‘Carpio probably forgot that winning, at least among the Filipino electorate, is synonymous with popularity and not with competency.’
SOME people are wondering why former Supreme Court senior associate justice Antonio Carpio is hitting Sen. Manny Pacquiao when everyone knows that the opposition should be targeting President Duterte and bring down his anointed choice in next year’s elections.
The1Sambayanan lead convenor picked on Pacquiao’s absences in the Senate and House of Representatives but conveniently forgot that Joseph “Erap” Estrada, despite his poor attendance record in the Senate, easily won as vice president and later as president.
Pacquia’s absences mean nothing to the vast majority of Filipinos enamored with his unparalleled feat as an eight-time world boxing champion and the enduring national pride that he brought to the nation.
It was a towering achievement that, as F. Sionil Jose has said, could only be exhibited by a highly-intelligent and extremely capable man. Carpio should know better than to take on Pacquiao unless he is up to something else.
Due to the administration’s poor record in the fight against the pandemic, Carpio is probably expecting the electorate would finally awake from its long stupor and pick a new president from their illustrious ranks of nationalists.
Carpio probably forgot that winning, at least among the Filipino electorate, is synonymous with popularity and not with competency. One exception was the late former senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago, who nearly beat Fidel Ramos for the presidency. She was the feisty, outspoken type who won the hearts of the country’s youth, cutting through social and economic boundaries, and a large number of people who relished her entertaining wit and sharp tongue.
***
The late Cory Aquino found her faith to be a genuine succor during the crippling trials in her life, especially when the EDSA revolt broke out. She was frequently seen on her knees clutching her rosary. She truly believed it was not just People Power that threw out the dictator and made her, an ordinary housewife, President, but an unseen power that was not of this world and which nothing in all humanity could stop. Her contribution that resonates through history and a handiwork from God’s Kingdom was restoring the nation’s democratic institutions
The Protestant President FVR, grounded on Biblical truths, embraced the crucial need for the hand of God in the affairs of the state and was blessed with political stability and a growing economy formerly besieged by military coups. It’s a pity that President Duterte would have nothing of it even if his heart and soul seem so greatly disturbed by the deepening problems wreaking havoc on his people.
