Not really sucked the oxygen out, as Opposition columnist Manuel L Quezon III writes in his Inquirer piece “Ruling coalition fiesta”. Eerily quiet is the same as noisy if you think about it. Quezon writes, “With an opposition with no teeth, speculation on ruling coalition intramurals has sucked all the political oxygen out of the room.”
But MLQ3 has something going about charter change if only to make possible Martin becoming Prime Minister since he doesn’t have a chance of becoming President.
Might it be more useful to abolish the Senate, and institute the parliamentary system, which is the tempting alternative for those convinced they can never win a national election? After all, the Senate as an institution, which requires both celebrity and money, is increasingly fated to become an old folks’ home as it is past senators who retain the stature to have viable candidacies.
It really becomes a question what the Inday-GMA-Imee faction will decide on for 2025. Do they break from the administration or do they keep their spot and wait for 2028?
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I don’t think that the Marcos family, as a political unit, will be done in 2028. But the cracks are also showing since it’s President Bongbong Marcos and Senator Imee Marcos with the warm bodies; three sons, only two viable enough to run for office and only one who’s active in politics – Sandro and Matthew. The joker in the card game is Rodrigo Duterte. The former president is still all praises about his successor. He knows better than to rock the boat given how Marcos is friendly with the Western powers that be. At this point, Digong doesn’t need the headache of the International Criminal Court (ICC) hanging over his head. But as we all know, when you can’t dispense with the spoils, it’s hard to keep your political house in order.
The oligarchs will go with Marcos over Deputy House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (GMA) simply because there are deals to be made, specially with the privatization of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA). A little birdie told me that the direction with election IT contractor Smartmatic is now similar with 2019. Since the administration controls it, best not to do away with it.
We can speculate all we want but the proof is in the composition of the administration Senate slate. The Lakas leadership will have to make a choice between GMA and Martin. Sara will need to decide what to do with Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HNP). Imee still identifies as a Nacionalista. She doesn’t have her own political machinery but relies on support from a bevy of political parties, including Lakas and PDP-Laban.
The Opposition, for its part, can’t find its footing. Amazing how many Pinkidiots were triggered by the tweet about MaDumb marking her wedding anniversary with Jesse again. It’s not that she “lives rent-free” in people’s heads. It’s more about her accepting her fate, which should also be the case with her moronic supporters.
Last but not the least are the also-rans from the 2022 race; Ping Lacson, Manny ‘Pacman’ Pacquiao, Isko Moreno, and Vico Sotto. They’re all going to have to decide what their next move is going to be.
The administration will not be wanting for campaign funds. Once Maharlika is signed, the monies stashed abroad can be brought back home again, if this is really one of the reason why there’s the rush to get it done.
Maybe the powers that be are really looking at running the country like Philippines Inc. This is why the Opposition should be less kamote and more focused on critical analysis. Most millennial voters have complained about this and it’s only really the “marginalized” entitled wokes who continue to profess blind stupid obedience to being Kakampink or Kakamtanga.
Cook wide reader political crackpot music afficionado old soul out-of-the box thinker aspiring writer tech geek gearhead
Quezon has lost all integrity – he is dilaw
We have seen how the opposition presented themselves at first with all those promises and pledges–but in the end, these turned out to be what one may call leadership characterized by the three I’s: Incompetence, Indifference and Insensitivity. True, they would make claims that they are ‘clean’ but that does not guarantee that they are capable of being credible leaders. One is also reminded of the way Cory set up the PCGG to go after the supposed Marcos wealth by sequestering crony-owned entities left and right; but in the end, the OICs and people appointed by Cory who ran these crony corporations were grossly corrupt, and mismanaged them! Then there is PNoy: let us never forget the Luneta Hostage Crisis, the mishandling of the Typhoon Yolanda crisis and the SAF 44 crisis, among other things, which epitomized a leader who has no thinking capabilities and who does not think out of the box. At the same time, many people have gotten sick and tired of the opposition’s hard-selling of the ‘Ninoy is a hero’ rhetoric, which has become an anachronism in this day and age of rapid socio-economic shifts–the same way many people in Republic of China-Taiwan show their disdain for Chiang Kai-shek. True, the elder Chiang made Taiwan a very prosperous nation, but it was under his leadership when he also increased those Cold War tensions across the strait and make his people always cower in fear. At least his son Chiang Ching-kuo initiated political reforms that has made Taiwan the open, vibrant, pluralistic society that it is today–and these included ending the longest martial law in Asian history and allowing Taiwanese to visit their relatives in Mainland China. If the younger Chiang is still respected, I doubt if PNoy will earn that same degree of respect after all the damage done by his incompetent leadership!
Let’s eliminate any opposition to help Marcos admin. And that’s all!