By Mar T. Supnad
It wasn’t the strength of a political party but the people’s thirst for “true reforms” that won for Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III the Philippines presidency.
This was the remark of one of the president-elect’s top coordinators during the 90-day national campaign period, as he recalled how the broad mass-based votes of 15.7 million were garnered for the Liberal Party’s standard-bearer, posting the biggest margin so far (more than 4 million votes) over a close political rival in the history of the country’s presidential race.
A native of scenic Bolinao town in Pangasinan, true-blue Ilocano-Pangasinense, Dale Cabrera, who volunteered as national coordinator of the “Aquino to Malacanang”(ATOM) movement, rationalized, however, that Noynoy’s Party gave its best in spite of some apparent shortfalls in the campaign kitty.
“But people who believe more in transformational politics delivered the clincher, actually, the adrenalin, which inspired the broad mass-based of supporters to sweat it out for their candidate,” Cabrera said.
ATOM’s keyman described the support for Aquino as “spontaneous, as though validating and demonstrating a new kind of people power to realize the vision for change.” ATOM stalwarts include Jose “Pepe” Sarmiento, formerly of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), businessman Wilo Layug and former governor Zacaria Candao of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
According to Cabrera, among the volunteer groups that fanned nationwide support for Aquino were the Association of the Socio-economic Advancement of Pinoys, Inc. (ASAP) under Roy Sangil, the Noynoy Aquino for President Movement (NAPM), the Blue Falcons International Association, Inc., Islamic Party of the Philippines (IPP), Philippine Association of Small Coconut Farmers’ Organization (PASCFO), the Federation of Farmers’ Associations of the Philippines (FFAP) and Watawat, a movement for social democracy.
By Cabrera’s account, ATOM and ASAP zeroed-in on the indigenous communities of the Cordillera region, Central Luzon and Mindanao.
The twin group also worked hard organizing volunteers in Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat, the cities of Cagayan de Oro, Davao and General Santos and Sarangani and in Bulacan, particularly Valenzuela City . It was in these areas and in Metro Manila and the Visayas where Noynoy polled majority of the votes cast.
Consolidated into the Bayanihan ni Noy, the various groups first mounted a signature campaign to convince Aquino to be the LP’s standard bearer.
Motivated by the issue on stinking corruption in the government, the campaign gathered in no time more than a million signatories, mostly from the marginalized sector in the countryside, the urban poor, youth sector, farming communities and the religious sector.
The peasant groups under the spearhead of Charlie Avila moved fast to beat the deadline for party nomination, Cabrera recalled, even as he noted the strong resolve of leaders of theMakati Business Club to back Noynoy’s presidential bid.
Aquino’s campaign battlecry, “walang mahirap kung walang corrupt,” gave flesh-and-bone to the LP’s “pagbabago” slogan, said Cabrera.
He took note that “volunteerism in Noynoy’s campaign found an oasis in the youth sector which “worked with full enthusiasm, spending most of their vacation time helping other volunteer groups produce and distribute t-shirts, stickers, fans, posters, ribbons and other campaign paraphernalia.”
From the proclamation rally at the historic Club Filipino where Noynoy’s mother, Cory, was proclaimed president of the republic in 1986, Aquino went starboard as he dominated successive poll surveys by Pulse Asia and Social Weather Station (SWS).
“The survey results were precise, perfect forecast,” Cabrera said, as he called on leaders of the various volunteer groups to keep their vigilance and stay put as “watchdogs against corruption of the Aquino presidency.”
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