FROM the following comments, I exclude Miriam. She is in a class all her own. With her parting words—“God preserve our country, starting with me”—she joined the immortals. I am talking about the rest.
Sunday’s debate stripped the candidates of their public-relations images and made them all the same. Indeed, in a manner that screamed for laxatives, all the candidates tightened their a___ out of fear of making mistakes. They put their best foot forward, and their worst foot back—like dancing ballet; so gay. They gave the blandest solutions to the most crying problems. That showed there are no substantial differences between them, not even temperament. Even Rodrigo “Rody” R. Duterte threatened, but only meekly.
Traffic and the stalled Metro Rail Transit, a bane once the exclusive preserve of Manuel “Mar” A. Roxas II, is now a burden shared by all the candidates. Every proposal of the candidates only showed their inability to solve them quickly. And Mar added that the long-term solution has already started—under the administration that caused the problem. Or so we thought. Until Duterte shifted the blame to too many cars on the roads. Hindi pala kasalanan ni P-Noy. All the candidates admitted that the problem is beyond any but patchwork solutions: like no private parking on highways—which is sooooo baaaduuuuy. Miriam had the grandest solution: move the city elsewhere. By then, even millennials will be dead.
All the candidates supported the Bangsamoro basic law (BBL), which Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. totally discredited. The BBL sought to create a caliphate for terrorism carved out of our territory at American behest. I guess to contain the terrorists in one place. But why here? Why not Wisconsin? They will be at home there. Supervision of the BBL would go to Malaysia. I guess, in exchange for some of the $750 million missing from the Malaysian prime minister’s bank account.
Duterte even said it is only historical justice because Ferdinand Magellan stole Mactan from Lapu- Lapu. I thought Magellan failed in that; he was even killed in the attempt. But, okay, give them Mactan, which has an airport already. That way Islamic terrorists can fly across the Pacific and hit the other side of the United States.
Everyone committed to end “contractualization”—hiring and firing before people become permanent. But Mar had to say it is legal, so we need to go to Congress. But Jejomar “Jojo” C. Binay a better lawyer than the one Mar keeps by his side, proved it is illegal per se.
On the South China Sea, they all agree: never to send the people we pay to fight—to fight there. Wow! Wowoweee! So why don’t we turn our soldiers and marines into caregivers? Duterte added what I long ago proposed. P-Noy should get on the del Pilar and sail to the reefs. Rody will go in a jet ski. Smart, smaller target. Let us see if China will dare to turn the South China Sea from what it is becoming already— a Chinese lake—into a Chinese toilet in which the only turd floating is China by hurting the Philippine president.
And finally, there was Grace Poe’s big mistake. By raising the issue— of—jocular—rape, she let Duterte explain it. Sure, he has a dirty mouth, but he also has a trigger finger. The safest place for women—or anybody for that matter—is Davao.
By erasing the differences between the candidates (by frightening them all into their best behavior) Sunday’s debate erased all hope of real change. Now we can vote for anyone because we should vote for no one in particular. They are all fun—and pandemically da same.
By his sobriety, Duterte regained lost ground. But Mar gained new ground by erasing the differences between himself and the rest—with the same practical and weak solutions. “Radical” solutions only make good sound bites, but not much sense, is one way of looking at it.
So Mar is in the running, right alongside near identical candidates—except on peace and order. But that is for another day.