Here are the winners and losers of the year gone by ranked, more or less, by order of merit:

The Winners

P-Noy- The big winner in 2012 was the President who, if you forget his love life, had an awesome year. His major victory- through no deed of his own- was the ouster of his nemesis, Rene Corona. Against the run of play, the CJ was impeached by a combination of public disdain and excessive self-awareness; but more on this later. P-Noy’s other major achievements were the passage of the RH and Sin Tax bills and the 7.1 % growth of the economy which saw the 1 % of the population get richer while the 99% stood and watched.

Binay- Jojo had a pretty good year winning the “How To Succeed in Politics Without Really Trying “ award for the 15th consecutive time. It is a source of wonderment and envy how he continues to be the most trusted public figure while apparently sitting on his hands. In fact, his political ease belies a lot of unrecognized work. Like an iceberg, what you see is only 1/8th of the real thing. Binay is starting to come onto his own: His defense of embattled Cebu Governor Gwen Garcia is a shot at the bow of the President, the first time he is standing up to his boss. 2013 will be the Vice-President’s coming out party.

Social Media-SM had some notable scalps in 2012 namely the RH and Sin Tax Bills and a number of Senators (see below). In retaliation, politicians passed the Cybercrime Bill, further evidence they still don’t get it. Hopefully, the Supreme Court does and reverses the law.

Public figures with names like Sotto, Recto and others who chose to challenge social media paid the price: Voice of the People 1- Political Hubris 0.

The Losers