The Philippine Online Chronicles

The January 14 Presidential Policy Forum organized by the Romulo Foundation in cooperation with ABS-CBN News Channel (ANC) and Asian Institute for Management (AIM) with Gordon, Teodoro and Villar in attendance was, to my mind, a great opportunity for the presidential bets to face the international community as well as the local voting public. It was a chance to state, for the record, what one’s policies would be on the five (5) issues presented: Maguindanao, foreign relations and international security, the economy and international economic relations, migrant workers, and the Philippines' competitiveness in the world.

The forum brought together traditional as well as new media. The ABS-CBN TV crew, including Ces Drilon, came in full force to carry the proceedings live on TV. Seated somewhere in the middle of the hall, four of us from BlogWatch sat amidst the crowd, armed with our laptops, iPhones and digicams, live tweeting as the candidates spelled out their approaches to the different issues. I think we must have looked very different compared to the media people in the rows near us as most of them had whipped out pens and notebooks, rapidly taking notes as the presidentiables spoke. We, on the other hand, were touchtyping on our laptops.

With the wonders of real-time updates which sites such as Twitter provides, even those who had no access to ANC or Studio 23 could follow to some extent what was going on via ANC’s Twitter account (@ANCALERTS).

I had communicated earlier via email with one of the forum organizer's staff members, Melanie, to ask if there was wifi as we intended to live tweet. On the day itself, I went up to a lady by the entrance and asked about the wifi. Imagine my surprise when she asked, "You're Jane?" It was Melanie! I asked her how she figured that one out and she said "You're the only one who requested for wifi". Hahaha...I think the most common question you'll hear from BlogWatch when we plan interviews or attend fora like this is -- "Do you have wifi?"

A summary of the issues put to the presidentiables and their responses can be found in this BlogWatch article: The presidential candidates' forum on foreign policy and other issues.

Let me instead give you a flavor of what people online were tweeting regarding the forum.

From Twitter (no editing, quoted verbatim)

AndrewdeCastro - Here is my contribution to the brilliant online analyses of the ongoing Presidential Policy Forum on ANC: Gibo is kickin' ass.

ghemagno08 - As always, Gibo did well in AIM forum on foreign policy. Villar, forget him. Dick, whole Phils as Olongapo? Noynoy jst lost d oportunity.

milner0520 - Watching the Presidential Policy Forum on ANC.. Villar sux! Can't even answer a simple question. Gibo is the man!

plsburydoughboy - Presidential Policy Forum on ANC. Gibo, Gordon & Villar are eloquent speakers, providing competent safe answerszzz... Oh, it's not a debate?

ailley007 - I'm watching Presidential Policy Forum on ANC. I likeGordon's answers. Aquino's MIA.

bongignacio - The real loser in the recent ANC Pres'l Forum are the no-show candidates

hello_garci - Had Noy2 attended AIM forum he wld've been clobbered by Gibo Gordon Villar. Wld've been more dsastrous?

magscostello - watching the presidential policy forum on anc. how come gordon, gibo & villar are the only ones here?

Mara__V - Presidential forum on ANC. Reading updates on Twitter.Gordon, Villar and Gibo are the only ones present. Where are the others?

amicapaulino - Glad i attended the anc forum live today. That was by far the best. Too bad for the other candidates who missed it.

byabs91b - thanks the cpr foundation and anc for the very substantive pres'l policy forum. discussion certainly helpful in informing our choice in may.

zsazsapadilla (Author's note: I think she’s the real one) - ANC commended the presidential candidates who came. I agree because the panel was an impressive one. Sadly, I missed the other debates.

On the Forum Itself

I'd personally give 4 out of 5 stars to the forum.

Overall, the audience (both those who were onsite and those watching on TV) were satisfied with the forum although some did comment that it was boring as the planned debate among the candidates did not materialize, maybe due to lack of time.

Personally, I would have wanted to see them question each other on their policy statements. This would have drawn out perspectives and angles that may not be immediately obvious by just letting them state policies.

About the only irritating thing I could state as a personal experience during the forum was the mobile phone of a lady right in front of me which went off at full volume and kept ringing while she scrounged around looking for it and I was straining to hear what was being said. A few minutes later, her mobile phone rang again. In a distinguished forum such as this, mobile phone etiquette seemed to be sorely missing in some people.

Many expressed that this was by far the best forum and afterwards, I heard some people in the audience express regrets that the other candidates were not around as this would have been a great chance for them to have stated their views in front of such a global audience.

Unlike past elections there is one thing that stands out with this coming 2010 elections. A large portion of the voting public is focusing intently on platforms, the character of each candidate, the promises being made, and noting these with utmost intent. I believe that even when the campaign period begins and the country will be plastered with posters in every strategic area, TV/radio will be bombarded with jingles, and my daily alarm clock will be the vehicles passing my house with campaign songs blaring, people will be more discerning and careful.

Reactions Post-Forum

Spotting Jaime FlorCruz (CNN’s Beijing Bureau Chief) in the crowd, I immediately approached him to get a spot assessment. Here is his take:

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Ricky Carandang, the moderator, explained why the forum was a challenging one for the candidates and which candidate was a natural for this kind of forum.

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Lastly, Ambassador Roberto Romulo, chief organizer of the forum, gave his reasons for organizing the forum as well as a peek into the possibility of another forum closer to the elections.

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OK, one last trivia...

At the end of the forum, Gilbert Teodoro passed by us. I did not think he would immediately remember BlogWatch although we had just interviewed him two days before. But as soon as he saw us, he gave a broad smile, put both his hands up in the air as though playing the piano, and asked if we were live tweeting during the forum. We must have struck him as the most unusual set of interviewers so far -- no huge TV cameras, just laptops with webcams and digicams.

What can I say? That is the BlogWatch way!

Photo and Videos by author. Some Rights Reserved.

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