PERRYSCOPE
Perry Diaz
Perry Diaz
Just like past midterm
elections, the political exercises halfway through the six-year presidential term
is a harbinger of how the next presidential football is
shaped. Who are the quarterbacks? Who are the
players? Who are the coaches? And who will be
traded?
It is a game where the
opposing teams give no quarter and take no prisoners. The stakes are
high… very high, indeed. Whoever wins will control the nation’s
politics for a long time to come. And the losers will be thrown –
sad to say -- into oblivion, never to resurface again for a long, long
time. Such is the life of a loser in Philippine politics.
The political football
began on July 23, 2018 when former President and Congresswoman Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo staged a coup d’état against the Speaker right in front of the
President who was about to deliver his State of the Nation Address (SONA),
members of Congress and their wives and mistresses dressed and ready for any
surprises that would spring out.
Poor Speaker Pantaleon
Alvarez, reputedly President Rodrigo Duterte’s right-hand man in the House of
Thieves -- short for Representathieves -- who suffered the ignominy of being
thrown out of his own House.
Musical chair
How did Gloria do
it? Known for seizing an opportunity before anyone else can,
Gloria reportedly used the rift between Speaker Alvarez and Davao City
Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, the president’s daughter, to pursue her
Machiavellian goal.
It was said that the
rift was fueled when Alvarez allegedly called Duterte-Carpio a part of the
opposition when she formed a separate regional political party, Hugpong ng
Pagbabago (HNP).
That was the
season-opener for the 2019 midterms. Sara told reporters that HNP
was willing to forge alliances with other political parties. It
encouraged some lawmakers from the ruling PDP-Laban to
consider jumping ship to Lakas-CMD, which was Arroyo’s political party during
her presidency.
What we’re seeing now is
the start of the game played by turncoats, popularly known as
the “balimbings,” whose loyalty is not to their party or their
candidate but to themselves. To a lot of them, it’s a matter of
self-preservation… or survival. It’s like a musical chair; if you’re
not fast enough to switch, you’re out of the game.
Sara makes a move
On August 13, 2018,
Mayor Duterte-Carpio announced the formation of a super-coalition of three
national parties and six local or regional parties. The three national
parties are the Nacionalista Party (NP), Nationalist People’s Party (NPC), and
National Unity Party (NUP). The six local parties are: Hugpong ng
Pagbabago (HNP), a regional party founded by Duterte-Carpio not too long ago;
Ilocano Timpuyog; Alyansa Bol-anon Alang sa Kausaban (Abaka); Aggrupation of
Party for Progress (APP); Kambilan; PaDayon Pilipino (PP); and Serbisyo sa
Bayan Party.
Joining forces with
Duterte-Carpio are big political quarterbacks Sen. Cynthia Villar of the NP,
former President and now Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, and tycoon Eduardo
“Danding” Cojuangco Jr., founder the NPC when he ran for President in 1992.
Duterte-Carpio told
the media that it was her father, President Duterte, who gave her and her
supporters the go-ahead to form HNP. But it doesn’t take a genius to
figure out what President Duterte had in mind.
He sees in Sara someone
who is a natural heir to his expanding political domain that has the prospect
of becoming the country’s next preeminent political dynasty, if not
already. Actually, Sara is the only one among Duterte’s three
children by his first marriage who is ready to step up to the plate and carry
out her father’s political agenda.
In a calculated move
last September, Sara denied that she would be running for Senator this
year. “I am not running for senator. We are just really trying to unite
everybody who wants to help the administration of President Duterte until
2022,” she said. She should have added, “…and beyond.”
Sara’s game plan
In my article, “How
high would Sara go?” (September 7, 2018), I wrote: “She [Sara
Duterte-Carpio] would be Duterte’s political heir in 2022 when his presidential
term expires. The question is: Is she prepared and ready
to take over from her father?
She might not be as
prepared to run for president but she is ready. She has the gumption
to fight an intense and contentious presidential campaign. She got
that from her dad. But she should also be aware that some of her rivals
in the presidential derby might be her allies today. As we all know,
political turncoats or ‘balimbings’ would emerge from the murky shadows of
political expedience.
“But if Sara plays her
cards right, and with her father’s strong political influence, she just might
end up with an unbeatable Royal Flush hand. But there is a caveat
when you’re playing high-stake politics. If you fall, it would be
with a big thud in which you’re unlikely to recover.”
The
Senatoriables
The senatorial field is
crowded. There are 62 candidates vying for 12 Senate
seats. There are 51 male candidates and 11 female
candidates. Among them are seven reelectionists and seven who are
seeking a comeback, including 95-years-old Juan Ponce Enrile.
Interestingly, Sara’s
HNP is supporting two Senate slates. The first one consists of the
eight bets it will endorse nationwide, while the second HNP list contains
the 14 senatorial candidates it will endorse in the Davao Region, her
bailiwick.
There are a lot of
wannabes in the senatorial field but eventually it would be a battle between
the administration and the opposition candidates. Grace Poe tops the
senatoriables with 67.4% but it is doubtful if she’d run this time around. Rep.
Pia Cayetano who placed second with 55.7% might be tempted to run for president
and fall back to vice president if she fails. Sen. Cynthia Villar
who placed third with 50.1% might throw her name for president but would
quickly settle for vice president.
Sara Duterte-Carpio,
although a non-candidate, is fourth place with 46.2%. And Imee
Marcos placed 14th with 29.9% but she vowed that she’d win. But
right now, it’s a no-brainer; the bets are on Duterte-Carpio and Robredo
running as administration and opposition candidates, respectively.
As for Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo, nobody knows what she’s vying for. But right now,
we’ll just have to take her word that she’d be writing her memoirs, which I
surmise will be titled, “Why I failed to become Prime Minister?” I
understand it’s going to make it to the “Best Selling Fictional Stories.”
And how about President
Duterte and Bongbong Marcos? Bongbong was once Duterte’s “manok” for
President. Well, from what’s going around in the rumor mill today,
Duterte promised Bongbong that they’d still be “Best Friends Forever.”
Bongbong should know
better, “Blood is thicker than politics.” And besides, whoever
believes that there are permanent friends? Not even permanent
enemies. The only thing that’s permanent is self-interest.
And to the “balimbings”
who didn’t make it, all I can say is, “Hey, better luck next
time. Never give up.” Someday, you’d be running for
President. Most of those who became President were “balimbings.”
And remember, in
Philippine elections, there are no losers, only the winners and those who were
cheated.
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