The Philippine Opposition remain as stupid as they are this late into this election cycle because of all the wannabe artistahin “influencers” and “thought leaders” their partisans habitually tingala to. Thank the scars of our colonial past for that. Seeing this recent tweet of his, it becomes hard to really understand which planet Yellowidiot Bart Guingona lives on, for example.
What I do know is, I myself was a Yellowidiot from 1983 – 1987. The minute the 1987 Constitution was finished by the Constitutional Commission, however, I was done being one. There was some hope in the Fidel Ramos administration but the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) modernization program and the PEA-Amari scam (Public Estate Authority joint project with Thailand-based development group Amari Coastal Development Corporation) dimmed that hope.
| SUPPORT INDEPENDENT SOCIAL COMMENTARY! Subscribe to our Substack community GRP Insider to receive by email our in-depth free weekly newsletter. Opt into a paid subscription and you'll get premium insider briefs and insights from us. Subscribe to our Substack newsletter, GRP Insider! Learn more |
Following that, I knew from the onset that then President Joseph “Erap” Estrada wouldn’t finish his term. He was an outsider and had little experience wielding the levers of power. Erap needed a good and trustworthy adviser. But he had none. I didn’t like how Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (GMA) succeeded Erap but when she survived that coup attempt of sorts with the resignation of the Hyatt 10, she gained my respect. That increased after the 2008 financial crisis which barely affected the country. She put into place fiscal legislation which strengthened the economy even if highly unpopular and at a large cost to her political capital.
I wanted Erap to win in 2010 if only for him to be vindicated. Erap was offered exile but he didn’t accept it. He chose to make a stand. He may not have been detained at Muntinlupa but we now have a better idea of what house arrest means since the onset of the pandemic. I knew Noynoy Aquino was going to be a fuck-up but he was a shoo-in after former President Cory Aquino died. Either he got enough votes or the justification for fraud was there. Why? Look at how Erap came in second in that crowded field when he had to go up against Manny Villar with all his money.
I didn’t think Rodrigo Duterte would actually run to begin with. Having had four encounters with the man when he was Davao Mayor in the 90s, he wasn’t Presidential material but he wasn’t as stupid as he projected himself to be. His Matina “clubhouse,” where he held office, was filled with books. Duterte loved wine, women and song at that time, but he is also a voracious and wide reader. It’s reflected in his vocabulary when he speaks. In five years he has done what he could. It is not enough and his administration isn’t perfect but I don’t think for a moment that he has fallen short on what he could deliver under the circumstances. Noynoy’s flagship program were the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) projects but these did not have a palpable impact on the lives of the average Pinoy. Duterte will finish his term with infrastructure projects completed from Luzon to Mindanao. His legislative agenda hangs in the balance as there is still pending economic reform bills pending in Congress. He is rushing what he can get passed before June 30, 2022.
The Opposition should stop with their black propaganda and their obsolete appeal to emotions. They should be doing the hard work of developing an alternative platform of government to present to the people for the 2022 election. Instead of the vicious politicking since 2016, they should have taken their role of fiscalizer maturely and responsibly for the people they are supposed to serve. Gaslighting worked to their advantage during the time of former President Ferdinand Marcos and Erap. But it won’t now. The public has seen through their duplicity with their dumping GMA when they had a falling out. Noynoy’s being an idiot President was the last straw. That was the last time an appeal to emotion worked in their favor.
We need a mature and responsible opposition playing the fiscalizer role helping the government in nation-building. We don’t need an opposition who will focus on shortcuts to get back power through destablization and impeachment. This is why the national artist for literature, F. Sionil Jose, said that Duterte may yet be the greatest President after Magsaysay. History is not yet done with Rodrigo Duterte. But it is done with the Yellowidiots.
Cook wide reader political crackpot music afficionado old soul out-of-the box thinker aspiring writer tech geek gearhead
Resorting to derogatory language and personal attacks only serves to further polarize political discourse and hinder constructive dialogue. While disagreements and differing interpretations of history are natural in any democratic society, it’s essential to engage in respectful and informed debate rather than resorting to name-calling or insults. By focusing on facts, evidence, and reasoned arguments, we can elevate the conversation and work towards a more enlightened understanding of political history in the Philippines. Personal attacks only serve to distract from the substantive issues at hand and perpetuate division rather than fostering meaningful progress.