KBL’s VP bet sad about Acosta's disqualification, happy for the people

Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL) vice presidential candidate Jay Sonza on Wednesday said he felt “sad" for the disqualification of his running mate Vetellano Acosta, but he was also happy about the thought that the people cannot be misled into voting someone who ignored the law. “Election is a serious obligation and responsibility of the citizen. We cannot allow somebody to make a mockery of the electoral process. We cannot allow somebody who is not even a registered voter to play trick on us," Sonza said on Unang Hirit’s “UH Hiritan 2010," a television forum for national candidates. “I am sad for him but I am happy for the people because hindi sila magkakamaling [bumoto] ng isang tao na ayaw namang sumunod sa tamang proseso," Sonza said. Acosta was recently disqualified by the Commission on Elections (Comelec), saying that allowing Acosta to run will be a mockery of the electoral process. Acosta was found to be an unregistered voter of Precinct 6, Barangay Tejeron in Sta. Ana, Manila, based on his declaration in his certificate of candidacy. As a result, the Comelec announced last Friday that it may slap charges of falsification of public documents and perjury against Acosta. 4,000 points ahead of Roxas? Sonza, who has not been faring well in surveys on people’s preference for candidates, claimed that an online survey put him ahead of Liberal Party’s Senator Manuel ‘Mar’ Roxas by 4,000 points. He added that people don’t take seriously survey results churned out by leading pollsters. “Kung ang pagbabasehan ay iyong mga survey na kailangang magsubsribe ka muna para lang makasama ka doon sa survey, ay talagang dapat hindi ito pinapaniwalaan. Remember, 57 percent ng botante ngayon kabataan. Look at the Internet where most of the young people do participate actively in this electoral exercise, you will find out in the overall, magtataka kayo, pinag-iiwanan ko ng 4,000 points si Mar Roxas sa Website. Doon hindi ka kailangang mag-subscribe," Sonza said, citing the Website www.pinoytop10.com. However, a close scrutiny of the site reveals that Roxas was leading with 323 votes against Sonza’s 280, who placed second among the eight vice presidential candidates in the said Website. The same site conducts online polling for sexiest male and female celebrities, news anchors, presidential candidates, and hottest love teams. Sonza also ranked 11th in the site’s “Most Voted Pinoy Candidates in our Top Polls," which was topped by actress Marian Rivera with 2,870 points. “Karamihan po ng Pilipino hindi naniniwala sa survey. Napakalayo pa po ng halalan. Kung ako po pinagkatiwalaan ng tao sa loob ng 35 taon bilang isang matinong mamamahayag (most Filipinos don’t believe in surveys. If people trusted me for 35 years as a broadcaster), I find no reason why the people will not trust me again in May 2010." Sonza, a former broadcaster, also boasted of his years in government service. “Ang inyong lingkod, si Jay Sonza, ang bukod tanging nanggaling sa [pagiging] ordinaryong civil servant hanggang sa nagtapos ng career executive service officer. Mayroon ba sila niyan? Wala (I, Jay Sonza am the only candidate who rose from the ranks before becoming a career service officer in civil service. Who else has this kind of experience? None)," Sonza said. Sonza spent 11 years as a youth development worker for the Bureau of Youth Welfare, Ministry of Social Services Development and as senior executive assistant and public information officer at the provincial government of Davao del Sur. His media career included hosting several GMA news programs, the most popular of which is Partners Mel and Jay (now Mel and Joey) with anchor Mel Tiangco. He was also station manager of UNTV Channel 37. Sonza also claimed there is massive media corruption nowadays, and called on his former colleagues to reform the media landscape, by going back to the basics in reporting practiced during the media’s golden age. “We should go back to the original. Noon pong golden days of media ang media pag dumating pati presidente pag ginising mo ng madaling araw, gumigising. Kung may sinabi yan, gospel truth, ngayon hindi na ganoon. In fact, I would even venture to say, no pun intended sa mga dating katoto, wala nang depth sa commentary. Even in the matter of being fair and objective, an laki na ng bawas… What the industry should do know, if it hopes to address this problem, is to correct itself otherwise papasok ‘yong goberyno…’yong mga institusyon na manghihila sa kanila. Media, to a certain degree, is even more corrupt today than yesterday," Sonza said. “Kaya ako tumatakbong bise presidente, sapagkat ang kailangan ng presidente ay isang magaling na bise presidente, at sapakiramdam po ni Jay Sonza, siya ang pinakamagaling (I am running because any president needs a good vice president. I feel I, Jay Sonza, am the best," he said. - LBG, RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV