Bencyrus Ellorin
THREE regions in a week is back-breaking but encouraging.
Campaigners of other candidates who were our friends from previous elections tease us for being all purpose campaign workers. Well-to-do candidates do have full staff. They have teams of media relation officers, protocol officers, close-in writers and photogs, security and executive assistants. They travel in long caravans.
The entourage of Coop Natcco party list Rep. Cris Paez, who is running for senator under the administration’s Daang Matuwid slate, is composed of three do-it-all staff.
But when Paez takes the stage, we all take pride as he always breaks the house down with the jokes he weaves in his serious political agenda. Paez, a three-term congressman, is an expert in cooperativism and development of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME).
The laws he authored are no joke. The latest is Republic Act 10477 or the Credit Surety Fund Cooperative Act, which would empower MSMEs to borrow from banks even without a collateral.
He was also one of the principal authors at the House of Representatives the extension of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law, the Cooperative Code of Philippines, among others.
I had wracked my brains how to break into the mainstream news, especially the big TV and radio networks and broadsheets with no PR budget to speak off. After the grand rally at Iloilo City last Feb. 9, I remembered the giant billboard put up by a supporter at the Sta. Rita, Bulacan exit of NLEX, portraying Tom Cruise telling Paez that his Senate bid is “Mission Impossible,” to which the congressman retorted: “It is Paezible.”
A netizen took a photo of the giant billboard before it was taken down at the start of the official campaign period and posted it on Facebook. In no time, it went viral. Some comments were good, actually out of amusement. Many bashed the congressman for intellectual property rights issues. Others suspect, the congressman splurged millions for the billboard. One even estimated that the price of having Tom Cruise as an endorser ranged from $1 to $3 million.
On our way to the Bicol region last Feb. 11, we discussed strategies while cramped in Paez’s Starex van. We crossed our fingers and wished the Tom Cruise billboard photo will become more viral on social media and penetrate mainstream media as news. We agreed to make “Paezible” as the congressman’s tagline.
On our way to Iriga City, Camarines Sur from Daet, Camarines Norte early morning last Feb. 12, I tried typing “paezible” on Google search. And lo and behold, on top of the search was “Tom Cruise: I’m Giving Senate Candidate a Filipinp Pass.”
It’s an article from TMZ.com.
TMZ.com wrote: “Tom has gone on the attack against people who use his name and likeness without permission, but his longtime lawyer, Bert Fields, tells TMZ,
“Since the ad’s meant to be funny and doesn’t imply an endorsement, I’m sure Tom’s not going to assert the right to protect his name and likeness.”
Since, we have gotten our fair share in political news.
It is still a long way in the campaign. But with each day reaching out to the voters, offering solid platform of livelihood and jobs creation through cooperatives and getting warm responses, things start become “paezible.”
In the press conference at Talisay City, Negros Occidental last Feb. 16, Senate president and reelectionist Franklin Drilon said no one will be left behind in the Daang Matuwid slate. In fact, Drilon said, with the very warm support they are getting in their sorties and the Liberal Party machinery revving to full speed, a “12-0 win for the Daang Matuwid Senate slate is paezible.”
E-mail: bency.ellorin@gmail.com
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