`But it is interesting to note that a number of these “Run, Sara Run” folks I know remain confident in their belief that in the end, the Mayora will be the candidate of the administration…’
EVERYONE calm down. It’s early days to be too excited about team-ups. Yes we have one declared tandem, the Lacson-Sotto tandem, though we still don’t know what party will carry them since Lacson is not an NPC member and Sotto is the president of NPC.
Can a party support only one-half of the ticket? Sounds weird but this is the Philippines.
On the other hand you have the PDP-Laban declaring that their ticket is Go-Duterte, with only Duterte accepting the nomination as vice president and Go saying he is not interested in running for president, maybe still waiting for the Filipino people to fall down on their knees and beg him to change his mind and save the Republic
But save it from?
Plus there’s the added matter of the PDP-Laban being a split party, one behind Energy Secretary Cusi (said to be an important lieutenant of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo) and another behind former Senate President Koko Pimentel. This party dispute still needs to be resolved by the Comelec…. But I suppose you and I know with who the Comelec will most probably side with, yes?
The PDP-Laban event (which some people feared could become a superspreader event) has in turn forced the hand of presidential daughter Sara Duterte-Carpio to declare that she is no longer running for national office. The Mayora cited a family agreement that only one member of the family will run, and since dad already accepted the nomination to run for vice president, then that “disqualifies” her from throwing her own hat into the ring. For sure this has thrown the “Run, Sara Run” folks into disarray, convinced as they have been that Sara is the best candidate for the Duterte forces (and maybe they’re right about that!)
But it is interesting to note that a number of these “Run, Sara Run” folks I know remain confident in their belief that in the end, the Mayora will be the candidate of the administration, and all these are just designed to keep anti-Sara forces from focusing on her this early while keeping the President relevant at a time when others would already have started to slip into “lame duck” mode.
As things stand, you ignore PRRD at your peril as he may well be vice president next year.
My gut feel tells me that we need to learn how to read what is said and done better, because things are never what they appear to be on the surface as far as this President is concerned. Maybe with the exception of the Pharmally fiasco. As Sen. Alan Cayetano told me in late 2015, Duterte is more calculating (even cunning) than anyone else he has ever met.
Of course the anti-Duterte groups, for their part, are still waiting to see whether white smoke will emanate from the Office of the Vice President.
Early days though these may be I have my own dream pairings in mind: for the administration we have a BBM-Sara ticket, up against an opposition ticket led by VP Leni with any of three gentlemen as her running mate (in no apparent order): Senate President Vicente Sotto III, Manila Mayor Francisco Domagoso, or Sen. Emmanuel Pacquiao.
And in the ideal state the Filipino voter will be faced with just these two slates: an Admin slate and an Opposition slate. It will be “Thrilla in Manila II,” a slug fest like no other.
And I suspect that with these two tickets arrayed against each other, the whole country will be engulfed in the exciting run-up to Election Day, 2022.
Again, it’s early days. But what do you think?
