Finally, Garci’s ‘Hello’

(Shot by Marco Gutierrez, ABS-CBN News)

BAUNGON, BUKIDNON–Ryan Chua and I were just out of high school when we first heard “Hello Garci.”

It was a looming question to the legitimacy of then Pres. Gloria Arroyo’s 2004 win, and we saw journalists take pains to get it out and officials take pains to discredit it.

We now remember just the soundbites: the greeting turned into a myriad ringtones and the line “Will I still lead by one million?”

The controversy signaled a loss of trust in the administration. Back in college, it meant incessant rallies and suspicions of government moves to quash opposition and stay in power.

Arroyo nonetheless finished her six years, not without making a televised apology for “talking to a Comelec official”.

Meanwhile, we barely heard from Commissioner Virgilio “Garci” Garcillano since.

Ryan and I had already graduated to the media and covered our first elections. Ryan broke news from the Comelec during Halalan 2010, while I was sent to top election hot spot Maguindanao.

(Shot by Anjo Bagaoisan)

This weekend, Garci invited our team and a score of other media people here, an hour’s drive south of Cagayan De Oro.

What he had to say, we did not know.

Date with destiny

One morning in September, we waited for this man in black outside his home as he prepared to stake his claim on history. (Read: Waiting for Noynoy)

Exactly 9 months later, we watched him go up the steps of Congress and ascend to power in his mother’s footsteps.

Benigno Simeon Cojuangco Aquino III, the man none dreamed would be president, today became the second person to benefit from his father’s dream of being one.

It was one of the swiftest in recent history–a tad 2 hours of quick-paced parliamentary formality after one of the country’s quickest counts and canvass.

The plenary hall at 8:30 a.m., as House staff started rearranging the congressmen's tables

It was the first presidential and vice presidential proclamation in the age of Web 2.0.

Much so that most eyes and ears on the country were trained on TV sets, radios, mobile phones, and computer screens with live feeds from the Batasang Pambansa.

Money, money, money

Live from Lanao, Day 3

(Shot courtesy of Ronnie Enderes, ABS-CBN Iligan)

ISLAMIC CITY OF MARAWI, LANAO DEL SUR—Yes, these images are real.

They’re caught by ABS-CBN cameras in 3 of 7 towns here that again went to the polls yesterday.

Most are an hour’s drive from the capitol in Marawi up mountains on narrow, rough roads.

The school yards were filled with voters nonetheless. A number were to vote for the first time, others old to need assistance.

For whatever persuasion, they came. As our reporter Jeff Canoy observes, the scene of long lines, pushing, shoving, and fainting is as familiar to Manila as it is here.

Apparently familiar too in these areas are money, campaigning, and practically many violations of election day conduct. No matter if media members were on guard, along with battalions of men in fatigues and police uniforms.

Jeff’s cameraman Rommel Zarate had to discreetly shoot with his heavy Ikegami cam inside a polling classroom in Lumba Bayabao, but that did not stop one woman nearby from peeking at sheets of campaign leaflets attached to crisp 50-peso bills.

(Shot by Rommel Zarate, ABS-CBN cameraman)

Prelude to rerun

A day before the special elections

Dark clouds and a sliver of light portend over the province's future.

ILIGAN CITY, LANAO DEL NORTE–Another month, another out-of-town. Another election, albeit a repeated one.

The swift flutter of events in the 2010 elections failed to include towns in Lanao del Sur, Basilan and Sarangani. For reasons ranging from violence to technical failures, elections were deferred to tomorrow.

And so, we’re back in Mindanao, this time in Lanao.

They told us we wouldn’t stay longer than a week here. Should things go as planned, that is.

That the special elections in this region were originally scheduled for Friday last week already warns of unpredictability. More so that the recurring image of the last elections here is a precinct incident caught on cam by indie reporters.

The video serves as the attention-grabbing jump-off to Jeff Canoy‘s advancer story on the polls for TV Patrol (as edited by yours truly):

In this region, apparently anything can happen.

Big switches

Fast forward two weeks later.

The country, after the euphoria of witnessing a speedy election count, now takes a sober look back.

Its big jump to automation has produced one of the most interesting switches–or re-switches–of our leaders yet. The roll of public officials attaining or resuming power in 2010 will confuse anyone trying to put a pin on the Filipino’s fluid voting standards.

Start with the 15th Congress. In Pinoy Big Brother Celebrity Edition style, only 2010 will bring together the likes of Manny Pacquiao, Imelda Marcos, and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in one House.

The new batch of senators are a bunch of old names–reelectionists, returnees, and relatives.

And as if one was not enough, our “president-apparent” is another offspring of another former president.

We’re seeing history repeat itself with a twisted sense of humor.

Many point out the irony of an incoming President Aquino III along with an incoming Senator Marcos Jr. And the horror of a State of the Nation Address with Aquino talking, Marcos and Arroyo behind him.

Other victories portend the possibilities of change. In Maguindanao, a widower is picking up the pieces half-left by the regime that murdered his wife.

Virtual wars (or Leveled up election coverage)

Live from Maguindanao Day 19
4 days after Halalan 2010

SHARIFF AGUAK, MAGUINDANAO–When they monitored how the 2007 polls were covered, the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility wrote: “For their efforts alone, the three TV stations –ABC 5, ABS-CBN 2, and GMA 7 — took election coverage to a new level. They made the coverage of the 2010 elections something to look forward to.”

And indeed, the TV networks did not disappoint.

In May 2010, they fused hi-tech form and relevant substance to mark the first time many Filipinos used machines to count their votes.

It’s not just the much ballyhooed “Star Wars”-like effects that have captured viewers and reignited debates among Kapamilya and Kapuso fans. More notable was the increased focus on context, issues, voter education, and citizen empowerment.

After all, the 2010 polls have been called a crossroads in Philippine politics, held at the twilight of a long and controversial presidency, with the youngest, more socially conscious, and most technologically-connected populace participating.

Tech coups

Viewers on election day raved about the ABS-CBN Halalan war room suggestive of NASA. GMA 7, like ABS, boasted heavy partnerships and widespread deployments, and a revitalized channel, TV5, showed how it could compete with the two.

Unlike the cellphone-ruled 2001 and 2007 elections, 2010 was the first one dominated by online social media.

Tips, complaints, jokes, and comments on Twitter and Facebook filled airtime. ABS-CBN led the surge with its multi-platform “Boto Mo Ipatrol Mo” campaign.

Plus, the networks gave audiences a visual treat.

Each had touch screens showing everything from candidate profiles to citizen journalists’ reports to 3D diagrams of the election process and results.

The coup was augmented reality. The term refers to blending realistic computer-generated images with news presentation, thus “augmenting” the viewing experience–not unlike movie special effects.

Overnight

Live from Maguindanao Day 16
A day after Halalan 2010

SHARIFF AGUAK, MAGUINDANAO–Had this been any other election, we might have stayed for more than two nights in this town.

We’ve slept in the wooden chairs of an elementary school and under the ramp of the largest government office here. We’ve taken baths through hoses and pails in open air.

All to support ABS-CBN’s widest, most comprehensive, and most impressive poll coverage yet.

But on the cusp of the Philippines’ first nationwide automated elections, we get to end the sleepover a little earlier.

The results of this election have almost virtually arrived overnight. Any moment, we may have our next leader.

The effect is surprising.

War and grace

Live from Maguindanao, Day 13
2 days before Halalan 2010

KORONADAL, SOUTH COTABATO–“More so, let us ask God to give us leaders we do NOT deserve.”

Pastor Jorem was leading the congregation in prayer. The singing had already ended and he was laying out the church’s petitions. Number one on their list: the May 10 elections.

This still is Mindanao–Koronadal or Marbel, to be exact. And this is Marbel Evangelical Fellowship, a church of 50 plus that I had the privilege of joining last Sunday.

And this is probably the farthest church I’ve attended since my years in Saudi Arabia. UP schoolmate Lance Catedral, here on vacation, brought me along.

Where I come from, in-depth prayer sessions spring up only in prayer meetings. At MEF, every Sunday involves members sharing their requests and thanks, then offering them up as one.

Welcome to one aspect of the elections forgotten in the revelry, the excitement, and the mudslinging.

Automated caution

Live from Maguindanao, Day 9
6 days before Halalan 2010

SHARIFF AGUAK, MAGUINDANAO–Sir Jorge’s crew left Koronadal long before dawn to drive with the convoy that carried the precinct count optical scan machines from Cotabato City to Maguindanao.

A police car, an army weapons carrier, three army jeeps, and three civilian vehicles surrounded the two cargo trucks that brought election equipment to the towns of Datu Salibo, Saudi Ampatuan, Datu Piang, and Datu Unsay.

The PCOS machines, ballot boxes, and generators reached the municipal halls before noon, as many others are now reaching their assigned precincts all over the Philippines.

A picture of jailed Datu Unsay mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. looks at the arrival of PCOS machines in the town. (Shot by Gani Taoatao, ABS-CBN News cameraman)

In this hotspot province, security is still the top priority, hence the military escort. Hours after, an ABS-CBN Boto Patroller reported that a blast struck the town of Paglat, near another convoy carrying PCOS machines.

Boodle fight

Live from Maguindanao, Day 4
11 days before Halalan 2010

KORONADAL, SOUTH COTABATO– Gastronomical adventures come with any visit to the far away. But that does not always sound appealing when you talk about a month-long need for sustenance.

On my first trip to Mindanao, I think we have had enough of meat. Pork is not a staple here, but from where we’ve eaten so far, beef seems to be.

Heard of the Arabic-sounding balbakwa? They call this soup the local relative of bulalo. Anything, as long as it’s from the cow, goes. One version we ate stocked on the flesh, skin, and hair. Others include innards. All overbear in sour beef-ness.

If not, it has been goat, chicken, the rare pork lechon, and more beef.

Resident Isko Lance Catedral says fruits and veggies are cheap here that they are actually frequent fare–but mostly at homes.

And the outside heat.

One nearby caf now seems to end our search for more than meat. “Food Harbor” is a canteen heavily patronized for its 35-plus choices of viands (yes, someone counted) and doubles as a pub come nightfall.

So along with carnivorous entrées such as roasts (inihaw) and bitter stews (papaitan), we’re again eating familiar greens like chopsuey and lumpia.

In other restos, more variety.

Eating in Maguindanao, meanwhile, is a different story.