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A Duck for a Cock
For the life of me I really could not fathom why the Liberals decided to abandon Mar Roxas for Noynoy Aquino. What they did really defies logic. If the presidential race was to be compared to a cockfighting derby, what the Liberals did was in effect substitute a fighting cock for a duck. Kung sa Ilonggo pa, "daw gin-islan nila ang Sulog sa isa ka Gansa." Alexander the Great supposedly said: "I am never afraid of an army of lions led into battle by a lamb. I fear more an army of lambs who have a lion to lead them." The Liberal Party, to put it bluntly, just chose for themselves a lamb to lead them into battle. They just set themselves up to be slaughtered in 2010.
Mar Roxas has been preparing himself for his presidential run for the past ten years. Again, if we are to use the language of the sabungero "nasa kundisyon na siya." In fact, he has been conditioning himself for 2010 his entire political life. Throughout his stints at the House of Representatives, Department of Trade and Industry and now in the Senate, Roxas has worked really hard and put in a lot of time studying policy issues in order that he will have a good track record to present to voters. He also avoided the temptations of power by not stealing from government and leading a simple a life in the hope that this will be appreciated by Filipinos and convince them that he is the right man for the job. If there is one thing that can be said about Mar Roxas, it is that he is driven. He is deliberate. He knows what he wants to do with his life and he is willing to invest his time, money and energy to achieve his goal.
Noynoy Aquino, on the other hand, has sort of been "coasting along" for the last ten years. "Pa-petiks petiks lang" I believe is an appropriate term to describe his behavior. Whereas Mar has been going around the country courting voter support every weekend for the past several years, Noynoy basically just stayed in Manila. Whereas Roxas has participated in almost all of the important policy debates in Congress, I have yet to hear Noynoy push for a particular advocacy or engage someone in a policy debate. Whereas Mar consciously courted media attention and has even gone "showbiz" just to gain better mileage, Noynoy seemed to adopt a lackadaisical attitude towards his media exposure that some would describe as bordering on indifference. To better illustrate their differences, take for example the fact that Noynoy doesn't even want to talk about his girlfriend while Mar definitely is not shy talking about his romance with TV broadcaster Korina Sanchez.
The esteemed Inquirer columnist Conrado de Quiros managed to put a negative spin on Mar's drive by calling him "atat na atat" to become president while at the same time glorifying Noynoy's "papetiks-petiks lang" attitude as "hobbit-like." Kasalanan na pala ngayon maging handa.
There is another famous saying "history repeats itself, first as a tragedy and then as a farce." Today's young generation may no longer recollect but at one time, the fathers of Mar and Noynoy found themselves in a similar situation a generation ago. Mar's father (Senator Gerry Roxas) and Noynoy's father (Senator Ninoy Aquino) were both vying for the Liberal Party presidential nomination. That bit of Philippine history ended as a tragedy: Marcos declared martial law, Gerry Roxas died quietly of cancer in the U.S. while Ninoy Aquino was assassinated upon stepping foot in Manila. Today, history repeats itself as an Aquino finds himself pitted against a Roxas once again. What I find astonishingly farcical about the whole thing is that the sons have grown to be so different from their fathers. Gerry Roxas, according to the people who knew him, was an aloof and withdrawn individual who didn't really care much about media exposure (like Noynoy) while Ninoy Aquino was a loud and ebullient fellow who carefully cultivated his public image and openly invited media exposure (like Mar).
The last time an Aquino died, his wife became president. The pro-Noynoy forces are banking on history repeating itself. "Strike while the iron is hot" seems to be another mantra of the pro-Noynoy forces, after seeing once again a glimpse of the "Cory magic" with the massive throng that came out to witness her funeral cortege last August 5. The most compelling argument of his advisers is that Noynoy Aquino has to run now in 2010 because by 2016 the so-called "Aquino magic" may be all but gone. This kind of logic, to me, smacks of opportunism and is a clear admission of Noynoy's inadequacies as a leader because what it in effect implies is that Noynoy lacks the ability to become presidential timber if he will only rely on his own personal merit and track record. This "strike while the iron is hot" mentality is only for untalented artistas like Sandara Park, not for the Sharon Cunetas and Vilma Santoses of this world. Mar Roxas gave way to Noynoy because he can afford to bide his time because he possesses the skills, the drive and good track record to be always viewed as presidential timber, may it be in 2010 or 2016.
As I said, the Liberals committed a grave error in choosing Noynoy over Mar as their entry for the 2010 presidential derby. Chiz Escudero will certainly make mincemeat of Noynoy in a televised debate. Months from now when the "Cory magic" hoopla would have died down in the media, Manny Villar will continue on his spending spree buying off politicians, media practitioners and voters and I would like to see how the Liberal Party will respond to that. Erap will continue to dish out his charming jokes and quotable one-liners that the media find irresistible. Presidential elections are not fairy tales or fantasy novels. A "hobbit-like" creature like Noynoy Aquino (to borrow de Quiros's spin) doesn't have a chance in real life to defeat giants like Erap, Villar and Chiz. Mar Roxas, on the other hand, could have slug it out - peso for peso, antic for antic, spin for spin - with the other presidentiables and who knows, he could have won.
The only way I see for Noynoy Aquino to win is if all the other opposition candidates i.e. Erap, Chiz, Villar, Legarda, etc. would give way to him. If the race is narrowed down to only two candidates - administration vs. opposition - then it would be easier to depict the 2010 presidential derby as a fight between good and evil and the elections would be a foregone conclusion. The only problem is the opposition cannot get its act together and rally behind a common candidate. Back in 1986 the opposition was united in their hatred for Marcos and they rallied behind a "hobbit-like" figure (again, to borrow de Quiros's phrase) in the person of Cory Aquino. The situation today is far different from the situation in 1986, so much has happened, and it is definitely harder for the myriad opposition groups to unite simply because most of them hate each other as much as they hate Gloria.
But then, miracles have been known to happen in the Philippines.
Noynoy Aquino, on the other hand, has sort of been "coasting along" for the last ten years. "Pa-petiks petiks lang" I believe is an appropriate term to describe his behavior. Whereas Mar has been going around the country courting voter support every weekend for the past several years, Noynoy basically just stayed in Manila. Whereas Roxas has participated in almost all of the important policy debates in Congress, I have yet to hear Noynoy push for a particular advocacy or engage someone in a policy debate. Whereas Mar consciously courted media attention and has even gone "showbiz" just to gain better mileage, Noynoy seemed to adopt a lackadaisical attitude towards his media exposure that some would describe as bordering on indifference. To better illustrate their differences, take for example the fact that Noynoy doesn't even want to talk about his girlfriend while Mar definitely is not shy talking about his romance with TV broadcaster Korina Sanchez.
The esteemed Inquirer columnist Conrado de Quiros managed to put a negative spin on Mar's drive by calling him "atat na atat" to become president while at the same time glorifying Noynoy's "papetiks-petiks lang" attitude as "hobbit-like." Kasalanan na pala ngayon maging handa.
There is another famous saying "history repeats itself, first as a tragedy and then as a farce." Today's young generation may no longer recollect but at one time, the fathers of Mar and Noynoy found themselves in a similar situation a generation ago. Mar's father (Senator Gerry Roxas) and Noynoy's father (Senator Ninoy Aquino) were both vying for the Liberal Party presidential nomination. That bit of Philippine history ended as a tragedy: Marcos declared martial law, Gerry Roxas died quietly of cancer in the U.S. while Ninoy Aquino was assassinated upon stepping foot in Manila. Today, history repeats itself as an Aquino finds himself pitted against a Roxas once again. What I find astonishingly farcical about the whole thing is that the sons have grown to be so different from their fathers. Gerry Roxas, according to the people who knew him, was an aloof and withdrawn individual who didn't really care much about media exposure (like Noynoy) while Ninoy Aquino was a loud and ebullient fellow who carefully cultivated his public image and openly invited media exposure (like Mar).
The last time an Aquino died, his wife became president. The pro-Noynoy forces are banking on history repeating itself. "Strike while the iron is hot" seems to be another mantra of the pro-Noynoy forces, after seeing once again a glimpse of the "Cory magic" with the massive throng that came out to witness her funeral cortege last August 5. The most compelling argument of his advisers is that Noynoy Aquino has to run now in 2010 because by 2016 the so-called "Aquino magic" may be all but gone. This kind of logic, to me, smacks of opportunism and is a clear admission of Noynoy's inadequacies as a leader because what it in effect implies is that Noynoy lacks the ability to become presidential timber if he will only rely on his own personal merit and track record. This "strike while the iron is hot" mentality is only for untalented artistas like Sandara Park, not for the Sharon Cunetas and Vilma Santoses of this world. Mar Roxas gave way to Noynoy because he can afford to bide his time because he possesses the skills, the drive and good track record to be always viewed as presidential timber, may it be in 2010 or 2016.
As I said, the Liberals committed a grave error in choosing Noynoy over Mar as their entry for the 2010 presidential derby. Chiz Escudero will certainly make mincemeat of Noynoy in a televised debate. Months from now when the "Cory magic" hoopla would have died down in the media, Manny Villar will continue on his spending spree buying off politicians, media practitioners and voters and I would like to see how the Liberal Party will respond to that. Erap will continue to dish out his charming jokes and quotable one-liners that the media find irresistible. Presidential elections are not fairy tales or fantasy novels. A "hobbit-like" creature like Noynoy Aquino (to borrow de Quiros's spin) doesn't have a chance in real life to defeat giants like Erap, Villar and Chiz. Mar Roxas, on the other hand, could have slug it out - peso for peso, antic for antic, spin for spin - with the other presidentiables and who knows, he could have won.
The only way I see for Noynoy Aquino to win is if all the other opposition candidates i.e. Erap, Chiz, Villar, Legarda, etc. would give way to him. If the race is narrowed down to only two candidates - administration vs. opposition - then it would be easier to depict the 2010 presidential derby as a fight between good and evil and the elections would be a foregone conclusion. The only problem is the opposition cannot get its act together and rally behind a common candidate. Back in 1986 the opposition was united in their hatred for Marcos and they rallied behind a "hobbit-like" figure (again, to borrow de Quiros's phrase) in the person of Cory Aquino. The situation today is far different from the situation in 1986, so much has happened, and it is definitely harder for the myriad opposition groups to unite simply because most of them hate each other as much as they hate Gloria.
But then, miracles have been known to happen in the Philippines.
4 comments:
Hi Mr. Mendoza,
When you care to look at the surveys, Mar Roxas who as you said had been preparing himself (spending hundreds of millions in ads) and making his romance (including the wedding) with Sanchez very public which smacks of first class politicking (atat na atat which is correctly described by de Quiros, IS not doing well in the surveys. Obviously people are turned off by his over politicking (as you said he had been preparing for ten years . All the supposed "good" accomplishments were done because of this motive. Kung sa bisaya pa bulgar kaayo (gamiton pa gyod iya wedding as people's wedding kuno). I used to admire him but he doesn't have integrity anymore. Spending 200 million, do you think he's not gonna try his best to recoup this? With the pervasive corruption in the government, we need a leader who has the INTEGRITY, and I can't trust Mar anymore...
I think Mar found a good excuse, considering that he wasn't doing well in the surveys. It was a smart exit strategy and put the pressure on Noynoy by endorsing him (Noy) before he made an official announcement. Really smart! In fact he may just have a great chance as a VP due to crossing party line voting. If elected as VP, he'll make good of his record and will be ready for the next presidential election.
So his exit from the presidential race is still a strategy (and not really a "sacrifice"). Maybe he still can convince the gullible voters that it is really a sacrifice. Next time he aims for the Presidency, his approach should be subtle.
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If you are on the age bracket of 18-30 years old, I would like to request for an interview with you (either personal or through email) regarding an article for my magazine project in class. I will be featuring you and your blog in a magazine that we are creating as our project that cater for writers ages 18-30. My email address is mariannelin_dp@ymail.com. Please contact me if you are interested. Thanks!
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