On Grace and Chiz
I would have voted for Grace Poe if she had run for Vice President in 2016. I probably would have voted for Grace Poe if she had proceeded to run for President in 2022. But I decided NOT to vote for Grace Poe in 2016 after she selected Chiz Escudero as her Vice Presidential running mate.
In a nutshell, Chiz is a snake oil salesman. He even looks and sounds the part with his beady eyes and glib tongue. His entire political career is predicated on babbling sweet nothings. His father was a crony of Marcos. He was and probably still is the lapdog of Danding Cojuangco—can you die already please . . . alongside JPE, Imelda, Erap and Maceda (I’ve been wanting to say that for a long time). He accepts a generous wedding gift from Bobby Ongpin—another former crony of Marcos and a very current money launderer extraordinaire. That’s enough for me to determine that this Chiz is a seriously compromised individual—a weasel trying to pass himself off as a statesman.
Poe’s selection of Chiz, indeed her decision to run for President in 2016, reveals the plain and simple reality that Grace Poe is the quintessential individual who knows just enough to be dangerous. She has a good grasp of the political game. She panders to the “constituency” of FPJ. She mouths-off the obvious. Her platform is an amalgamation of motherhood statements that purport to solutions. Then again, what can you expect from an Assumption Collegecolegiala who is typically oriented by the nuns to marry themselves off to the most eligible bachelor in sight?
Prior to Grace’s stint at the Philippine Senate, she was, among other things, a US government employee and probably a good one. I think she would make an excellent executive assistant, much like Carly Fiorina during the early days of her career, but as the CEO of Philippines Inc.? A whole lot more seasoning is required. She does “tug at the heart”—no question about that. But we don’t need a Cory Aquino to oust a deeply entrenched Marcos Dictatorship in 2016.
It’s just as well that Grace Poe is being bogged-down by these disqualification cases, which will either disqualify her unequivocally in the 2016 presidential race or, in the process, curtail her ability to raise the badly needed funds to fuel a winning presidential campaign. Either way, her aspirations are effectively dead in the water for now. If she persists in hobbling along, there is the benefit of taking away votes from Binay—much the same way Erap’s nuisance candidacy saved us from a Villar presidency.
My advice to Grace: drop your presidential bid in 2016, endorse Mar and Leni, stick around the political landscape and try to hang-out with less sleazy figures (drop Chiz for sure), because you may come in handy in the off-chance that Binay becomes President in 2016 and tries to overstay beyond 2022—one can never underestimate the overwhelming stupidity of the Filipino voter.
On Duterte
I would have voted Duterte for President in 2016 based on the fantasy of Duterte, which, unfortunately, turned out to be just that—a fantasy. In our desperation as a nation for a quick-fix, Duterte represented anti-crime, peace and order, anti-graft and corruption, swift justice.
Under Duterte, I was sure that the likes of JPE, Gigi Reyes, Jinggoy, Bong Revilla, GMA, Napoles, the Ampatuans, the Binays, the Marcoses, among others, would rot in prison until the death penalty was reinstated—after which they would all be hanged for plunder. I was even OK with the notion of being caught in the cross-fire—a casualty of war, if you will, in the context of Duterte’s aggressive campaign against crime. A few innocent lives, including my own, were worth sacrificing, as long as the criminals (and I mean low-level and high-level criminals) were substantially wiped-out pronto. Then he started to reveal himself . . . and he imploded. The Legend of Duterte quickly morphed into Duterte, Your Worst Nightmare!
“Duterte bats for hero’s burial for FM, house arrest for GMA.” There goes the anti-graft and corruption campaign. Under Duterte, Filipinos will be choked on lies and denied justice for the nth time. I’m sorry but I cannot possibly support—much less sacrifice myself—to a coddler of super-crooks and plunderers.
“If the Comelec were to disqualify him from the presidential race, Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte said he will support Vice President Jejomar Binay.”That’s just unacceptable. It goes to show that Duterte’s anti-graft and corruption stance is an outright lie. Sinungaling siya.
Bingo Soriano’s open Christmas letter to Mar Roxas dated December 25, 2015 hit the nail on the head when he characterized Duterte as a “bully” who imposes himself on the weak but sucks-up to the powerful. In other words, Duterte is no better than a low-level ass-licking political hoodlum.
“Duterte wants Algebra, Calculus, Trigonometry replaced with Business Math.” What kind of moronic idea is that? It appears Duterte has done well for Davao City. As the saying goes, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Let’s keep Duterte in Davao.
On Bong Bong
In my generation, Bong Bong, Imee, Irene, Imelda or Marcos translates to unspeakable human rights abuses and stupendous unrecovered ill-gotten wealth. That is the plain and simple truth and no amount of revisionist history or ignorance of the millennials is going to change that. Hence, I am astounded that Bong Bong has even made it to the Philippine Senate, much less rank as highly as he does in the vice presidential race in 2016. It is a catastrophic failure in our educational, justice and socio-political system that has enabled Bong Bong and, indeed, the Marcos and Romualdez clans to continue to thrive in Philippine politics and society at large—where they would normally have been hung and quartered in other parts of the civilized world (instead of allowed to escape and return with their stolen loot).
If Bong Bong is elected Vice President, then the Philippines does not deserve to exist and we might as well be raped, pillaged and sodomized by China. Read “PCGG throws in the towel”, “Martial Law in the Philippines: But here’s the point”,“The Recovery of Marcos’ Loot—A National Imperative!”
On Mar and Leni
By process of elimination, it becomes apparent that Mar is the only viable candidate for President in 2016 or, as Bingo Soriano so unceremoniously puts it, Mar is the “default candidate”. Rather than lament the dearth of choices for a President or whine about the defects of Mar, we really should focus on his positive attributes.
“Ama ng IT-BPO” or Father of the Philippine IT-BPO Industry is no exaggeration when referring to Mar. Today, the sector employs nearly 1.2 million Filipinos and contributes over US$21 billion annually to the national economy.
“Walang bahid ng katiwalian.” In all his years of public service, Mar has not been tainted by allegations of corruption. Similar to P-Noy, Mar happens to belong to a privileged family and has probably never wanted for any material thing throughout his life. It has all been about public service and family honor. No wonder Mar has not been connected with any corrupt schemes alarmingly typical in government service.
Leni Robredo, Mar’s vice presidential running mate, widow of former DILG Secretary Jesse Robredo and, in her own right, a genuine and unassuming public servant who will most assuredly serve as a strong partner and a solid reality check in a Mar Roxas Administration.
If the alternatives were simply mediocre in comparison to Mar, then I wouldn’t lose sleep over the 2016 presidential elections. The problem is, the alternatives to Mar are downright disastrous and catastrophic (i.e., Duterte and Binay). Read “Jejomar Binay: Unworthy to be President”,“Jejomar Binay is the Mutt to Beat”, “Jail Jejomar Binay Now!”, “The Three Kings of UNA”
The choice at hand is NOT excellent versus good. It’s NOT outstanding versus satisfactory. It’s NOT exemplary versus passable. The choice at hand is much more stark and may be characterized as acceptable versus unacceptable, pass or fail . . . GOOD versus EVIL. Like it or not, in the parlance of Star Wars, Mar and Leni are the Jedi Knights that must vanquish the Dark Forces of Duterte and Binay.
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