Hopelessly fragmented Philippine Opposition no match for the vision, leadership chops, and mass appeal of Sara Duterte

I fail to see what PhilSTAR columnist Boo Chanco is talking about referring to widespread poverty and hunger as claimed in the surveys in his piece “COVID as 2022 kingmaker?”. The number of the homeless living on the streets isn’t out of the ordinary. They may be homeless but they don’t look like they’re on the verge of death. What is unconscionable is how these morons still procreate without even thinking about what kind of future their child or children will have. Yet Chanco paints a shrill catastrophic picture writing about “hunger and poverty that reached horribly inhuman levels”.

Inflation is higher but that’s more a result of supply-chain issues due to the production capacity being halved as a consequence of the pandemic. What’s stupid is how the leftist-militant groups continue to carp about pandemic response. It’s as if the government is responsible for the Delta variant. The surge is global. The Philippines is no different to any other country in the world. We are in fact, one of the last to experience the surge. This is not to say that we don’t have morons for government officials. Unified contact-tracing system, adherence to test, trace and treat and the absence of a digitization plan is what the government needs to address if we are to move forward under the assumption that the pandemic is endemic. It doesn’t take a genius to figure this out.

Covid would definitely have an effect on the May 2022 election. But as Chanco said, he’s amazed that the public don’t blame President Rodrigo Duterte. He laments how “survey after survey is showing that the people are not blaming the Duterte administration” for their troubles. Why should they in the first place? Most of the problems faced in terms of vaccine rollout is on the local government units (LGUs) not the national government. The Opposition finds it convenient to target Duterte because that’s what they’ve been doing since 2015. It’s not working and will not work until June 30, 2022. As for the candidates, Chanco is frustrated that Inday Sara “Daughterte” is leading the surveys.

Nearly half of the people interviewed in one survey now consider themselves poor, but that sentiment does not translate to dissatisfaction with Duterte. He may just be able to transfer this positive sentiment to his daughter Sara, who is now leading all polls.

Thing is, Mr. Chanco, what can you do if that’s the public preference? If the people are unconvinced that Duterte is a failure, that’s on the Opposition and not on the people. This is classic Yellowidiot reaction to not getting what they want. The blame isn’t on them.

It looks like the cat is out of the bag. Manila Mayor Isko Moreno is running for President. Who his running mate will be remains to be seen but logically, it should be Senator Grace Poe. Sources tell me it is not Poe. Isko will definitely be the Yellow candidate for 2022 but under Aksyon Demokratiko. How the public will react remains to be seen after his formal announcement. Lito Banayo will be his campaign manager. This early, it’s obvious that he has the support of leftist-militant groups as they came out in force to defend him against the stupid show-cause order issued by the moron Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Undersecretary Ricojudge RJ Echiverri who, more than likely, was acting on his own.

It’s not surprising that Daughterte has an independent streak and wants nothing to do with the original Davao group if she runs. It’s not in her nature to be a robot. This presents a quandary for the administration because the coalition has to be maintained. The PDP-Laban resolution endorsing a Bong Go- Rodrigo Duterte ticket is the Duterte old guard protecting their interests. The President isn’t a political idiot. He knows when his subordinates are sucking up. A Duterte – Bongbong Marcos (BBM) ticket is still the best but if BBM isn’t inclined to be the VP candidate it presents a problem. Marcos must realize he can’t win on his own. He is too polarizing for the electorate and the oligarchs will unite against his candidacy because they have nightmares about losing the Marcos assets sold to them by the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG). If you were in their shoes, wouldn’t you do everything in your power to prevent the loss of your business empire?

Chanco discounts the Ping Lacson – Tito Sotto ticket which still has the best chance of challenging the administration candidate. Isko is youthful but he is also inexperienced. There is no room for a learning curve if the administration candidate loses. The winner should be ready to hit the ground running on day one given that the pandemic is getting worse. It’s a question of experience in crisis management and governance under a very challenging environment. Isko will easily wilt during the debates as his glass ceiling is low. Lacson and Sotto may not be lawyers but they have the experience. Daughterte is a lawyer. Marcos was in Congress and the Senate so he’s on the same footing as Lacson and Sotto.

The election is now a three-way contest. It may become four if Robredo insists on running but she will only split the Opposition vote. It is actually Lacson-Sotto which can take away votes from the administration. The enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) has taken away two weeks from the run-up to the October deadline for the filing of certificates of candidacy. Robredo will have to make up her mind soon. The same goes for Daughterte. Lacson-Sotto has the edge after declaring first as they’ve been in the news cycle since their informal confirmation. All of the declared and undeclared candidates have name-recall. Chanco himself resigns to the facts before him…

A disunited opposition will almost guarantee a Duterte 2.0. It doesn’t look like they will be able to agree on a common candidate. From the latest numbers, even Manny Pacquiao will not be able to divide the solid Mindanao votes for Sara.

Chanco’s fears aren’t unfounded. Even confronted with her dismal numbers, a rabid community of loyalists continue to hold up Vice President Leni Robredo as the Opposition “leader”. Inquirer columnist Gideon Lasco writes in his piece “Run, Leni, run” that Robredo is “qualified to lead our nation”.

You won against all odds at a time when very few knew you, at a time when you barely registered in the polls. I believe you can do it again, this time when so much more is at stake for our nation, not least of which are justice and hope.

Fat chance, Mr. Lasco. What’s important is the platform. What the public is looking for is the way forward to remove the cloud of uncertainty hanging over their heads. It will be an issues-based campaign. It will also be a referendum on the Duterte administration. Like it or not, the incumbent has the advantage. Duterte won in 2016 as the underdog. Who’s to say that an underdog doesn’t have a shot at winning?

Ramon Ortoll

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