BY
JB BAYLON: AND THERE WERE FOUR
MANILA, NOVEMBER 14, 2009 (MALAYA) BUSINESS INSIGHT EDITORIAL by JB BAYLON - (‘Have you made your choice? Or is it too early to decide?’)
FIRST of all, it’s good to be back writing again for Malaya/Business Insight. What’s kept me away really is poor time management, because there never was – nor is – a shortage of good things to write about. Happily, the bosses of this paper were willing to provide me space in which to again express myself – and I intend to do so on a regular basis once more, especially now that things are heating up politically and life in the Philippines is all set to become even more interesting than it already is.
Every time I talk to friends about the elections in 2010, I notice one thing: that of all the avowed presidential candidates they consider four to be the most serious ones – serious in the sense of having the best chances of winning.
And these four, not surprisingly and in no apparent order, are Gilbert "Gibo" Teodoro, Manny Villar, Joseph Estrada and Noynoy Aquino. I refer to them as the "G-MEN", using the first letters of their nicknames. And indeed it appears that the elections will revolve around them four gentlemen.
Gibo Teodoro, a contemporary at UP Law School, is considered a major contender principally because he is the candidate of the Administration and thus has the Administration’s unequaled machinery at his beck and call. Add to that his resume: bar topnotcher, legislator, Cabinet member – and add further his family background – and you concededly have the makings of a president. But what is his greatest advantage is also his greatest disadvantage: time and time again I keep hearing people say "If only Gibo weren’t Gloria’s candidate, I’d seriously consider him." Of all the candidates running for president in 2010 it is Gilbert Teodoro, for better or for worse, who will have to contend with the public backlash awaiting the Administration candidates in 2010, a result of the continuing unprecedented level of unpopularity of GMA.
Manny Villar, on the other hand, is considered a major contender because of his apparent advantage in terms of campaign financing using his personal resources, and the organization that the revitalized Nacionalista Party provides at the grassroots level. Add to that his resume as well: Speaker of the House and Senate President and 30 years in the business of building houses for the less privileged – and you have the makings of a president who, in his own words, can hit the ground running from Day One. The biggest issue being used against Villar’s candidacy now is the allegation that he used his position to benefit his real estate empire – by influencing the route of the C-5 extension and by making sure that there were twice the amount of money appropriated for the project. What is interesting about this in my mind is that this is the first and apparently only allegation against Villar in his many years as a legislator – at least I know of no other corruption charge ever leveled against Villar. I have thus likened it to a man wearing an all-white suit ala Tito Eduque: on that all-white suit, one black mark stands out.
How Villar handles the C-5 allegations as they are raised in the campaign will determine whether more of the undecided voters will go for him on election day.
Erap Estrada is a phenomenon. Charged and convicted of plunder, his true believers continue to believe that only he can bring decency and transparency to a new government. His days as a cinematic action hero still work wonders for Erap the politician; and to the sentimental among the Pinoy voters, Erap’s unceremonious ouster from Malacañang almost nine years ago make him deserving of a second chance, to do the right things he was expected to do but was unable to do because of the grand conspiracy to oust him.
Those unconvinced that we deserve an "Erap II" point to his age as a factor. They also point to the plunder conviction and to his alleged involvement in the Dacer-Corbito twin slays as enough reason to deny Erap the moral ascendancy required to be president (again).
If Estrada is a phenomenon, Noynoy Aquino is that twice over. Before his mother passed away, no one even took a second look at Noynoy Aquino as a potential president: he was too quiet and unassuming and far too much in the background where the stage was left to his mother and to his youngest sister, Kris. But the death of Cory Aquino changed all that, because overnight Noynoy (and to a different extent, Kris) became the guardian of all that was good about Cory and Ninoy and their individual fights for democracy and freedom as represented by the spirit of Edsa 1.
To his supporters, Noynoy’s lack of experience is a plus – just as his mother’s lack of experience in 1986 was turned into an advantage on the campaign trail when she herself admitted she had no experience in stealing and in lying and cheating and all that. Those who see 2010 as another fight between "good and evil" see Noynoy as the knight in shining armor leading the charge for the good. But to his detractors, this brings memories of the Cory-as-president years which saw the restoration of the old oligarchy, the fight over spoils left by the Marcoses, and the infighting among factions in the government that the President was unable to control, even resulting in the suicide of one prominent Cabinet member.
And then there were four. Failure of elections aside, one of the four mentioned above will be the next president of the Philippines on whose shoulders will rest the unenviable responsibility of bringing us out of the financial – and moral and spiritual mess we are now in. Have you made your choice? Or is it too early to decide?
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Greetings to the crew of PR 814 which took me from Davao to Manila last Tuesday: Captain Jerry Perlada and FO Francis Paul Reyes and the cabin crew led by Lindy Silo and Fourth Hofilena in Mabuhay and Jeff Ang and Guada Clarino in Fiesta class. Happily the flight left Davao on time and arrived in Manila on time and what made me happier was the individual touch screens on this Airbus A320-200 which gave me a chance to watch "Just for Laughs" and giggle to myself for half of the flight. Mabuhay kayo sa PAL!
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Business Insight Editorial JB BAYLON