Crystal clear political development

“Vote for the man who promises least; he'll be the least disappointing.”
--Bernard Baruch

By Alex P. Vidal

NEW YORK CITY -- In politics, strange alliances are always inevitable; everything can be possible.
The disclosure of Iloilo City Vice Mayor Jeffrey Ganzon that he would run for vice mayor under 2019 mayoral aspirant, Rep. Jerry Treñas, caught some of their respective supporters by surprise.
Most of those astonished and stunned were critics of both Treñas and Ganzon who probably forgot the most fundamental age-old political adage that politics is a strange bedfellows.
Many of those who could not accept Treñas as a combacking kid but were so enamored with Ganzon since last year as a possible mayoral bet to be handpicked by President Rodrigo R. Duterte, suddenly find themselves in awkward position.
Many of those who loathed Ganzon but continued to fantasize Treñas as a local folk hero suddenly turned tight-lipped and were unable to come to terms especially when they were openly rooting for someone else as Treñas’ vice mayoral candidate.

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With the recent development, the suspicions of many Ilonggos that Mayor Jose “Joe III” Espinosa III will actually swap position with his brother-in-law Treñas, has been bolstered.
They are now inclined to believe that Espinosa III will no longer run for city mayor and will instead train his guns in the congressional contest.
If Joe III is still interested to run for city mayor, they believe the best person who should reveal his runningmate should be Joe III, not Treñas.
Both Treñas and Joe III are carefully playing their political cards with aplomb.
They are aware that if they continue to befuddle their rivals, a doubly whammy victory in the 2019 elections wouldn’t be far-fetched.
If they don’t pretend that they are at loggerheads, their rivals can still do something earthshaking in the next few months to stymie their candidacies and prevent them from scoring another gut-wrenching political shutout.
It’s been a long time since the opposition in Iloilo City has tasted a sweet victory over political demigods in the categories of Treñas and Joe III.

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Now it can be told.
Iloilo City could not be the “most shabulized” in the Philippines.
Of the 207 barangay officials nationwide tagged by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) to be involved in illegal drugs, only one punong barangay (village chief) from Iloilo City was included on the scandalous list.
And even if the name of Gemma Caldazo, outgoing chief of Brgy. Kasing-Kasing, Molo, Iloilo City was mentioned, her alleged involvement in illegal drugs wasn’t yet proven beyond reasonable doubt.
Since the PDEA list was disclosed two weeks before the May 14 barangay elections, it’s possible that some of them were only victims of political black propaganda.
In other words, not all of the 207 officials could be guilty.
As somebody who grew up in Iloilo City, I don’t buy it hook, line, and sinker that some officials in Barangay Kasing-Kasing, Molo, where former Vice Mayor Guillermo dela Llana lives, are the most notorious in terms of involvement in illegal drugs.
The PDEA list would have been more credible if it was released not during the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan election season.
The timing was suspect.