Baguio Insider

If you guys haven’t caught them yet, there are most amusing commercials aired locally on AXN-Asia:

1. Jun Labo: “Hindi masasayang ang inyong boto dahil si Jun Labo ay …. SIGURADONG PILIPINO”

This is just the funniest of them all! You see, he was disqualified from holding office in 1992, despite garnering 66% of the vote due to his citizenship. Bobby Ortega (who is now running for vice mayor) got the second highest number of votes or 32% but the Supreme Court made its landmark decision, now referred to as the Labo Doctrine:

“The rule, therefore, is: the ineligibility of a candidate receiving majority votes does not entitle the eligible candidate receiving the next highest number of votes to be declared elected. A minority or defeated candidate cannot be deemed elected to the office.”

This is how Mauricio Domogan, now running for his third consecutive term as Congressman, who was Labo’s running mate for vice-mayor in 1992, became Mayor.

For your info, please check out these links:

> RAMON L. LABO, JR. vs. COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS ET AL.
> MA-LABO PO ANG DOKTRINA by Ducky Paredes

2. Peter Rey Bautista has the most variety of commercials: from clips showing him performing his functions as Acting Mayor (”Ituloy Na”) and “Isulat ang buong pangalan: PETER REY BAUSTISTA Wala Nang Iba!” to his speech on “Malinis na Panunungkulan” (Clean Service).

3. Braulio Yaranon has a commercial with a young lady saying she learned a lot from him, then he comes on and says that he will continue the fight against corruption (and that his opponents are not going to do anything about it because “they are the ones doing it”) and a voice comes on and says “Wisdom comes with age.”

4. Mauricio Domogan makes a full speech in Ilocano and I can make out the words: “Cleanist ind Greenist Highly Urbanized City…” but that’s his classic self-effacing style that matches the bahag he carries so well during offical functions.

5. Jose Molintas has a message in Filipino about good governance benefiting the people but he never looks straight at the camera, which looks like he is forever trying to remember something.

6. Bobby Ortega is the only candidate for vice-mayor with a commercial, with his hand being raised by … Richard Gomez!

7. Bernardo Vergara does not have a commercial (maybe he does not want to flash is “infamous smile”). Neither do the rest of the mayoralty candidates.

In 2004, only Molintas and Peter Rey had commercials, if I remember correctly, and their successful bids for their respective posts has probably spurred the rest to launch their own tv ads this time around.

I must note that this is the election year where black propaganda is actually being distributed in the form of flyers downtown. Mostly it’s a battle between Domogan and Molintas really (everything was just rumour before) with both camps questioning the “cleanliness” of the other: Molintas is being linked to alleged anomalies committed by his brother Benguet ex-governor Rocky Molintas, and his short stint as city councilor is being questioned as being to short to qualify him to become Congressman, while Domogan is being charged with illegal wealth in the form of real estate properties that his camp insists belongs to his and his wife’s relatives, but not to them.

Well, so far, with the elections so close this is the last salvo fired off by all the political camps.