PEOPLE are talking about...
* THE NARCO LIST, which Interior and Local Government chief Eduardo Año will be released "next week." On the question of legality raised by critics who urge the government to charge the suspects instead, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said the right to presumption of innocence can be waived. Candidates, he suggested, waived the right when they filed their COCs and ran for public office.
* COUNCILOR JOY PESQUERA'S BEING 'BULLIED.' "As a woman, I have to set up an example by standing up to a bully like Tomas Osmeña."
By her count, Joy was maligned 10 times by the Cebu City mayor. City Hall watchers also recall that Tomas has been frequently picking on Pesquera because of her previous romantic ties with former mayor Mike Rama and her criticisms of the Osmeña administration. It took her some time to stand up and fight but now she says she's fighting back.
KKJ against BBB
The propaganda war in Mandaue City uses a jingle that calls one candidate for mayor "kawatan" and "kurakot" multiple times to the widely familiar tune of Rossini's William Tell overture. The singers mouth nothing else but a repetition of the KKs plus the candidate's first name. The program host calls the jingle KKJ. Lawyers must wonder how many counts of libel the defamatory-per-se would total, multiplied by the number of times Rossini's bastardized overture has been played from day one until the last day of the election season.
The rival candidate, through his propagandists, in return fire, calls the enemy "butakal," repeating the word several times but without naming the candidate, something like BBB plus. Is "butakal" defamatory? If it is, the user of the word may plead self-defense.
It seems to descend into a war between "kawatan/kurakot" and "butakal." Is the choice of Mandaue voters limited to having a thief or a sex maniac for a mayor? Of course not. If they allow a margin for the usual exaggeration, they get a fairly accurate idea about the persons running for public office.
'Kill list' gimmick
In contrast, in San Fernando, Cebu, the opposition is using the "kill list" gimmick. While the list, circulated on Facebook, supposedly helps the police go after politicians who protect drug traffickers, it is used to bring down candidates the peddlers of the list reject. The opposition is the suspect because obviously its candidates benefit from the bad publicity against their rivals.
The second list contains names of four candidates for councilors and two barangay captains allied with the administration of Mayor Lakambini Reluya. What makes the new list look credible and fearsome is that the first list resulted in or led to the gun-killing of at least four public officials of the town.
FB book wall as terror poster
The FB account called "Mga Estorya sa Politika sa San Fernando" seems to be creating all this furor that spills over from the town to the rest of Cebu.
"Estorya" is different from FB account of Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña that set off a libel complaint from Councilor Joy Pesquera, who's running for congresswoman in the south district. Tomas's FB wall has not sown terror, as the San Fernando kill list seems to have done, that is, if "Estorya" critics are to be believed.
Facebook should make access to the mechanism for grievance easy. For example, complainants have found it tough to identify the people responsible for the "Estorya" account. Accountability is important to curb excess in the exercise of free speech.
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