JEDDAH, 9 March 2007 — I WAS not surprised to read yesterday morning that the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) opinion poll of 1,200 registered voters across the Philippines found that seven opposition candidates were in the top 12 positions in terms of who would get the most votes if an election were held today. Only three slots went to members of the Arroyo administration’s TEAM Unity and the rest to independents like Sen. Francis Pangilinan, who topped the survey.
By the way, Pangilinan and Senate President Manuel Villar Jr., who came in third place, were both included in the ticket of the Genuine Opposition (GO) coalition, but the former was dropped when he refused to campaign with the group.
Although surveys like this one should always be taken with a grain of salt because of the fact that so much can still happen between now and election day in May that could change the opinion of voters, it is still a very interesting indication of where the sympathies of voting Filipinos lie.
Not surprisingly, the ever-popular former senator Loren Legarda landed in second place with 54 percent of the respondents saying they would vote for her. Undoubtedly her perceived honesty and frankness, and the painful separation from her now ex-husband Antonio Leviste (who is in trouble for shooting to death his close aide), must have helped her popularity.
My personal favorite Taguig-Pateros Rep. Allan Peter Cayetano and Sen. Panfilo Lacson, both of GO, tied for fourth and fifth place with 43 percent respectively.
My other favorite Sorsogon Rep. Francis Escudero, also of the GO slate, tied for the sixth and seventh place with re-electionist Sen. Ralph Recto of the administration ticket.
My only gripe with Escudero is that he should get rid of that brown T-shirt he always wears when campaigning and in his election advertisement. I know he and his consultants must think it makes him look “bagets” and like someone that young people can easily identify with. But most people I know have more than one T-shirt, and in different colors/patterns too! I don’t want him to become the Karzai of the Philippines, who became so enamored of his traditional Afghan coat/wrap that for a while it seemed like he was wearing the same green one with gold trim whenever he appeared at official functions or went abroad on state visits.
Former senator Vicente “Tito” Sotto III of TEAM Unity, took eighth place, which doesn’t come as a surprise. He was followed by another ex-senator, John Osmeña of GO and Tarlac Rep. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III with 30 percent each.
Jailed former senator Gregorio Honasan came in at 11th with 29 percent. If he is elected I don’t know how he will be able to serve in the Senate as it seems unlikely that the charges of plotting rebellion will be dropped against him anytime soon. Justice Secretary Raul Gonzales even said last week that Honasan would not be allowed to serve as a senator even if he won a Senate seat.
One of the eldest and most veteran of politicians, Sen. Joker Arroyo, of the administration ticket, completed the 12th slot.
Sen. Edgardo Angara, another veteran, placed 13th, while Aquilino Pimentel III, son of incumbent Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel Jr. whose term will end in 2010, was 14th. If the election were held today, Angara and Pimentel could still have a good chance of catching up and dislodging any of those at the tailend of the top 12.
I was pleased to see that actors Cesar Montano and Richard Gomez came in 18th and 19th, and that Luis Chavit Singson, the governor of Ilocos Sur who seems to have an influence on President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, came in at a rock-bottom 25th place.
Homesickness and Dogs
A few weeks ago I took my terrier dog Nog-Nog to the veterinarian to get his annual vaccination against rabies. When I walked in, one of the new vets working there, a Filipino, exclaimed “Finally, a dog! Can I hug your dog? I miss my dog so much who is in the Philippines.”
I said no problem, hug away. I told him that Nog-Nog loves Filipinos and has never bitten anyone.
The place I now go to is located in a small villa near Tahlia Street in Jeddah and is very clean and friendly. But the problem here, as in every other veterinarians in Saudi Arabia, is the high turnover rate of doctors, always expatriates, who find it hard to adjust to the local culture and the overabundance of cats.
Yes, you read right, a surplus of cats can get some people down.
“Yours is the first dog I’ve seen in two weeks that I’ve worked here,” the Pinoy explained. “I’m sick of all of these cats,” he said to me, lowering his voice so that no one would overhear him.
Since Saudis, and most Muslims for that matter, think that dogs are “impure” from a religious point of view, our feline friends have become the pets of choice for female Saudis.
Yet the number of abandoned cats on our streets never seems to decline, and no one has set up a program to neuter female cats so that we can stop this explosion of the feral population in Jeddah. A few years ago Arab News ran a story about a Western woman who used to go around and neuter cats herself on the streets. What we really need is an official neutering program run by Jeddah Municipality in conjunction with a nonprofit animal shelter. Unfortunately, we don’t have an animal shelter in Jeddah, even though I have seen the website of an excellent one in Kuwait, the Animal Friends League of Kuwait (http://www.animalfriendskuwait.org/index.html). If they can have one in Kuwait, why not here?
If anyone is interested in trying to organize one, and who knows some wealthy patrons who wouldn’t mind financing it to do it properly, drop me an e-mail and let’s see what we can do.
It is much more humane to neuter these cats currently running wild on our streets and being run over on our roads. They are our responsibility and we should take care of the problem now.
Comments or questions? E-mail me at: [email protected]. Visit my blog at: http://rasheedsworld.blogspot.com.
