The field is barren despite the number of “wannabes’’ who want to seek the presidency. Survey results consistently show, Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, Manila Mayor Isko Moreno, former Senator Bongbong Marcos, and Senators Grace Poe and Manny Pacquiao as the leading presidential aspirants. Mayor Sara’s rating of 28 percent was practically the same result she got late last year, which was also conducted by Pulse Asia. Ranked were the same set of probable candidates who headed the pack in previous surveys. VP Leni Robredo only placed 6th and outside of the top 5 pick, together with Senator Panfilo Lacson who placed 7th. The other probables such as Senator Bong Go, former Senator Antonio Trillanes and Senator Richard Gordon have remained at the tail end of the survey.
There has been no significant change in the standings of the presidentiables and notably, no new name has surfaced on the list who has stirred the voters’ interest. The filing of the certificates of candidacy is barely two months away, but no name from the ranks of the opposition that can capture the imagination of the voters has appeared on the horizon.
It appears that no one from the opposition possesses the talents and the charisma that the electorates hankering for a political messiah can rally behind. Normally, an unpopular regime would give rise to a reinvigorated opposition and produce a leader who can unify all disgruntled elements of the country. But this is not happening despite all the dire predictions of the anti-Duterte forces. Either the opposition got it all wrong and that Duterte still enjoys the support of the masses or it is bereft of a bankable standard bearer who can generate enthusiasm among our people.
No one has the color, the wit, the language and the boldness of a Ninoy Aquino or an Arsenio Lacson who could take on the administration fearlessly and on equal terms. Unfortunately, they died before they could run for president. If the opposition cannot produce a viable and credible candidate, then what about importing a member of the ruling party who has the stature and clout to give Duterte’s anointed candidate a run for his/her money?
In 1953, the Nacionalista Party, realizing its lack of suitable presidential material, offered the very popular Secretary of National Defense, Ramon Magsaysay, to turn coat and drafted him as the official candidate of the opposition against President Elpidio Quirino. The Liberal Party was then at the zenith of its power headed by Quirino who was seeking reelection. Most of the prominent members of the Nacionalista Party like Jose P. Laurel, Senator Claro M. Recto, and other party luminaries virtually gave way to The Guy whose popularity among the masses was unsurpassed. He was credited with foiling the advance of the Hukbalahap and winning the support of the countryside, which was sympathetic to the communist guerillas. He was treated like a demigod by his fellow Filipinos when he carried the lifeless body of Moises Padilla after he was tortured and murdered by his powerful political enemies in Negros. Senator Camilo Osias contested the nomination but Magsaysay emerged victorious. Magsaysay won the presidency by a landslide vote against Quirino.
History was repeated when incumbent President Diosdado P. Macapagal lost to Ferdinand E. Marcos who switched parties to run under the opposition banner in the 1965 presidential election. In fact, Macapagal’s Vice President, VP Emmanuel Pelaez, also transferred to the Nacionalista Party to run against Macapagal, but Marcos won the closely contested nomination.
In both the 1953 and 1965 presidential elections, the weak opposition invited stalwarts of the ruling party to put up a winning candidate against the administration bet. This strategy turned the tide of the elections.
But Duterte runs a tight ship and I don’t think this opportunity is available at present. The ruling party, whether PDP-Laban or Hugpong ng Pagbabago, has not promoted or empowered any particular leader within the party to become the president’s political heir except his own daughter, Mayor Sara, and his ever loyal political sidekick, Senator Bong Go. Leaving the President is the last thing they would do. Moreover, they have not reached that stature where they can challenge the ruling party.
Mavericks like former Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, former Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano and even Senator Manny Pacquiao were cut down to size. Unfortunately, the real opposition has failed to develop its homegrown leader who can beat Duterte’s candidate. Without her personal baggage, Senator Leila de Lima’s martyr status could have been built up overtime and prepared for the big event to the opposition’s advantage.
Nobody has a commanding presence, or exceedingly better, to forge unity among the opposition and dissuade other potential rivals from joining the presidential derby. Right now, every opposition leader thinks that he or she has a better chance to win than the others, so why would he or she give way and forgo the chance of becoming the tenant in Malacañang.
In 10 weeks, more or less, the candidates will troop to the Comelec to file their COCs. Now, 1SAMBAYAN is sending signals that it is open to getting the likes of Pacquiao to be its anointed candidate. This should also pave the way for a possible endorsement of Lacson who it rejected earlier for authoring the Anti-Terror Act. This shift only betrays the sorry state of the opposition and the obvious lack of viable candidates. On the other hand, the few who are open to nomination by 1SAMBAYAN should now step up and demonstrate that they are willing, capable and prepared to tackle the heavy burden of the presidency. It’s the only way to gain the nod of the fickle electorates.