From Within: An Insider's View of the Noy-Mar Campaign after the Inaugural

As we grew closer to election day May 10, 2010 the campaign became feverish. It was tainted with malicious texts messages taunting NoyNoy and even my boss Maria V. Montelibano. We addressed these issues about Noy's psychiatric health, drug abuse, affinity for guns, and their favorite issue of the Hacienda Luisita.

Back to January 2010. I want to clear the air about MARIA AND MAR. From the very beginning Maria never asked me who was my candidate for VP? It was understood that if you volunteer for Noy, you were for Mar.I am not going to be an apologist for Maria, but I will tell the truth as I saw it from inside the headquarters of the People's Campaign in Parc House. Let me start off by saying that when I told Maria I was for Mar, she didn't say anything, nor did she make me feel I was on the wrong side. Alvin Gonda made most of the campaign designs from letterheads, logos, posters, tumblers, to souvenir pins, T-shirts, and other paraphernalia. I even received letters, poems, songs and jingles from volunteers for the Noy-Mar tandem. I personally even made sure that Alvin, our graphic designer , would highlight the name "Roxas" so that it would be clearly seen against the yellow stickers. All these I can prove and attest to because I have evidence and all the volunteers know this for a fact.

Our official slogan was NOYMAR. That was what Noynoy wanted and we all followed, including Maria.
There was no Binay amongst us. The Yellow Volunteers, the Senate staff of Noynoy, the Noynoy for President Movement (NAPM) and the Yellow Force and the Liberal Party co-existed harmoniously, under one roof, dancing to the same tune.

Tita Cory's original camera crew from Radio TV Malacanang were covering all the sorties of NoyMar. I would watch all the raw footages being played day in and day out in all the televisions scattered all over the headquarters, and all I saw was Noy-Mar.

Shortly after that much talked-about debate with Loren Legarda, wherein Mar's lead became more pronounced, I saw Mar go to Parc House every morning between 8-9am for a week to preside over strategic meetings with Dinky Soliman at his side. One morning I spoke to him in the privacy of the men's room and urged him to help Noy because his ratings were sliding, and he replied "aakalain mo ba nung grade school na aabot tayo sa ganitong situwasyon?, kaya nga ako nandirito araw araw kasi tinutulungan ko si Noy."

I cannot forget that morning with Mar.Well that was between me and Mr. Roxas.I considered him as an old friend, and I voted for him. That is why I  was so hurt when I was being accused of betraying Mar after the elections. First it was directed at Maria, then at me.

Back to Maria, first of all Maria had all the right to vote for anyone she wanted to because she was not a member of the Liberal Party. She teased me one day about wearing the navy blue Liberal Party shirt which I bought (yup, I bought all those darn campaign t-shirts and about 14 watches to give away, and I don't even have one to keep for myself).I didn't realize it represented more to others than my simple affinity for all things blue, for Ateneo. When we prepared for rallies at the Quezon Memorial, Plaza Miranda, Araneta Coliseum, Benigno Aquino stadium and the biggest street rally of them all, The one we called "Araw na Dilaw" on May 2, 2010 at the White Plains Avenue. Maria was in her command post as usual, with her technical staff. It was all planned by Noy's batchmates, with Maria for Noynoy and Mar. Not Noynoy only nor Mar only, but for Noy-Mar. They were a tandem, a dream team for most of us who foresaw that Noy will not be able to effect all his reforms in six years. We saw it in Mar to support Noy and continue our shared advocacies to end corruption and poverty after 2016.

Post Elections

The election outcome between Mar and Binay was a shock. I was with a friend who owned a call center and was monitoring the returns with my daughter through the night. What was more shocking was the finger pointing that ensued after. I was accustomed to the daily malicious text messages directed at Noy, but not at me. I was just a mere speck in this whole zarzuela. We all gathered together at headquarters and we exchanged thoughts and gave our own assessments. Nobody could figure out what happened to Mar. But we kept our spirits up and hoped for the best until the Joint House proclamations.

Sooner than I could think, it was all over. Now, I was tasked to man and dismantle the headquarters which I helped set-up. I had to sift through files of paper, and delete everything in the computers. Remove all the posters. Return the copiers, tables, chairs, air-conditioners, to our administrative officer who was doing all the inventory. I recalled the laptops we lent to some volunteers. The editing team, and the media team were moved to the headquarters of the Pinoy Lawyers in Samar St., behind GMA7.

I was literally alone with one security guard and a couple of volunteers. The building which was once humming and bustling with activity was dead as a winter night. The activity had moved to Samar mansion.
The mansion owned by Mr. Acuzar of the New San Jose Builders, had a huge marble kitchen. The bountiful meals were prepared by a hard-working staff. There was a swimming pool and a view of the MRT.

Meanwhile, the Yellow ladies headed by Margie Juico were still holding a small office at Parc House and they invited me to join them to Mar's birthday party on May 13, 2010. Mind you this was after the election and the Balay Ni Mar headquarters within the Araneta compound was expectedly somber. It was filled to capacity with all kinds of supporters, but we were all there to greet Mar on his 53rd birthday. I shook his hands but his eyes were tired. It was a sad day for me as well. That day, the yellow and the blue was a stark contrast.


The Inauguration

I was part of the Inaugural Team. They say that it would be the hardest part, "the socials" and the logistical nightmare involved. The cameras of the media was constantly at our back and I enjoyed being elusive without hampering my work. I told my assistants never to look nor wave at the cameras. I never gave interviews from prying media people who hounded me for the list of the invitees or the layout of the VIP seating arrangements. I just pointed them to the PSG. We had the Presidential Security Guards, the Department of Foreign Affairs/Protocol, the Senate, the National Historical Commission, the DPWH, and the PNP, There were about 1,700 media outfits wanting, not vying for accreditation. Through all of these meetings in the Samar Mansion to the Quirino Grandstand, Maria and Jing Magsaysay patiently answered the same questions over and over again. Some were inane, idiotic and irritating, I would have just walked out on them. In retrospect, I believe running away from media is the prerogative of someone like me, who is not in public office. And yet, I was hounded by phone calls and interviews by mere association to Maria.

In one meeting, Maria introduced her son Joey, "So that you may all know, this is the infamous "Joey" who campaigned for Binay."  I approached him and told him that I had gone to their old house in Valle Verde when  they were still living there.Then we did the math and figured that he was just a toddler then. One evening, I was holed in one of the VIP rooms under the Quirino grandstand with Boy Montelibano, Sonny Coloma and another Ateneo volunteer friend Ward Luarca. I cajoled  Boy to tell me his side of the story about Binay. Boy never hid the fact that he was for Binay. Most of us had to learn to accept Binay by this time. We had to deal with his emissaries. Three days before the inaugurals, we needed to know certain things like who did the Vice President want to hold the Bible. Joey Montelibano called the Binay Camp and after a few minutes, we were told the VP-elect wanted his wife, Dra. Binay.

Back to Boy's story, I asked him if he expected Binay would win because I certainly have not met anyone who  predicted that outcome. I spent countless days and nights grappling with this missing part of a puzzle that continued to hound me. Boy took a moment and uttered, "No one...I think only Binay predicted that outcome."