Philippines Election Results Posted

Philippines Election Results Posted
Originally uploaded by Don Sausa

For the first time, the Philippines used an electronic voting system that immediately provided results online. This reduced the political tension that was prevalent in past elections. For those that didn't have a computer or television, various organizations provided election results through displays on the street.

In this example, they posted the results on the main highway which attracted crowds and caused a traffic congestion.

Look closely and you'll find the jeepney has the Aquino ribbon while the taxi has a Villar checkmark.

Many believe Senator Noynoy Aquino won the presidential race against Senator Manny Villar because he was the son of the Philippines' most revered modern heroes. The people that voted for Noynoy hope his upbringing and the influence of his humble mother will help reform the country. And while he doesn't have many legislative victories to brag about, he also looks less corrupt than the rest, and in this country, that's an achievement in of itself.

Does the Philippines media overdramatize?

This is an actual bomb crater in Iraq as reported by MSNBC:

This is a bomb crater as reported by the Philippines media:

I'm seriously beginning to think that some of the Philippines' journalists have the same reporting standards as the gossip columnists and tabloid writers in the United States.  This type of sensationalism in the mainstream media creates a perception problem for the country, especially when it comes to foreign investment and foreign relations.

The Western intelligence community do not typically have front line assets in friendly countries to filter through the garbage to verify reports.  Whether these newspaper editors know it or not, the mainstream media headlines are translated into executive summaries, little one liners for heads of state and foreign ministers to read on their daily or weekly intelligence briefings.

For instance this article of  predawn explosions in Manila could be taken and translated as military grade bombs against key infrastructures in the country's capital, instead of what it truly is.  They are low grade, gasoline-in-a-Coke can pranks.

Multinational corporations also have their own risk and security assessment teams that scour through the Internet and media reports to send executive summaries to their employees abroad. Imagine this, if you are an employee of a Fortune 100 company working in Manila for the first time in your life, excited to see a new culture, and absolutely impressed with the megasize malls in Metro Manila....and then you get an email on your Blackberry --- YOU ARE UNDER ATTACK. HIDE FOR COVER, BOMBS IN MANILA! Stupid, right? But it happens all the time. From the unfair negative remarks against Mindanao to the bombs that's "rocked the capital" --- let's get real, shall we?