Weekly Brief
Big Yellowtard rallies of dubious efficacy | COMELEC in bed with Rappler | Fewer and fewer weeks left to campaign
Dear GRP Insiders,
Even as the Opposition work harder to make the most of the remaining campaign weeks, the effort seems to only benefit the proverbial choir who are in bad need of motivation and boosts in morale following recent survey results showing their rival administration camp pretty much unchanged as far as the enormous lead in surveyed voter preferences they enjoy.
Not much to see here.
Regards,
benign0
In review and in prospect
There wasn't much going on in the past week other than reminders from the Opposition Yellowtard bloc headed by “vice president” Leni Robredo that their camp continues to campaign hard. Holding “grand rallies” at the civic centres of populous areas in Cavite and Bulacan that supposedly drew crowds that numbered above 40,000, the Yellowtards are seemingly sending a message across that they have the “numbers”.
Then again, “reports” of crowds hitting 45,000 in number coming from “journalists” such as Mara Cepeda, are easily verified — something that, it seems, is too much to ask of the kiddies at Rappler.
Crowds of more than 40,000 (if, in fact, these numbers were actually reached) of course make good optics — never mind that such numbers represent only a tiny fraction of the electorate and are therefore not statistically representative of the registered voter population of about 60 million. Nonetheless with a Laylo Report released last week showing administration candidates Bongbong Marcos and Sara Duterte attracting the preference of 63 and 54 percent of survey respondents respectively, one cannot really blame the Yellowtards for trying their darnedest to keep hope alive within their ranks.
The “partnership” between the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) and Opposition “social news network” Rappler brokered by COMELEC spokesman James Jimenez is also a development to watch. Allowing a foreign funded media organisation suspected of harbouring ties with the CIA to be a conduit for election updates to the public is obviously problematic from the onset. The audacity of it all is notable considering Jimenez would have likely been smart enough to recognise that such a deal with one of the least trusted media outlets in the Philippines and a known lackey of the Yellowtards would indeed be a bad look for the Commission.
Stay tuned also for news on a possible Joint Congressional Oversight Committee (JCOC) hearing this Wednesday with a hacker group claiming to have information on vulnerabilities in the COMELEC voting system, particularly to do with what seems to be a sloppy implementation of the SMARTMATIC system currently in place. The group known as XSOX.Group frequently issue updates on their findings and progress in their efforts to create public awareness of these disturbing security lapses on their Facebook group page.
Last week's blog posts
Latest Laylo report shows Bongbong Marcos and Sara Duterte votes DWARFING all the rest
March 3, 2022 benign0
"Marcos and Duterte stand to win the majority vote if the elections were held today. It also means that Bongbong Marcos will likely go on to be the first president elected by a majority vote since 1986."