AT the first formal endorsement of his candidates for senator in the May elections, President Bongbong Marcos chose to do it in his political bailiwick, Laoag City in Ilocos Norte, to ensure that enough warm bodies would comprise the audience. This is just as expected, since a presidential endorsement should take on the character of popular support to be effective, as any political campaigner knows.
What is interesting to note is that President Bongbong chose to sell his candidates not by capitalizing on their character, qualities and qualifications that should make them good senators. The President introduced them by emphasizing on what they are not, thus taking a not-so-subtle swipe at their rivals in the senatorial race.
None of his candidates in the Alyansa Para sa Bagong Pilipinas is like an altar boy and a false prophet who is facing charges for abusing our women and children, Marcos said, obviously referring to pastor Apollo Quiboloy, a close friend of former President Rodrigo Duterte.
`Ordinary citizens would have expected that gut issues such as inflation, low wages and high prices of rice, electricity and water would take center stage, but…’
Marcos also said that none of the Alyansa bets were involved in the questionable extrajudicial killings that occurred during the height of Duterte’s war on drugs. This one is an unmistaken shot at Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa who was chief of the Philippine National Police when the massive fight against drug syndicates was ongoing.
The President also talked about rival candidates who participated in the looting of public funds during the COVID-19 pandemic while Filipinos were dying of hunger and disease — a reference again to opposition senatorial bets who had a hand in healthcare policies of the Duterte administration, most especially about procurement of health supplies and vaccines. Was Bongbong referring to Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go?
He said, “Wala sa kanila ang mga pumapalakpak sa Tsina at natutuwa pa kapag tayo ay binobomba ng tubig, tinatamaan ang ating mga Coast Guard, hinaharang ang ating mga mangingisda, ninanakaw ang kanilang mga huli at bukod pa do’n ay inaagaw ang mga isla natin para maging bahagi ng kanilang bansa (Not one of them applauds China, is happy when our Coast Guard is being hit by water cannon, when our fisherfolk are stopped and their catch stolen, and when our islands are being grabbed to form part of their territory).”
At the Alyansa proclamation rally on Tuesday, the administration drew the battle lines as to which issues should be prioritized in this campaign to guide voters in their decision-making.
Marcos could have been more presidential by limiting his tirades to the secular, omitting the part about false prophets because this would open an endless debate on religious beliefs that no one can claim to win. With the bible-touting Manny Pacquiao just a few seats away on the stage, is Bongbong saying that Quiboloy is a false prophet and Pacquiao is not?
China, too, will dislike being mentioned in the context of Philippine elections, but Marcos included it in the fray. The issue of the South China Sea or the West Philippine Sea is best elaborated by the candidates themselves from both sides of the political spectrum. We doubt if voters will decide on who to vote just on the issue of who should own those rocks and shoals.
Ordinary citizens would have expected that gut issues such as inflation, low wages and high prices of rice, electricity and water would take center stage, but this expectation was not to be.
