‘He isn’t running scared the way Senator Bato is; he isn’t being hampered by complaints left and right the way VP Sara is; and his skilled “godfathering” of the Malasakit centers nationwide stamped him in the eyes of the vast majority of our voters…’
IT’S the last Friday before the elections, and today and tomorrow, all over the country, candidates for various local positions will be holding their “miting de avance.”
For those in unchallenged races, or races where the opposition is token, the miting de avance will be an opportunity to plug for fellow candidates or for whole slates of tickets — for the municipal or city council, perhaps, or for a provincial board. Mayors and governors naturally seek a sweep of all seats in their respective Sanggunian, as for them it “simplifies” governance. For those who believe in check and balance, however, this idea may be anathema.
For the senatorial candidates or “senatoriables,” however, it’s almost over but the voting and counting. There’s no useful miting de avance to conduct. Instead, it’s time to sit down with campaign operators, especially for those hovering near or at the bottom of the list, those who rank from maybe 8 or 10 to 15 in surveys for whom every vote will count.
If the senatoriables haven’t yet gotten out their message by today, it’s too late. If, however, they’re been able to “indoctrinate” the public not only during the campaign period but even long before that, then it’s sitting pretty time.
In fact, a senatoriable who does so well that he or she tops the Senate race is almost always considered a “presidentiable,” the reason being that a senator and a president have the same national constituency.
Christopher “Bong” Go, aka “Mr Malasakit” who is now topping the senatorial surveys, may thus wake up on May 13 to find out that political analysts are now seeing him as a presidentiable for 2028.
Indeed, of the “DuterTen,” it seems that SBG (as he is called) has emerged from the ashes (so to speak) of the Duterte administration a leader scathed. He isn’t running scared the way Senator Bato is; he isn’t being hampered by complaints left and right the way VP Sara is; and his skilled “godfathering” of the Malasakit centers nationwide stamped him in the eyes of the vast majority of our voters as someone who knew how to get things done for them.
Every time an ordinary Filipino has to seek help for medical issues, he or she is directed to a Malasakit center. And Malasakit is a term that SBG has wrapped so tightly around his persona, it’s hard to disassociate one from the other.
But here’s the only catch: If an “SBG42028” catches on, where will that put the VP? And will that split the PRRD vote? One need only recall how Danding Cojuangco’s otherwise clear path to the presidency ended when former First Lady Imelda Marcos herself ran for office, splitting the Loyalist vote and giving Fidel Ramos the keys to Malacañang.
If the PRRD vote splits between the VP and SBG, will that leave a Tulfo smiling all the way to the presidency?
