rest of the Predientiables in his territory, but combined with the rest of the country, it looks to be an uphill battle. My wish for him is to project a more likeable personality to the majority of Filipino voters and possibly a little more media visibility as a Presidential candidate on TV and Print to further widen his reach. Indeed, he is an intense and dedicated individual. But being intense and dedicated do not a victory in the Presidential elections make.
The only rose among the thorns, Senator Jamby Madrigal is running for the Presidency as an Independent. And that is where she will face the toughest and most expensive campaign battle ever. Without a political party and machinery to lean on, she is practically left defenseless when it comes to organizing rallies and caucuses plus the actual and very crucial tallying of votes come election day. This lady senator has a mind of her own, I will give her that. But to actually survive the gruel and cruel journey to the Presidency – regardless of the results – I doff my hat to her strong will and determination. That is thinking ahead of the story, though. There’s still a lot of surprises between now and May 2010 so we’ll see what aces she still has up her sleeves. My only wish is that she becomes friendlier in the truest sense of the word and have less of the bad temper she’s been known to have. There is no need to run for Miss Congeniality. Just plain warmth and openness to the Filipino people who matter most.
I remember the last time Bro. Eddie Villanueva made his first attempt to run for the Presidency years back and a slew of celebrities outed themselves in support of him. I actually saw him as the dark horse to win the race. His platform generated mass appeal and thought that he might give GMA a good fight. But that was then and this is now. The political landscape has evolved and it’s just not enough to serve the people while espousing the moral and religious regeneration of the Filipino masses. But who knows what the latter actually thinks right now? There’s a big difference between throwing support to one candidate during social weather surveys and which name each voter will finally mark on the ballot come election day. Therefore, my wish for Bro. Eddie is to push harder to make his presence felt the second time around. You see, some sectors see him as crowding the field instead of really pulling in significant votes in his favor. At the rate things are happening at the moment, the envisioned three-cornered fight for the highest post in the land might not include him in the troika of strong contenders.
And then there’s JC delos Reyes. Wait, JC who? For his supporters, please don’t take offense. I know very little of the guy except that he belongs to the “Ang Kapatiran” party. On top of that, I am aware that he is an Olongapo City Councilor. Is Dick Gordon even aware that one of his own is running against him? But all things being equal, this clean-cut family man has one good thing going for him, i.e., the good old-fashioned desire to serve the people. Not that the 7 others have less of the desire. It’s just that I can’t think of any other noteworthy reason to give some weight to his bid for the Presidency. Let’s be honest, he is part of the group to make a stand and create awareness. Anything beyond that is subject to a lot of doubts. In this time and age where political popularity is measured by loads of money for ads or strong party affiliations or celebrity endorsements or – quite simply – being the son of Ninoy & Cory, he is sadly out of category. Still, I give JC the credit for having the guts to fight and be taken seriously for doing so. And my wish for him? Relish the whole election and campaigning experience and use it as the foundation to build a more solid track record and sustain a consistently positive image in preparation for another run in 4 years’ time.
The circus will be coming to town by early 2010 in the Philippines. The Presidential elections, plus those for VP, Senators, Congressmen, and all remaining local positions will be held May of next year. In fact, the advance party for the caravan has already arrived and all tri-media outlets are practically spilling in advertisements of supposed “friends” of the candidates.
So in time for the Christmas celebrations a few days from now, I am blogging about my “grown-up wish list” for the 8 Presidentiables who all want to take control of governing the country after President Arroyo steps down.
Here goes the first four of the group….
For Senator Noynoy Aquino, my wish is for him to actually win and make a miracle of eradicating graft and corruption in the country. I have long wanted to ask him how far down the line he will be in control of people working in the government. I know in my heart that he (and his four sisters) can never be faulted for monetary indiscretions and that among all the wannabes, he comes off as the most honest. Perhaps, I just need to be given some sort of assurance that his governance will be spread out on all levels, and not totally rely on people within and outside the fringes of his inner circle to be as “clean” as he is. On the side, I also wish him not to be pressured into marrying his current girlfriend (Rep. Shalani Soledad) in time for the elections. His sisters can very well be symbolic “first ladies” for the Philippines and that would be a real first if I’m not mistaken.
For Senator Manny Villar, my wish for him is to go a bit easy with the heavy advertisements on TV, on radio and print. Ad agencies have already tagged him as one of the Top 10 heaviest airtime buyers this year alone. And that leads me to thinking….with the hundreds in millions of pesos spent in commercials alone, how will he get a return in investment should he win the elections? True, he is a rags-to-riches story and his claim to lift the poor Filipinos out of their misery holds some water. But won’t he be tempted to rewrite his own story into a “rags-to-riches-to-more-riches” biography?
Secretary Gilbert “Gibo” Teodoro is clearly the most good-looking among the lot. His wife, Rep. Nikki Prieto-Teodoro, should also make a ravishing First Lady if ever he wins. But enough of the superficials. His pedigree and academic excellence should take care of his “Galing at Talino” ad campaigns. I also see him as a sharp strategist and analyst. But being the administration candidate, he suffers a lot from comparisons with President Arroyo. It also doesn’t help his cause that the recent Maguindanao Massacre is taking a toll on his popularity since he is the National Defense Head. He is also seen by most as an elitist (aside from being part of the old rich clans in Tarlac) who may think twice about literally reaching out to the poor. All these things aside, my wish for him is to step out of the shadows of the current President, and fast. Otherwise, he will find difficulty erasing the impression that he might just end up being a puppet of GMA.
Again? He is running again? Hasn’t he had enough of the Presidency which brought him shame? And haven’t we Filipinos had enough of him? He is proof that power is truly intoxicating (pun intended) and a second stab at the country’s highest post is giving him the fire to reclaim what he thought was rightfully his. Let’s scale down things to the basics. Isn’t it time to elect somebody else? I don’t mean to discriminate his age or infamous womanizing ways, but let’s shift our gaze on someone who will perform the demanding (and punishing) duties of a President with selflessness, utmost sincerity and a big heart. My bottomline wish for former President Erap Estrada is to let go and move on. He was already given the chance to serve before and he should let another (more deserving) opponent take the reins of power.
Watch out for my next blog which will feature my Christmas (wish) list for the rest of the 2010 Presidentiables…
Hi! Norman here. When I'm not working, I spend most of my free time planning on daily blogs. If you will notice, I always make sure that a fresh topic comes out everyday - not an easy thing to do but it's all good. Thanks for dropping by and enjoy the visit!
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