The thing with over-analysis is that it gets you nowhere. Supporters of Mar Roxas, the presidential candidate anointed by incumbent Philippine President Benigno Simeon ‘BS’ Aquino III’s to continue his Daang Matuwid “platform” of governance, have been wracking their brains trying to figure out why their man is, according to the popularity polls, the least likely to win the 2016 presidential elections. Yet these analysts, in not a few blogs and articles, insist that the presidency is all about “character”.
Tragically, Mar Roxas has proven to be an unwinnable candidate.
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If, indeed, Daang Matuwid, President BS Aquino’s “straight path” doctrine, is a good thing, then it is a monumental tragedy that its baton needs to be passed to a loser like Mar Roxas. Roxas has effectively doomed any hope of Aquino’s Daang Matuwid ideology persisting beyond 2016. In short, Mar Roxas is a colossal strategic failure on the part of the Philippines’ Liberal Party.
How can the Liberal Party survive Mar Roxas?
Six months is cutting it close, but there is still time to ditch Mar Roxas and his on-the-job-trainee running mate Leni Robredo. After all, Filipino voters are a fickle lot with decision-making faculties made volatile by a shallow well of reasoning. Philippine elections have been known to take wild turns at the 11th hour and, in a lot of cases, have surprised by their results’ inconsistency with those numerous survey “analyses” published by the multitude of polling firms that rake in a lot of cash every election season.
If not Mar, who can the Liberal Party field in the race for the Philippine presidency?
There’s Grace Poe. She is, hands down, a winnable candidate. Being winnable, she is worth her weight in gold. And in a political ecosystem where party affiliations mean zilch in ideological terms, Grace Poe can easily join the LP and, together with the Yellow Horde, rule the galaxy. Indeed, the LP was not above offering Poe the Vice Presidency to complement Roxas’s presidential candidacy back in the early days of the campaign.
As to the small matter of Poe’s legal issues regarding her nationality and Philippine residency? Well, what is the LP in power for? Led by President BS Aquino, the LP has proven its ability to trump rule of law in favour of the wellbeing of its strategic agendas.
Why then should the LP continue backing a loser (and, as GRP contributor Paul Farol put it, continue “pull[ing] down the top contender”) when it can simply cut its losses and lure back into its comfy embrace the winnable horse? Grace Poe, after all, complies with the LP’s primary criteria. She will likely be a president who will keep by then former President BS Aquino out of prison.
An unpleasant future awaits President BS Aquino should an ‘uncooperative’ candidate win the 2016 elections.
Ultimately this is what the term “continuity” in the context of the discourse surrounding this election euphemises. Continuity of the strait path away from prison, that is, for President BS Aquino under whose watch billions of pesos in taxpayers’ funds were literally porked over to “cooperative” legislators, treasonous deals were made with Islamic terrorists and a belligerent ASEAN “ally” led by a corrupt leader, and grossly incompetent administrators were kept under the people’s payroll for the sake of friendship and family.
In that sense, Mar Roxas is expendable and replaceable. He is only as valuable as his ability to secure Aquino’s Get-Out-of-Jail pass. In that regard, Grace Poe passes the criteria with flying colours. The Liberal Party should reassess its situation and seriously consider whether or not they deserve to be doomed by a loser like Mar Roxas.
benign0 is the Webmaster of GetRealPhilippines.com.
all candidates in the coming elections should go on blood test for drugs use. so the past won’t be repeated. it’s just common sense to take them out in the political arena.
Suddenly I’m humming that first single that catapulted Beck Hansen into stardom.
Mar Roxas is a Thief and a Liar.
His track records in his job resume is bad, due to his incompetence.
The missing Typhoon Yolanda Relief Funds is his doing. The fund just disappeared from the face of the Earth.
Mar Roxas called the Mamapasano massacre: “a Misencounter”…he never has a sympathy on the fallen 44 Police Officer Heroes.
Mar Roxas supports the BBL Law; that will finance the MILF/ISIS/Al Queda.
He does not have any programs or platforms. Instead, he became: a, traffic enforcer, a bag of onion “cargador”, a construction worker, etc…much more a clown, of his own making.
However, do not under estimate the Power of Aquino’s HOCUS PCOS.
Your first sentence, is that a “The Hobbit” reference?
About the first sentence…
There’s a Filipino saying, “Ang sinungaling ay kapatid ng magnanakaw (The liar is brother to a thief, or, a liar is just as untrustworthy as a thief).”
Read more: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/658686/a-liar-just-as-untrustworthy-as-a-thief#ixzz3wYjWYlfX
whatever they say about Poe that she’s a secret candidate of pnoy, the Pilipinos will still go for Grace Poe. they’re bluffing the people ’cause they know it’s Grace who’ll put them behind bars.
GO GRACE POE, YOU ALREADY WON YOUR FIGHT!
Do you have articles here that also tackles the core ideology of Islam to inform readers about their customs, practices, beliefs and supremacist ideology?
We have discussed the Islamic Radical ideology, in previous Blogs.
Read the Islamic Koran and the Islamic Hadith, to understand their religious/political ideology.
You will understand why the Islamic Radicals are behaving in the way they behave…
Well thought-out article. The LP should consider reading this for their own good and analysis.
It would be hilarious when comelec en banc suddenly confirm Poe’s eligibility as presidential candidate.
No Mr Jobs, it is the Supreme Court’s arena where Grace Poe’s fate shall be decided!The COMELEC has already done its duty which is, they decided to disqualify Grace Poe certificate of candidacy! Get it Dude?
Is it just me thinking that there is an unspoken alliance between Binay and Noynoy that keeps them from jailing Binay? It would be most sensible (for me) for the LP to imprison Binay otherwise.
A supposedly most logical LP standard bearer being grandson of Manuel Roxas who was a key founder of LP, Mar will keep on thinking he was destined for this moment. I think his biggest mistake was giving way to PNoy. He could have won over Erap considering his still high popularity back then. Now it seems his image is beyond repair: first due to incompetent PNoy’s performance, next due to his own doing. Incompetence can be really contagious. A catastrophic fall from grace for what could have been an impressive resume for a politician. LP will be throwing away a lot of money for a lost cause now.
Mar: Highest #votes for a senator:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mar_Roxas
An undergraduate of the Wharton School, Roxas worked as an investment banker, mobilizing venture capital funds for small and medium enterprises.[1] He served as the Representative of the 1st District of Capiz from 1993 to 2000. His stint as Congressman was cut short after he was appointed by President Joseph Estrada as Secretary of Trade and Industry.[2] He resigned from the position at the height of the EDSA Revolution of 2001 and was later re-appointed by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in her new Cabinet.[3] He resigned again to run for a Senate seat in the 2004 Philippine election.[4] He was elected as Senator with 19 million votes and the highest ever garnered by a national candidate in any Philippine election. He was co-author of the Expanded Value Added Tax Law (E-Vat).[5]
Initially one of the leading contenders in the 2010 presidential election, he slid down to become a vice-presidential candidate in order to make way for fellow Senator Benigno Aquino III. He was defeated by Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) by the narrowest margin in the history of the Fifth Republic.
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Next time guys, don’t vote for someone just because his/her famous parent/loved one died – a recipe for national disaster. Vote based on the merits of past performance. But it seems winnability in PH politics is not based on logic, but on irrational appeals to emotion. The national drama goes on …
You have put it succinctly Zaxx and let me add too, that MAR overlooked the adage of striking when the iron is red hot! He allowed a respite from his labors!
Leni Robredo is right. what we are now is the product of the past. but who mess the past? Marcos or Ninoy?
I find it disturbing that the writer implies that the LP can reverse the law and make grace poe a true filipino citizen.
While it is my belief that the current law is wrong as it is incomplete, it is still the law. It is not a “SMALL” matter that grace poe is not considered by the law as a natural born citizen.
It is my humble belief that we should all follow our laws.
But it did in March 9, 2016. The writer have predicted it correctly.
Our Constitution was suddenly thrown out of the window after 9 justices (but was later admitted only 7) voted to “qualify” Poe
Mar Roxas is a joke candidate. If he can’t delegate work, how can he be a good leader?
If DILG Secretary Mar Roxas Can’t Delegate Work, What Good Will That Do When He’s President?
Every game is winnable if you change your mind about what the prize should be and your perspective about the players at the table.
No speck of sincerity and honesty on Mar’s face. I am sick and tired of looking at his face. Damn political ads. Waste of money!
Maybe the LP should have ditched this guy. He can’t even keep a deadline. I guess he missed it cause on the way to the filing, sumemplang sya habang nagmomotor.