Someone please remind boxer-turned-senator Manny “Pac-Man” Pacquiao that politics is addition. PDP-Laban executive director Ron Munsayac’s claim that there are 100,000 card-carrying members of the PDP-Laban may be true for now. But these hundred thousand will not side in their favor for the simple reason the power and the money are still with the administration. Pacquiao’s move to boycott a party meeting called by party chairman Alfonso Cusi was foolish at best.
Pacquiao’s call for a boycott of the meeting is seen as his way of throwing down the gauntlet at Cusi, who represents a faction in PDP-Laban made up of Duterte loyalists.
Pacquiao, the party’s president, had long felt alienated by the Cusi group, who is trying to convince Duterte to run for vice president in the 2022 elections.
President Rodrigo Duterte is still the Chair of the party. He is the titular head and isn’t a lame duck despite the imagination of Koko Pimentel and Munsayac. Even Pac-Man with his billions can’t afford a Presidential run on his own. He can win reelection to the Senate but not as President.
On second thought, this might just be a ploy by Koko to obtain concessions from Duterte. Koko has been marginalized since his ouster as Senate President. He was removed because he was hewing more to the Opposition, rather than the administration line. PDP-Laban has been, since its inception, Yellow to the core. Pac-Man won a Senate seat under former Vice President Jejomar Binay’s United Nationalist Alliance (UNA). He was endorsed by then candidate Duterte who couldn’t form his own slate. Pac-Man may have been a shoo-in but no doubt the endorsement helped him land the seat.
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Both the administration and Opposition benches have a shallow talent pool for their respective Senate slates. The prospect of Bong Revilla and Lito Lapid as the elder Senators after this election cycle should be enough to scare the public into finally considering a unicameral parliamentary system and abolish the upper chamber.
Pac-Man should know better because it’s not rocket science that is in front of him. Simple logic suffices. Even Koko shows his lack of political skills by foisting Pacquiao on the public. Pimentel can’t even win a local post in his hometown of Cagayan De Oro. If he’s looking to become Pac-Man’s running mate, that’s also an unviable proposition. Pac-Man should come to his senses before it is too late.
Cook wide reader political crackpot music afficionado old soul out-of-the box thinker aspiring writer tech geek gearhead
It’s true that Pimentel can’t really win an elective post in CdO City. Me thinks most Kagay-anons sees him as someone who credits the yellows to where he is now.