"In politics stupidity is not a handicap."
--Napoleon Bonaparte
By Alex P. Vidal
NEW YORK CITY -- The best season to lose friends and shatter a relationship with some relatives in the Philippines is during the election season.
During the elections, forget about kinship, fraternal affinity, pinagsamahan or past and present camaraderie; never mind the investment on utang na loob or debt of gratitude.
Don't look back at memorable events and circumstances that helped shape a good relationship and expect them to grow in the garden of politics.
Don't brag about kumare and kumpare ties shored up in the wedding and christening ceremonies as if they can be translated into a political commitment and loyalty.
What happens there will remain and even end there and should never be invoked when politics enters the picture.
Politics is a poison.
Politics will altogether eviscerate all that have been built fraternally by human virtues and goodwill.
In politics, as the old saying always reminds us, there is no permanent friends, only permanent self interests.
-o0o-
Haven't we noticed that some of the protagonists in the race for governor, congressman, mayor, and other local government executive positions in the coming Philippine elections are not strangers to each other?
If they are not classmates in the elementary and high school, they are relatives in consanguinity and affinity; kumpare and kumare (fellow godfathers and godmothers) in the wedding and bunyag (christening) ceremonies.
Some are neighbors and playmates since childhood; others "brothers" and "sisters" in fraternity and church; former business partners, former political allies and party mates, former "colleagues" in ideological, spiritual, and ethnic comradeship, former mentors and proteges, etcetera.
All of these relationships will have no weight and bearing once politics takes the center stage.
It has been proven in the past and it is about to be proven once again as the official campaign for the national seats kicked off; the local candidates are, as well, hell-bent to square off and unravel the cannonballs.
-o0o-
We also caution the Philippine National Police (PNP) not to allow the organization to be wittingly and unwittingly used as a tool in a political partisanship and persecution especially during the election season.
All the raids and arrests involving political personalities will always be greeted with utmost suspicion and skepticism especially if the involved parties are not known violators of law, or have no previous criminal records in the community.
If a political personality has been arrested because of the crime he had ostensibly committed even before he decided to run for a public office, throw all the books on him and haul him to jail.
But if he was arrested mainly because someone had tipped off the authorities that he may be concealing something that is unlawful in his possession, it may spark a red alarm in the area of politicking and may not be good for the image of authorities, especially if the arrest turns out to be a dud.
Ditto for the police raids involving allegations of illegal possession of firearms, illegal drugs, child pornography, investment scam, etcetera.
If they are legitimate raids, go get the bonkers and dregs of society.
If they are tainted with politics, abort, abandon, and stop it.
Showing posts with label #politics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label #politics. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 12, 2019
Tuesday, September 26, 2017
Trust Joe III
"Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did."
-- Newt Gingrich
By Alex P. Vidal
NEW YORK CITY -- Those who are planning to run for Iloilo City mayor in the Philippines in 2019 can always say that Vice Mayor Jose "Joe III" Espinosa III isn't fit to become city mayor.
His being a "shy-typed" and "aloof" have become the butts of scorn and derision among keen political observers in coffee and barber shops.
Even the way Joe III shakes the hands of well-wishers he meets in the sidewalks and barangays did not escape their strict scrutiny.
But now that Joe III is the acting city mayor, the soothsayers fear that Joe III might prove them wrong.
The sudden move of Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog to take a leave and entrust the reigns of the city government to the vice mayor less than 20 months before the 2019 elections, probaby has sent shivers down the spine of Joe III's critics.
It's like allowing Joe III to have a "familiarity tour" on his next office, or giving him a chance to start building a bandwagon inside the fortress.
LONGER
The longer on-leave Mabilog stays out of the city hall and the longer Joe III sits as acting capacity, the more these soothsayers will become uncomfortable.
What if lady luck would intervene and Iloilo City experienced a shock renaissance during Joe III's reign?
As acting city mayor, Joe III, like Romulus, the twin of Remus, can conveniently use the opportunity to prove his critics that he is not what they think.
In terms of experience, Joe III has nothing to be ashamed of. In terms of competence, he is also notches higher being a lawyer and a long-time member of the city council before being elected as vice mayor.
The truth is nobody can claim exclusive right to govern Iloilo City as mayor. Nobody can claim that he or she is better than the other aspirants or wanna-bes.
The constitution does not state that one must at least be an orator, a philosopher, or a poet in order to become an elected public servant.
Even the much-ridiculed Mel Carreon can sit as city mayor if that's what the Ilonggos want. Elected officials, after all, are chosen by the people, not by psychiatrists or political science professors.
-o0o-
It's not a case of "too early for politics" if one political group will claim that it has the "majority of support from the mayors" in certain districts.
In politics, there is no "too early" and "too soon". But there is such animal as "too late."
In political combat, building of forces must start earlier--or, at least, immediately after the last elections.
That means losers in the recent elections aren't supposed to be complacent and relax if they are still salivating for a rematch with their conquerors.
An early bird catches the worm, as the saying goes. There are political worms though that worm their way to another group in the eleventh hour when the going gets tough and when wads of bills start to buy off loyalties and commitments.
That's the nature of politics in the Philippine. Money always talks from start to end.
But there is no substitute if one starts to build up and get the commitments of those who can produce the votes today even if the next elections are miles away.
-- Newt Gingrich
By Alex P. Vidal
NEW YORK CITY -- Those who are planning to run for Iloilo City mayor in the Philippines in 2019 can always say that Vice Mayor Jose "Joe III" Espinosa III isn't fit to become city mayor.
His being a "shy-typed" and "aloof" have become the butts of scorn and derision among keen political observers in coffee and barber shops.
Even the way Joe III shakes the hands of well-wishers he meets in the sidewalks and barangays did not escape their strict scrutiny.
But now that Joe III is the acting city mayor, the soothsayers fear that Joe III might prove them wrong.
The sudden move of Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog to take a leave and entrust the reigns of the city government to the vice mayor less than 20 months before the 2019 elections, probaby has sent shivers down the spine of Joe III's critics.
It's like allowing Joe III to have a "familiarity tour" on his next office, or giving him a chance to start building a bandwagon inside the fortress.
LONGER
The longer on-leave Mabilog stays out of the city hall and the longer Joe III sits as acting capacity, the more these soothsayers will become uncomfortable.
What if lady luck would intervene and Iloilo City experienced a shock renaissance during Joe III's reign?
As acting city mayor, Joe III, like Romulus, the twin of Remus, can conveniently use the opportunity to prove his critics that he is not what they think.
In terms of experience, Joe III has nothing to be ashamed of. In terms of competence, he is also notches higher being a lawyer and a long-time member of the city council before being elected as vice mayor.
The truth is nobody can claim exclusive right to govern Iloilo City as mayor. Nobody can claim that he or she is better than the other aspirants or wanna-bes.
The constitution does not state that one must at least be an orator, a philosopher, or a poet in order to become an elected public servant.
Even the much-ridiculed Mel Carreon can sit as city mayor if that's what the Ilonggos want. Elected officials, after all, are chosen by the people, not by psychiatrists or political science professors.
-o0o-
It's not a case of "too early for politics" if one political group will claim that it has the "majority of support from the mayors" in certain districts.
In politics, there is no "too early" and "too soon". But there is such animal as "too late."
In political combat, building of forces must start earlier--or, at least, immediately after the last elections.
That means losers in the recent elections aren't supposed to be complacent and relax if they are still salivating for a rematch with their conquerors.
An early bird catches the worm, as the saying goes. There are political worms though that worm their way to another group in the eleventh hour when the going gets tough and when wads of bills start to buy off loyalties and commitments.
That's the nature of politics in the Philippine. Money always talks from start to end.
But there is no substitute if one starts to build up and get the commitments of those who can produce the votes today even if the next elections are miles away.
Wednesday, August 16, 2017
Why they jump ship
"Honor is not the exclusive property of any political party."
--Herbert Hoover
By Alex P. Vidal
NEW YORK CITY -- When Marcos fell in 1986, many Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL) stalwarts jumped ship and were "rescued" by the late former Vice President Doy Laurel's United Nationalist Democratic Organization (UNIDO).
Some opted to stay behind the "defrocked" party particularly the "Marcos loyalists" hoping for the strongman's political resurrection which fizzled out with his death in 1989.
When Mrs. Aquino took over and became estranged with Laurel, many of them abandoned UNIDO and embraced PDP-Laban, Tita Cory's official party until 2009.
When FVR reigned supreme in 1992, these unprincipled minions hastily formed a beeline to the new ruling Lakas-NUCD party.
REFUGEES
Then came Erap. From KBL, UNIDO, and PDP-Laban, these political grutnols and druggles "fled" like refugees to Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP).
Everyone knows what happened next when Ate Gloria took over: the balimbings, bereft of principle, were again in mad scramble to take oath this time as KAMPI members.
When P-Noy became president, the political pendulum abruptly tilted to the Liberal Party (LP)'s favor in a mass exodus that could dwarf the myth of Israel.
Under the new dispensation, some LP members did not only forsake the party that helped enrich many of them through "pork barrel", they also burned their bridges swearing allegiance not only to President Duterte's PDP-Laban, but to many of the hard-hitting former mayor of Davao City's programs that didn't sit well with their previous political party.
The mass exodus from LP to PDP-Laban appears to be "only the beginning."
Duterte's political party is expected to make a major sweep of the remnants of LP and other coalition parties once his pet program, federalism, takes the center stage.
What does the changing of political bandwagon from one disintegrating political party to another ruling party indicate?
OPPORTUNISM
It's neither a sign of renaissance nor headway. It's pure and simple opportunism.
Philippine politicians fight for survival and can't afford to stay away from the political party of those in power like President Duterte.
Many of these politicians have pending graft and corruption cases in courts. Some of them are engaged in protection racket.
Illegal loggers, smugglers, gambling and drug lords financed some of these politicians during elections. If the sitting president will lower the boom, they will find their way to the doldrums like tottering fools.
If they are "outside the kulambo", so to speak, when the new administration beckons, there are strong chances that their slumbering cases will be expedited; and they might end up snoring in the calaboose.
We will wait when Mr. Duterte makes an exit from the Malacanang and another president will occupy the presidency.
We will surely see the same political merry-go-round similar to what we are seeing today. That's the reality of politics--only in the Philippines.
--Herbert Hoover
By Alex P. Vidal
NEW YORK CITY -- When Marcos fell in 1986, many Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL) stalwarts jumped ship and were "rescued" by the late former Vice President Doy Laurel's United Nationalist Democratic Organization (UNIDO).
Some opted to stay behind the "defrocked" party particularly the "Marcos loyalists" hoping for the strongman's political resurrection which fizzled out with his death in 1989.
When Mrs. Aquino took over and became estranged with Laurel, many of them abandoned UNIDO and embraced PDP-Laban, Tita Cory's official party until 2009.
When FVR reigned supreme in 1992, these unprincipled minions hastily formed a beeline to the new ruling Lakas-NUCD party.
REFUGEES
Then came Erap. From KBL, UNIDO, and PDP-Laban, these political grutnols and druggles "fled" like refugees to Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP).
Everyone knows what happened next when Ate Gloria took over: the balimbings, bereft of principle, were again in mad scramble to take oath this time as KAMPI members.
When P-Noy became president, the political pendulum abruptly tilted to the Liberal Party (LP)'s favor in a mass exodus that could dwarf the myth of Israel.
Under the new dispensation, some LP members did not only forsake the party that helped enrich many of them through "pork barrel", they also burned their bridges swearing allegiance not only to President Duterte's PDP-Laban, but to many of the hard-hitting former mayor of Davao City's programs that didn't sit well with their previous political party.
The mass exodus from LP to PDP-Laban appears to be "only the beginning."
Duterte's political party is expected to make a major sweep of the remnants of LP and other coalition parties once his pet program, federalism, takes the center stage.
What does the changing of political bandwagon from one disintegrating political party to another ruling party indicate?
OPPORTUNISM
It's neither a sign of renaissance nor headway. It's pure and simple opportunism.
Philippine politicians fight for survival and can't afford to stay away from the political party of those in power like President Duterte.
Many of these politicians have pending graft and corruption cases in courts. Some of them are engaged in protection racket.
Illegal loggers, smugglers, gambling and drug lords financed some of these politicians during elections. If the sitting president will lower the boom, they will find their way to the doldrums like tottering fools.
If they are "outside the kulambo", so to speak, when the new administration beckons, there are strong chances that their slumbering cases will be expedited; and they might end up snoring in the calaboose.
We will wait when Mr. Duterte makes an exit from the Malacanang and another president will occupy the presidency.
We will surely see the same political merry-go-round similar to what we are seeing today. That's the reality of politics--only in the Philippines.
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