Possible bedfellows: Roxas-Clinton, Duterte-Trump, Poe or Binay-Clinton

"Perfect partners don't exist. Perfect conditions exist for a limited time in which partnerships express themselves best."  
Wayne Rooney

By Alex P. Vidal

NEW YORK CITY -- There should be no more false hopes for supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders as the number of Democratic open primaries is getting smaller, with Sec. Hillary Clinton must now win only 33 percent of remaining delegates to hit the 2,383 magic number as of April 6.
In order to oust Clinton, Sanders must win 67 percent of the remaining delegates. 
Clinton now has 1,728 against Sanders' 1,058 (this is the latest count even after Sanders clobbered Clinton in Wisconsin, 57 percent-43 percent).
With the next primary heading to New York (April 19), Clinton's home state, the prospect has become dimmer for Sanders.
Assuming that Clinton clinches the Democratic presidential slot, pollsters have predicted she could put away either Donald Trump (753 delegates) or Ted Cruz (514) of Republican party in the November general election.

SUPPORT

With full support from President Noynoy Aquino, Mar Roxas of the Liberal Party could pull the rug from under PDP Laban's Rodrigo Duterte, Nationalist People's Coalition's Grace Poe, and United Nationalist Alliance's Jejomar Binay.
Because of health problems, Miriam Defensor-Santiago has fallen by the wayside and isn't anymore expected to put up a good fight with barely five weeks to go.
Assuming that Roxas will win on May 9, 2016 and Clinton becomes president after the November 8, 2016 general election, they can work together harmoniously as both the Liberal and Democratic parties almost share the same political ideology and philosophy.
Although LP distances itself from the political extremes on the left and right, it can tune in with the Democrat's modern liberalism.

LANDSCAPE

If Duterte will make it and Trump will upset Clinton, the political landscape will change drastically as both gentlemen are known tough guys determined to wield iron hands to govern their nations.
Duterte has vowed to wipe out criminal elements and feed them to the fishes in the Manila Bay, while Trump has promised to build a wall to prevent Hispanic illegals from crossing the US-Mexico border; round up and yank out overstaying aliens.
Duterte's PDP Laban democratic centrist socialism
and consultative and participative democracy principles will have to sit well with Trump's Republican American conservatism.

SMOOTH

Poe's NPC can work smoothly with the Republican as it is also a conservative party.
Since it is in the right wing, Binay's UNA can engage in a romance with both the Democrat and Republican parties as it also embraces the ideology of conservatism, Filipino nationalism, social conservatism, and populism.
This means that a Binay victory in the Philippines and a Clinton or Trump victory in the United States can't be a case of a round hole in a square peg.

If I want to...on Poe, Roxas, Duterte, Binay, Santiago

"Peace of mind comes from not wanting to change others."  
Gerald Jampolsky

By Alex P. Vidal

NEW YORK CITY -- Until our next president is elected in May 2016, we continue to be a divided nation.
The gaping wounds of hostility and conflict will continue to exacerbate and won't heal for a while, because of cascading passion and emotional bickering brought by heated partisan politics.
Some friendships will suffer--or have already suffered--from mortal blows and may never be repaired again. 
Even family members have their own share of hellish moments because they have their respective bets for certain elective positions--the father for Vice President Jejomar Binay because of fraternity ties; the mother for Sec. Mar Roxas because of business attachment; and daughter and son for Grace Poe because of Eat Bulaga and Heart Evangelista.

CHANGE

We can't change the reputation of our leaders and the circumstances that made them famous and infamous--what and where they are now in the periphery of political hierarchy. 
But we can change the way we think, how we behave, and how to deal with these leaders or aspirants for higher public office, if given the opportunity to go along with any of them in a real or imagined world.
For instance, if I saunter in the lairs of the underworld, the beasts and the cannibals, I will ask Rodrigo Duterte to accompany me.
If I want to personally meet showbiz characters, ask autograph of Susan Roces, gyrate on noontime shows with Tito, Vic an Joey, and get to know more about sob stories involving foundlings, I want Grace Poe to be on my side.

FREE

If I want to watch free movies in the country's premier city and enjoy other pelf and privileges, dabble in construction business, corner rich contracts without the benefit of a bidding process, enlist as adult commander in the Boys Scouts of the Philippines, and open more than a dozen savings accounts, I will befriend Jejomar Binay.
If I want to have a "selfie" with Korina Sanchez without having to form a beeline in a Quezon City mansion and learn Economics 101, I will ask Mar Roxas to be my guidance counselor.  
If I want to meet Superman, Spiderman, Bionicman, Batman and Robin, Wonderwoman, join the Star Wars, and to have a Close Encounter with the Third Kind, I will stay beside Miriam Defensor-Santiago.
After all we are in a free world.

Loida Nicolas-Lewis: Mar Roxas is the Real McCoy

By Alex P. Vidal

NEW YORK CITY -- Of the four speakers representing four Philippine presidential candidates, businesswoman Loida Nicolas-Lewis emerged as the most applauded during the  "Know Your Candidates" forum on the Philippine Presidential Elections at the Kalayaan Hall of the Consulate General of the Philippines March 30.
Nicolas-Lewis insisted that "as congressman and senator, Mar Roxas has had no record of corruption whatsoever. And believe me. It is so easy to ask for cash-sunduan and commission when one is in power."
She added: "Mar Roxas has a track record of success in his 22 years of public service as cabinet secretary to three presidents--Erap, GMA and P-noy."
Nicolas-Lewis said "Roxas is an experienced executive who can deal with the presidents of the United States, France, Germany, and other big countries; he has inborn integrity and loyalty to the Philippines and to the people."

CANDID

"Of the four speakers, Loida presented the most candid and most substantive argument why her bet should be the next president of the Philippines," commented Lourdes Constantino-Penn, 70, a Fil-Am businesswoman, who attended the two-hour forum presented by the Filipino American Press Club of New York, Inc. and the Consulate General of the Philippines headed by Ambassador Mario Lopez de Leon Jr.
Nicolas-Lewis, chair of the US Filipinos for Good Governance, represented Mar Roxas of the Liberal Party.
"Loida ably represented Roxas with her brilliant explanation of the administration candidate's plans of revitalizing agriculture and sustaining economic growth," observed Jonji Jalandoni, past president of the Philippine Independence Day Council Inc. (PIDCI). 

DUTERTE

The second most applauded speaker was Sani Guillena, who represented Rodrigo Duterte of PDP Laban.
Guillena, coordinator of GoDuterteUSA/NY, spoke passionately on the need to elect an iron-fisted leader like the Davao City mayor who vowed to eliminate graft and corruption and criminality.
"Mayor Duterte is both the medium and the message and he is the only candidate who lives a modest life and who leads by example," Guillena, former editor and publisher of Peryodiko Mindanao Scholar, asserted.
Los Angeles-based speaker Art Garcia, a former scholar of Mar's father, the late Sen. Gerardo Roxas, explained why he ditched Mar for Grace Poe.
"I campaigned for President Benigno Noynoy Aquino Jr. and I used to support Mar Roxas, but when I learned that Grace Poe would run for president, I decided to go for Grace. I know her father, Fernando Poe Jr., a courageous man who went against Marcos during Martial Law," explained Garcia, lead convenor of the Grace Poe for President Movement in L.A.
Garcia described Poe as "an intelligent and sincere woman who will reform and industrialize the Philippines."

'BROTHER'

Jesse Arteche, the first speaker to give a statement and a "brother" of Vice President Jejomar Binay in the Alpha Phi Omega, lamented that "Binay is a victim of black propaganda ever since he decalred that he would run for president."
"Only the court can delcare that he is guilty of graft and corruption. All the accusations against him in the senate are black propaganda. If the senators believe that Binay is guilty they should have brought the case against the vice president in court," said Arteche, who calls Binay "Brod VP".
Binay is the most qualified to become the next president, insisted Arteche.
Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago did not have a representative.
Ricky Rillera, president of the Filipino American Press Club of New York, Inc., moderated the forum.

INTERVIEW WITH A FIL-AM BILLIONAIRE: RP removed from list of most corrupt

“When the President does it , that means that it is not illegal.” Richard M. Nixon

By Alex P. Vidal

NEW YORK CITY -- As chief executive officer and chair of a multi-million dollar foods and staples retailing empire in the United States,  Loida Nicolas-Lewis sheepishly marveled when a New York Times article called the Philippines "the most corrupt nation in the world" in April 2006.
This was when "corruption grew worse after Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was reelected president in 2004," recalled the 72-year-old Fil-Am widow of TLC Beatrice International Holdings Inc. founder and CEO Reginald F. Lewis.
Nicolas-Lewis, who recently staged rallies against China's intrusion in the West Philippine Sea as chair of the U.S. Filipinos for Good Government, blamed the declaration of Martial Law by former President Ferdinand Marcos on September 21, 1972 to be the genesis of the Philippines' "infamy."
"Not only did President Marcos nullify the constitution of the Philippines, but he also instituted a culture of corruption into our national consciousness," she averred.

ENTER

APV: "How did it happen?"
LNL:  "In 21 years of Martial Law, corruption entered into our very soul, into our makeup as a nation. People Power of 1986, a bloodless revolution and change of government, Cory Aquino restored democracy."
APV: "So Mrs. Aquino became our savior and hope after Marcos?"
LNL: "Sadly, through no fault of hers, nothing much happened in terms of restoration of integrity in government. She had to fight off six coup d'etat."
APV: "But she was able to anoint a strong leader in the person of FVR who vowed to bring the Philippines into NIC (newly industrialized country)-hood."
LNL: "President Ramos was effective in moving the Philippines forward, but six years under the new constitution of 1987 was not enough to uproot the culture of corruption."

ESTRADA

APV: "Because he was succeeded by Erap Estrada?"
LNL: "In 1998 Erap was elected president. Erap para sa mahirap. But in his three years as president it was Erap para kay Erap. In 2001, he was sent away in a second People Power EDSA 2."
APV: "The real reforms did not happen during the administrations of FVR, Erap and Gloria, do you think it happened under President Noynoy?"
LNL: "Year 2010 ushered in President Noynoy Aquino under the battlecry 'kung walang corrupt, walang mahihirap.'"
APV: "Please elaborate."
LNL: "He made good on his campaign promises. In the first year, Merceditas Gutierez was forced to resign. In 2011 the Supreme Court Chief Justice Corona was impeached for having more money in the bank than what he declared in his statement of assets and liabilities. By his own admission, $2 millions dollars more."

CREDIT

APV: "You gave President Nonoy credit for these so-called 'reforms'?"
LNL: "Not only that. In 2012, the entire Janet Napoles scandal broke wide open and we saw powerful senators arrested for corruption. Enrile, Estrada and Revilla. Kim Henares, the new BIR chief, filed 347 tax evasion cases against doctors, lawyers and movie stars--even Manny Pacquiao. Tax revenues rose to P1.3 trillion in 2014."
Nicolas-Lewis credited President Aquino when Transparency International removed the Philippines  from the list of 10 most corrupt nations.
She quoted Morgan Stanley as declaring that the Philippines is now the new tiger of Asia.

RATING

"In 2014 S&P, Moody's and Finch International rating agencies gave the Philippines triple BBB ratings. For the first time, the Philippines became investment grade," she revealed. "Bloomberg business listed the Philippines as second to China in being the fastest growing nation in the world."
LNL added: "In 2015, the Philippines with its more thsn nearly six percent GDP growth for the past five years is judged by all it took was five years good-daang matuwid."
"Who did President Aquino choose to continue his legacy of the daang matuwid? Who did he choose as his successor, as to be president of the Philippines? Mar Roxas."
Nicolas-Lewis said it was Roxas who introduced business process outsourcing in the Philippines and the industry calls him "the father of BPO call centers."
Some 1.3 million Filipinos all over the Philippines have been employed and the industry revenue generated $24 billion in 2015, according to her.

DRUGS

The feisty Fil-Am leader also credited Roxas for fighting multinational pharmaceuticals to lower their drug prices by more than 50 percent.
"The weekly crime rate in NCR was reduced from 915 reported per week, 500 less crime reported in the NCR alone. He also fired four out of five Metro Manila polic chiefs who failed to meet crime reduction rates," she added.
Among other accomplishments of Roxas enumerated by Nicolas-Lewis were the following:
--putting in place drinking water faucets in 300,000 homes in 400 municipalities;
--passing the laws that exempted the minimum wage earners P450 per day from paying income tax;
--planning for government a sustained economic growth, swift justice, high quality jobs;
--revitalizing agriculture;
--producing one billion scholarships for talented students;
--giving affordable and reliable power and boosting infrastructure;
--maximizing tourism and fighting crime systematically.
Roxas, she continued, also expanded the four Ps: Pantawid, Pamil yang Pilipino Program.
"An experienced executive, a track record of achievements in public service, no hint of corruption, inborn integrity and loyalty to the Philippines ans to the people, that's why Mar Roxas will be the next president of the Philippines," Nicolas-Lewis concluded.

COMPANY

Nicolas-Lewis' company, TLC Beatrice International Holdings Inc., distributes food and grocery products. It distributes dry groceries, beverages, household products, and frozen food in France. 
It also manufactures and markets ice cream and dessert products, potato chips, snacks and beverages principally in selected western European markets. 
TLC Beatrice is headquartered in New York City.

'Kiss of life'

"A politician thinks of the next election. A statesman, of the next generation."
James Freeman Clarke

By Alex P. Vidal

NEW YORK CITY -- When Gibo Teodoro, one of the best presidents the Philippines never had, failed to win the presidency in the 2010 elections, pundits attributed his defeat to his association with then President Gloria Arroyo, who endorsed his candidacy as Lakas-CMD's official candidate.
They called the endorsement as the "kiss of death", an expression that means the end of something or "malas" (bad luck).
No matter how qualified and competent a candidate may be, "kiss of death" will send his chances of winning on death throes.
Thus when candidates for elective posts seek the endorsement of political behemoths, they see to it that the endorsers enjoy a colossal public acceptability rating or popularity and are not tainted by accusations of thievery. 
Or suffer Gibo's fate.

SURVEYS

In the 1992 presidential elections, the name Fidel V. Ramos or FVR was nowhere to be found in the top three leading candidates in various independent surveys.
The top three in the surveys were Miriam Defensor-Santiago, Danding Cojuangco and Ramon Mitra.
Mitra, Cojuangco, and FVR were very dear to then President Cory Aquino. Three was a crowd.
"Who will the fountain bless?," asked the oddsmakers.
When Tita Cory endorsed FVR, the former EDSA Revolution hero did not only surpass his rivals that included Jovito Salonga and Imelda Marcos, he won the presidential race  by the skin of the teeth (although Miriam cried "we wuz robbed") .
We call Tita Cory's endorsement of FVR as the "kiss of life."

BLESSING

If not for Tita Cory's blessings, FVR couldn't have made that big leap (from consistently No. 5 to 7 in the surveys to victory).
Despite being ridiculed as "weakling" and "indecisive", it is to Mar Roxas' credit that he has the full support of President Noynoy Aquino.
Like FVR in 1992, surveys have not been so kind to the son of Capiz, whose only fault is he is married to Korina Sanchez.
Of all the past four presidents, however, President Nonoy Aquino enjoys the highest public acceptability rating, according to the most recent surveys.
His name has not been tainted with graft and corruption, unlike FVR's Amari deal scam, Erap's jueteng imbroglio, and Gloria's ZTE bribery and "Hello Garci" tumult, among other humiliations.
Joe De Venecia, on the other hand, was his own "kiss of death". 
When President FVR endorsed him for president in 1998 against Erap, the former House speaker had his own "Joe De Behest Loan" scandal.

POPULAR

Against a popular movie actor who had a mind-boggling mass appeal, non-showbiz and dreary traditional politician De Venecia was already politically dead even before FVR's endorsement.
Aside from President Noynoy Aquino's endorsement, Roxas, as a former interior and local government secretary, also enjoys logistical support from the government (this is prohibited by law, but as the saying goes, there are a thousand ways to skin a cat).
Shellacked and battered in the surveys, the Liberal Party's Roxas and Leni Robredo tandem is still considered to be the force to reckon with.
Under the combined mighty forces of Senate President Frank Drilon, House Speaker Sony Belmonte and the DILG to boot, most governors, mayors, councilors and board members down to the village chiefs have started mobilizing their forces and stretching their muscles in every nook and cranny nationwide.
Plus, President Noynoy Aquino's "kiss of life".

'If I walk with prostitutes, it doesn't mean that I am also a prostitute'

"Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing." Abraham Lincoln

By Alex P. Vidal

NEW YORK CITY --  Known for his flawless logic and lucidity of mind, the late Philippine Senator Claro M. Recto Jr. once argued that "if he was seen walking in the company of prostitutes, it didn't follow that he was also a prostitute." 
His syllogism thrashed the "tell me who your friends are, and I will tell you who you are" dictum.
Illogical: Mar Roxas is a pervert because he was allegedly seen (he denied he saw the bawdy event) in the venue of a lewd show at the birthday bash of Liberal Party (LP) member, Rep. Benjie Agarao, in Laguna recently.
Logical: Not all those present were perverts (except, perhaps, the sponsor or sponsors of the indelicate show). Therefore Roxas, who attended the birthday party but "missed" the spicy episode, could not be a pervert since he was not the sponsor or directly involved when a sexy dancer gyrated scandalously on top of a male guest on stage.

PRESENCE

There is a principle in law that says a mere presence in the crime scene does not make one a criminal--except if he is a direct accessory to the unlawful activity.
But since Roxas is a presidential aspirant and it is a political season, every mistake his political party--or members of the political party will commit, will be considered as his albatross.
The political party's moral standard also instantly became a serious issue as it will determine the kind of governance the party will introduce once they retain Malacanang beyond 2016.  
Mar Roxas is guilty by association, his critics will argue.
Association with sponsor (was it Metro Manila Development Authority chair Francis Tolentino?) or sponsors of the lewd act or the LP? Both. 
The sponsor or sponsors could also be LP members.
Not all Roman senators connived and stabbed Julius Caesar. Only those who had been mesmerized by Brutus and Cassius helped carry out the murder plot.

EXECUTED

Mary Suratt swore before she was executed by hanging on July 7, 1865 in Washington D.C. that her only fault was that she owned the boarding house where murderers of Abraham Lincoln plotted the assassination that changed the course of American history.
Her plea fell on deaf ears. 
Former Akbayan Rep. Walden Bello predicts a bad luck for the entire political party which, he said, could affect Roxas' presidential bid.
It is not only a case of "tell me who your friends are and I will tell you who you are" but also a case of "with friends like them (sponsors of sexy show), who needs enemies?" the former solon lamented.
While we agree that the incident warrants a call for investigation on the conduct of government officials in violation Section 19 of the Magna Carta of Women (Republic Act 9710), we don't believe that Roxas should be faulted and crucified only because he was probably "in the wrong place at the wrong time."
Roxas may have "walked with the prostitutes, but it did not mean that he was also a prostitute."

Korinaphobia

"The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown." 

H. P. Lovecraft

By Alex P. Vidal

NEW YORK CITY -- A prejudice against homosexuals is called homophobia.

The word is a blend of the word homosexual, a mix of neo-classical morphemes, and phobia, which derives from the Greek word Phobos, meaning "fear" or "morbid fear". 

Thus fear of heights is called acrophobia; fear of spider, arachnophobia; fear of wild animals agrizoophobia; fear of darkness, achluophobia.

Fear of pain, agliophobia; fear of fire, arsonphobia; fear of floods,antlophobia; fear of flying, aviatophobia; fear of imperfection,atelophobia, and so on and so forth.

Some Filipinos fear that if Mar Roxas will be elected as next president of the Philippines in 2016, his wife, Korina Sanchez "could be the next or even worse than Imelda Marcos."

VOTE

Because of their disdain for Korina, they won't vote for the Liberal Party's standard bearer; not because Roxas is incompetent, corrupt or a dictator, but because he is the husband of Korina, period.

In other words, Roxas, one of the most qualified presidential wanna-bes, could lose some votes or kiss his presidential ambition goodbye because of Korinaphobia.

Is it a fear of the unknown? A misplaced fear? A prejudice view from Korina bashers?

How and where did the "fear of Korina Sanchez" originate?

Aside from the negative allusions to her past and private pecadillos, critics think she had a misfortune of carrying a mestiza face that radiates a contrabida aura.

Of course it's not her fault why she was born a mestiza. 

Her fault is that, by a stroke of luck, she could be the next first lady; and her detractors dread the day seeing her becoming an Evita Peron and, oh yes, Imeldific!  Marie Antoinette? Lady Chatterley?

HISTORY

If we look back at history, Filipinos, who struggled to regain their cultural heritage and identity against abusive foreign colonizers, have always had misgivings with mestizas or "maldita"-looking women and viewed them as symbols of arrogance, oppression, squander and profligacy.

Thus they look down at them with utmost contempt and insolence.

This also explains why the likes of native-skinned, Nora Aunor, and "morena" beauty, Alma Moreno, are penciled-in for any elective position, aside from their staggering popularity in the soap opera showbiz world.

Would Mar Roxas be elected president overwhelmingly if his wife were Nora Aunor?

If Mar Roxas is endorsed, Drilon's bid for VP will die

"The greatest risk is really to take no risk at all. You've got to go out there, jump off the cliff, and take chances." Patrick Warburton

By Alex P. Vidal

NEW YORK CITY -- Senate President Franklin Drilon was right when he quipped that rumors he would be running for vice president once DILG chief Mar Roxas was endorsed by President Noynoy Aquino as Liberal Party standard bearer in the 2016 elections, "don't make any political sense."
Since they both belong in Western Visayas, only one of them should be fielded in the race for the land's top two highest positions.
Western Visayas, the third vote rich region in the country, is not the Philippines. Imperial Manila won't take it sitting down if bypassed in the choice of national leaders.
The other candidate must come either from Luzon or Mindanao. 
Not all-Visayas. Not all-Luzon. Not all-Mindanao. 
The goods must be distributed equally. Everyone should be happy.
Survey topnotcher Grace Poe could be the most logical choice since she is extremely popular in Mindanao, where his late foster father, Fernando Poe Jr.,  was considered a demigod both in showbiz and politics. 

OFFICIAL

It won't hurt the ruling party though if the president will pick Drilon over Roxas, but it looks like the die has been cast and Roxas appears to be a cinch away from clinching the official coronation as LP top bet.
Drilon can deliver the votes for national candidates being the most senior and influential political leader in Panay and Negros islands.
Drilon's only hope though is for the president to raise Poe's hand as a Solomic solution to the impasse.  
But his chances for a vice presidential slot remain nil. If Poe would be blessed by the fountain, Roxas logically could end up as her runningmate. 
Although he lagged behind in the surveys, Roxas' stock is expected to boost once he is officially endorsed by the president.
Since President Aquino is still enjoying a substantial popularity among members of the hoi polloi, the middle class and the elite, his endorsement of Roxas can't be considered yet as a kiss of death.
Endorsement by a popular leader, however, is very much different from the candidate's winnability.

APPLAUD

People may applaud the president's endorsement, but it's another story if they will vote for the endorsed candidate.
Winnability is still a major factor. And Roxas appears to be deficient in charisma and acceptability needed to bag the highest office,  if we based only the surveys.
But with full support from the administration, the ballgame might tilt and shake a bit.  
The lead in the surveys enjoyed by Poe and Vice President Jejomar Binay might suffer a major cut once government resources start to roll down the far flung areas in aid of the chosen candidate from Capiz.
Roxas, however, can't rely heavily on government wherewithal. He has a lot of catching up to do and the major roadwork is in his province in Capiz, his bailiwick with a polarized political landscape. 
As a dark horse, Davao City Mayor Rudy Duterte may continue to post as a big threat to any candidate chosen by the president and the opposition.
If no alliances and bandwagon will be formed to reduce the number of presidentiables, it would still be the administration and opposition candidates who will slug it out and elbow each other in the finish line.

Miriam in 1992; Drilon in 2016?

“The people who cast the votes don’t decide the election, the people who count the votes do.” JOSEPH STALIN

By Alex P. Vidal

ILONGGOS will always go for their own daughter or son in any presidential race.

They have shown their unity and determination to elect their very own in 1992 when they nearly sent Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago to Malacanang had it not been for the sudden blackout during the canvassing of votes.

Defensor-Santiago in 1992.

Drilon in 2016?

Was the recent survey conducted by the Social Weather Station (SWS) which showed Senate President Franklin Drilon enjoying a 65 percent satisfaction rating deliberately released in the media in order to prop up his chances to be nominated as presidential standard bearer of the Liberal Party in 2016?

The survey started to make rounds in the media at the time when Mar Roxas was rumored to be on the way out as DILG secretary and was being pummeled in the presidential surveys.

Roxas is still being preferred by Malacanang as the LP presidential standard bearer despite his disappointing showing in poll surveys.

THIRD

The son of Capiz was already dislodged from third spot by Davao City mayor Rodrigo Duterte of the PDP-Laban.

Several days before the SWS survey came out showing Vice President Jejomar Binay on top, Drilon spin doctors have been drumbeating his “winnability” factor if ever he decides to throw his hat into the presidential race. 

“I know that there is no better and apt way to show to the Filipino people that I value and deserve their trust, than by working even harder, and fulfilling my duties to the Senate with great zeal,” Drilon announced after learning that his satisfaction rating actually rose by four percent since the last survey was conducted in December 2014.

Drilon, however, has not made any categorical statement that he was interested to run for president.  

Pulse Asia survey also showed he enjoyed a 49 percent approval rating, two percent higher than last year’s survey.

NOMINATION

Political parties sometimes base their nomination of certain candidates for higher offices in the surveys of reputed firms like Pulse Asia and SWS.

Between Roxas and Drilon, Ilonggos in Iloilo and Negros prefer the senate president.

Roxas, whose family has been in power for several decades now, hasn’t done to Roxas City or Capiz province what Drilon has done in a short period in Iloilo City.

Some two billion pesos worth of infrastructure projects have been poured in Iloilo City using Drilon’s pork barrel funds and other agencies. 
All these were implemented under the administration of a relative, Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog.

Iloilo City has experienced a renaissance in tourism and infrastructure since Drilon and Mabilog worked together like father and son.

While Roxas can’t unite the fragmented political leaders in Roxas City and Capiz, Drilon was able to cement a reputation among local leaders as political demigod.

GRUMBLE

Some people in Capiz grumble that Roxas hasn’t brought economic boom in the province and Roxas City only recently made it in the headlines when the first CityMall was built there and business and investment writers started to write about the city’s potentials only after young billionaire Edgar “Injap” Sia disclosed plans to invest more in his hometown.

If the LP will bump off Roxas for Drilon, supporters of Drilon will always have the surveys to parade as their justification.

No hard feelings for Roxas.

The graft charges filed against Drilon in relation to his alleged misuse of pork barrel will have to take a back seat once the Palace starts to discuss seriously about Drilon’s next political moves.

But it appears that no less than President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III himself is hell-bent to endorse Roxas as LP standard bearer.

Will the surveys help change the president’s mind?

After all, only fools don’t change their minds, as the saying goes.

In fairness to Korina

“Fairness is not an attitude. It's a professional skill that must be developed and exercised.”  Brit Hume

By Alex P. Vidal

THE problem with being the wife of a prominent politician is that you are always under close scrutiny; even the way you shape your eyebrows and the manner you move your lips are subjected to microscopic sleuthing.

Such is the misfortune that befell Korina Sanchez, twice a recipient of disparaging remarks from do-gooders and dyed-in-the-wool haters; fault-finders who always find pleasure in mocking the first lady wanna-be with catatonic impulsion.

When Korina committed a lapsus linguae in the super-typhoon “Ruby” forecast during a newscast on ABS-CBN last December 3, detractors were quick to make mountain out of a molehill, tearing her apart like ribbons for being “irresponsible” and a dork.

We know that Korina made the mistake sans malice and bad faith.

Everyone commits a mistake every now and then.

Nobody’s perfect.

One reckless statement does not make a professional media personality a merchant of doom overnight.

Korina did not commit the error with a joyride.

It went viral and the consequences were fatal and unpalatable.

FIRE

After it caught fire and brimstone in the social media, a hoax report was posted on a satirical website parroting that she was supposedly declared persona non grata by no less than Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

The hoax report shot: “Abe, speaking in public after his meeting with officials of Japan Meteorological Agency regarding typhoon Hagupit (Ruby), said that for a public figure such as Sanchez, to say such things towards Japan; is an act "definitely unbecoming of a news anchor, let alone an Interior Ministry's wife".

"I am very saddened to hear reports of schadenfreude coming from a TV anchor, who just last year, was put in her place by Mr. Anderson Cooper of CNN," said Abe.

"That is why without a second thought, I am declaring wholeheartedly Ms. Korina Sanchez of the Philippines, as an unwelcome person anywhere in Japan."

The International Business Times, meanwhile, decried that “many in the Philippines were outraged by the insensitive remark made by the prominent TV anchor. However, for Sanchez, this is not the first time that she has courted controversy at the global level.”

RAPPLER

It recalled, citing a Rappler report, that in November last year, Korina, who is ABS-CBN's chief correspondent and anchor of its flagship newscast TV Patrol, had lashed out at CNN anchor Anderson Cooper for criticizing the country's government and their response to handling the Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan).

“Following her insensitive remark, the recent hoax gained more traction, as now Sanchez's husband Mar Roxas is said to be aspiring for the President's seat in the country and any statement from her would have an impact, both at national and international levels,” added the International Business Times.

In another bizarre development, comedian Joey de Leon, of all the people, lambasted the popular TV newscaster on Twitter.

But who is Joey de Leon?

His soliloquy can be easily dismissed as akin to a pot calling the kettle black.

Iloilo mayors for Roxas; councilors for Binay

“When people show loyalty to you, you take care of those who are with you. It's how it goes with everything. If you have a small circle of friends, and one of those friends doesn't stay loyal to you, they don't stay your friend for very long.” John Cena

By Alex P. Vidal

LOYALTY to the party over a personal choice.

This must be the stand adopted by most city and municipal mayors in Iloilo who are supposedly backing the presidential bid of DILG chief Mar Roxas in 2016.

Most of these mayors attributed their victory in the last local elections to the ruling Liberal Party (LP), thus they can’t just discard Roxas, who is President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III's personal choice.

Even if some of them dislike Roxas’ temerity to show off in “epal” gimmickry, these local chief executives have to toe the line or else.

In the 2013 elections, LP’s machinery was too much for those identified with former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, whose bets from national down to the municipal levels suffered unprecedented massacre.

Because of their victories as LP-anointed bets, these city and municipal mayors owe LP and the President a debt of gratitude.

BEHOLDEN

Because they are beholden to Malacanang, they have no choice but to publicly endorse Roxas.

But many of these city and municipal mayors have developed a personal friendship with Vice President Jejomar “Jojo” Binay Sr., opposition’s strongest bet for the top post in Malacanang.

Binay has been patiently paying them a visit one after another, but don’t talk about politics so as not to send panic alarms to the eyes and ears of Malacanang.

Binay, however, is very popular among city and municipal councilors.

Some members of the Iloilo provincial board are also pro-Binay but don’t display their preference at this early in respect to Gov. Arthur Defensor Sr.

Many Iloilo City councilors are also all-out for Binay but remain loyal to Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog and, of course, to President Aquino.

Mabilog does not interfere with the choice of his allies in the city council, but assures President Aquino of his “unwavering” support and loyalty.

Mabilog is democratic when it comes to individual political stand of his city council allies.

As long as they support the programs and projects of President Aquino in the metropolis, Mabilog doesn’t give a hoot about the political preference of city councilors for national office.

AGREE

The city councilors and Mabilog, however, agree on one unwritten but golden political rule: spare President Aquino and Senate President Franklin Drilon of any unfavorable harangue.

In fact, Joshua Alim, one of the most senior members of the city council, has become Binay’s virtual campaign manager and spokesman in this part of the country.

Alim has been passionately defending Binay in media interviews and even called the ongoing Senate investigation on Binay’s alleged anomalies in Makati city hall as “political persecution and harassment from the elite who wanted to topple down the vice president.”

Alim also does not hide his impatience when he sees negative comments on Facebook against the vice president and makes it a point to defend Binay by hook or by crook.

When Roxas visited Iloilo most recently, some of the streamers Alim’s group put up in various intersections supporting and endorsing Binay disappeared one after another.

Alim cried foul and accused Binay’s detractors to be behind the “sabotage.”

Many village chiefs have also signified their support for the diminutive second highest position of the land despite the almost daily bombshells being unloaded against him on national and local media.

It’s still a long way to go in as far as wooing the support of grass roots leadership is concerned.

The ballgame is still open, fluid and unpredictable.

Many sips-sips (sycophants) in the local level are still expected to jump ship and betray their partymates.

This early no one can claim he has the majority of local leaders in the bag.

Binay’s Capiz friend at loggerheads vs city hall

“To be prepared for war is one of the most effective means of preserving peace.” George Washington

By Alex P. Vidal

IS it unsafe to do business or run for public office in Roxas City or in Capiz Province if one is associated or identified with the country’s most controversial politician, Vice President Jejomar “Jojo” Binay Jr.?

Or is it a scourge for any Capiznon to be a friend of Binay?

Roxas City and Capiz Province are known bailiwicks of DILG boss Mar Roxas, who was bundled out by Binay in the previous vice presidential contest.

It appears the two political behemoths are heading for a rematch in 2016, this time for the presidency of the land.

Thus Roxas and his subalterns probably become increasingly jealous politically each time Binay, otherwise known as “Rambotete” (a calumny for the diminutive former Makati mayor who carried an Uzi machine gun ala “Ramboo” with a protruding tummy at the height of coup d'etat during the administration of the late President Cory Aquino), is seen hobnobbing with Capiz businessmen and political leaders.

ELECTIONS

With the national elections fast approaching, Binay’s Capiz friends, even in the business sector, are starting to feel the heat.

We missed by the skin of the teeth the press conference called by businessman Joaquin ”Toto” Dumagpi at the Kapis Mansions last September 25 in Roxas City, Capiz.

We were with visiting Chicago-based balikbayan couple Rufino and Aurea Canong, retired Army Maj. Lyel Tugbang and wife Baby, and Roberto “Bob” De la Cruz.

The Canong husband and wife are friends of

Dumagpi, president and chief executive officer of the Roxas City-based Kapis Development Corp. (KDC), from way back in the 90’s in the United States.

Dumagpi was protesting the apparent “delaying tactics” employed by the City Hall’s licensing division in the processing of Kapis Mansions’ business permit.

PERMIT

The businessman lamented that his establishment’s business permit has not been released since they first applied for renewal in January this year.

The delay has incurred Kapis Mansions millions of pesos in losses as the hotel was supposed to host the national convention of the Department of Health (DOH).

Without a business permit, the hotel cannot make a transaction with government agencies like the DOH.

Dumagpi said Carmen Andrade, city government consultant on economic affairs, wanted them to “add 15 percent” to their 2013 gross sales.

Dumagpi insisted his papers were in order and complete.

After a meeting with Dumagpi’s representative last Oct. 3, Andrade gave Kapis Mansions one week to fully declare its income or pay the city government in lieu of audit.

Dumagpi suspected that the pressure his establishment has been enduring from the city government could have something to do with his ties with Binay.

GUEST

He admitted that Binay has been a regular guest at Kapis Mansions. This must have inconvenienced some characters allied with Secretary Roxas, he surmised.

Incidentally, Binay has a not-so-pleasant relationship with Roxas City Mayor Alan Celino.

There was already a bad blood between the two even before Sec. Roxas became Binay’s political adversary.

During the presidential campaign in 2004, then Vice Mayor Celino had a violent verbal spat with Binay, who was campaigning for the late Fernando Poe Jr. against Mrs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Binay protested the alleged shabby treatment Celino gave Susan Roces when she campaigned for FPJ in Roxas City.

Binay and Celino called each other names on national TV and their feud worsened when Celino challenged Binay to a fistfight after Binay allegedly called Celino “amo” (ape).

Was Dumagpi caught in the middle of all these political hullabaloos?  

Mom Judy's silence is deafening while son Mar Roxas is hurting

Mom Judy's silence is deafening 
while son Mar Roxas is hurting 

"He who does not understand your silence will probably not understand your words." 
Elbert Hubbard

By Alex P. Vidal

Nanay Dionisia summoned all the saints in heaven and cursed anyone who hurt or insulted Manny Pacquiao to show her "deep love" for a son.
Each time the popular boxer was caught in a web of scandals, nanay Dionisia was always there to pick up the cudgels and carry the bolo to defend her son.
When Capiz Rep. Gerry Roxas Jr., popularly known as Dinggoy, was still alive, her socialite mother, Mrs. Judy Araneta-Roxas, never allowed any detractor to besmirch Dinggoy's reputation. Our friend, Boggie Gonzalez, said he defended Dinggoy from media attacks and risked his life for the country's youngest congressman "because that was what Inday Judy wanted me to do."   
Gonzalez challenged airport cops who allegedly found marijuana leaves in Rep. Dinggoy Roxas' possession to a duel. "They framed him up," Gonzalez bewailed. "Congressman Dinggoy is not a drug addict." The duel did not materialize and the incident "died a natural death." No case was filed against Rep. Dinggoy Roxas, who died of colon cancer on April 15, 1993, at 32.

BROTHER

He was replaced in congress by older brother, Mar, who became a senator after a stint as secretary of the Department of Trade and Industry. 
Now the DILG secretary, no doubt the most recent media blitzkrieg portraying Mar Roxas as a bully and arrogant public official, has caused a dent on his quest for presidency of the country in 2016, in one way or the other.
The Wack Wack golf club brouhaha had been played up in tri-media, including the internet, with much frenzy and magnitude of a sex scandal involving a religious preacher. 
Although most versions of the story corroborated with what really happened when Roxas allegedly lost his cool and badmouthed the staff of the exclusive golf club, Roxas caught himself in a very tragic circumstance for being a politician and a future presidential timber. 
Faced with a tidal wave of criticism left and right, Mar Roxas was forced to apologize.  As of this writing, he was still reportedly nursing from the backlash of his unsavory behavior. 

SHOCK

The news shocked Capiznons and friends of the Roxas family, who have known Mar Roxas to be "soft-spoken" and "somebody who always runs away from unnecessary trouble."
They were particularly more startled when mommy Judy hasn't come forward to at least defend her embattled son, which she usually did in the past, especially when critics called the late Rep. Dinggoy a "drug addict."
Even when media rapped Mar Roxas for the government's "delay" in the response to help victims of "Yolanda" super-typhoon in November 2013, mommy Judy did not issue any terse statement to belie the accusations against her son.
People in Capiz and all their supporters in Western Visayas, for that matter, have been waiting for Mrs. Judy Araneta-Roxas to come to her son's rescue. The matriarch of the Roxas family is still considered until today as one of the most powerful and influential mothers in Philippine politics, having been wounded in the 1971 Plaza Miranda bombing along with husband, the late Senator Gerardo.

TROUBLES

In all the scandals and troubles that Mar Roxas had been involved with under the present administration, mommy Judy has not been heard of and nowhere to be found. Is she not happy with her son's performance? 
Was she not satisfied when her family's dreams for Mar Roxas to become president was not realized after he paved the way for fellow Liberal Party stalwart Nonoy Aquino? Or has she relinquished the role to defend Mar to daughter-in-law, Korina Sanchez, and isn't anymore inclined to tolerate a spoiled brat?
Whatever was the reason for her cold participation in all the controversies that bedeviled Mar Roxas recently, the silence of Mrs. Judy Araneta-Roxas is deafening.