presidentiables - Cerebral Insights

Oras Na! Roxas Na!

Since he became Mr. Palengke up until he stepped down to be PNoy’s running mate instead of LP’s Presidential Standard Bearer, I have supported Mar Roxas. To me, he is the logical choice to run the country. He came from a decent political family where all his relatives have served the country well without a hint of doubt to their integrity. He has worked diligently under the administrations who assigned him government posts and he has delivered what he’s supposed to do.

I know he is not perfect. There are times when he bungled up. Every time his PR team would come up with some cheesy campaign that will make him a laughing stock in social media I will cringe internally. I agree with them that the gimmicks are cheap but I disagree with the purported notion that Mar is not a viable choice for leadership.

When he was running for President during the 2010 Presidential Race, I was all out to support him. But when LP decided suddenly to switch to PNoy as their standard bearer, my heart went out to Mar when he decided to step down. I cannot forget what he said that day:

“Ito na ang pinakamabigat na desisyon sa buhay ko. Maniwala man kayo o hindi, ginagawa ko ito para sa bayan, para sa inyo. I do this for unity in support of change. And if that means that somebody must make the sacrifice, it must be me. Ako na,”

Mar Roxas, Aug. 1, 2009, Club Filipino

Now, we come full circle. After 6 successful years where Noynoy Aquino has successfully started the fight against corruption and began the positive change in our country, he is now announcing his successor. And this time, it is Mar.

Whereas in 2010, Mar began campaigning early, this 2016 he announced his Presidential ambitions last. He worked patiently, diligently and quietly with every responsibility assigned to him. Most of them even put him into bad light with the public who cannot comprehend how hard a position he holds. But he moved on, never once complaining.

This article summarizes beautifully why Mar Roxas is a game-changer; why he is the most rational choice for President after PNoy.

Grace Poe is a nice candidate. She’s a breath of fresh air since she’s not from a traditional political family. However, her experiences and capability to run the country is something debatable. Presidency is not just any ordinary position as I can see now. It involves a lot of other factors and winning it is certainly not as simple as it may seem.

Duterte is a popular choice because of his notorious reforms in Davao City but running a local unit is different from running a national unit. Besides, it would take more than social media to win the elections.

Who else? I totally agree with anyone who says Binay should not be President. Anyone who acts the way he does is someone who doesn’t deserve our vote. His pre-campaigns and his recent antics clearly smells of someone who is up to no good once he assumes office. Someone who tries really hard to secure his victory – to the extent of even leaving his Cabinet pose – is someone I will never trust in a million lifetimes.

Mar Roxas is the logical and most viable option we have. I hope Filipinos will start thinking rationally and strategically. Other candidates may be good but they need to have political allies, enough connections here and abroad, enough resources, and enough experience to be able to implement the changes that our country needs.

Roxas may have had his blunders but at the end of the day, he’s still the best option we got.

I am not ashamed to campaign for him for I believe in what he can do. And I believe we have no better alternative.

With Mar Roxas. Taken circa 2009 during the launch of GRF 50th Anniversary.

Mar Roxas: The Long Road to Endorsement by Rappler

Mar Roxas posts in this blog – because I’ve discovered that I’ve consistently written about him

election na naman

Sino nga ba ang trapo? Sino nga ba si Mar Roxas?

Mar Roxas

Malapit na na naman ang eleksyon. Sa darating na May 2010, iboboto natin ang ika-15 Pangulo ng Bansa. Makasaysayan ito para sakin. Unang pagkakataon kong boboto ng pangulo. Noon pa man pinaghandaan ko na to. Sino nga ba ang gusto ko na maging lider ng bansa. Hindi man ako ganon ka updated sa news or maalam sa batas sa bansa, malaki ang pagmamalasakit ko sa mga sakit na pumipeligro dito. Madalas ko ngang sabihin sa mga kaibigan ko na gusto ko maging presidente, hindi lang ng student body o org, kundi ng bansa at eto ang plataporma ko: blah blah blah.

Pero seryoso, meron talaga akong sariling plataporma kung pano ko masosolusyunan ang mga problema ng bansa.

Kaya naman sa unang pagboto ko, gusto ko na tamang tao ang ihahalal ko sa posisyon. Ang tao na alam ko maraming magagawa para sa bansa – kung hindi man malutas ang lahat ng problema, at least, masimulan silang ayusin. Kahit na madami nagsasabi na impossible ang sitwasyon sa Pilipinas, na hindi na ever maaayos pa ang corruption or pollution or krimen or kahirapan, naniniwala pa rin ako na maaayos sila. Idealistic, oo. Pero para sakin mas mabuti na yun kaysa manatiling pessimist. Pag dumating ako sa punto na naisip ko na wala ng pag-asa ang bansa, baka lumayas na rin ako dito.

Election 2010

Continue reading “election na naman”

Pac Yu for President

If not Erap, then vote for Pac Yu.

When I first read that a certain Pac Yu will be running in the 2010 elections, I thought someone was throwing a really bad joke. But then it was no joke that Pac Yu, in real life Gabe Mercado, will be contending for the Philippine Presidency. Of course, he hopes no one will really vote for him, but then he swears he will be present in all Presidential debates and the sorts, not just to throw satirical comedy to the proceedings but to also poke thought-provoking questions to the serious presidential aspirants. Pac Yu is the bet of Pagbabago! a group of people who strongly oppose the administrative government and who even hopes to still oust GMA before the 2010 elections.

Pagbabago

What?! Oust GMA? With less than a year in office, they still want to oust the current president? And then what? Have Noli De Castro ascend into power? Isn’t that incredulous? You want to oust the standard bearer of the administration, who is GMA, only to be replaced by the administration’s presidential bet, who is Noli. Isn’t that absurd? I sometimes wonder if Pinoys really have the capacity to learn from the mistakes of the past. Hasn’t the impeachment of Erap taught us anything? Will we forever resort to ousting leaders who we claim were voted by the ideals of democracy?

Vice-President Noli De Castro

Vox populi, vox Dei. Yet a minority will always push that vox populi is not vox Dei and as such is not authoritative. There would always be people who would claim that the election results were cheated and the current president is unfit to be in office. But when you ask them who they would want to replace the current president, and if the one who is qualified to replace him or her is worthy, they would suddenly clam up and then in an effort to redeem themselves would speak of all other reforms that you’re not really sure would be feasible or not. No wonder I gave up listening to UP forums with OUST GMA themes.

Oust GMA Rallies

I have always believed that the solution will be a total reform of the government – one that would also force the citizens to reform their views and thoughts of politics. Right now politics has been akin to showbizness – it is a circus of artists and greedy individuals pretending to be public servants. The few who are sincere in their oath of public duty are drowned in this farce we call a democratic government.

Unless the government type changes, unless the manner and type of leadership changes, then we can expect our elections to be simply charades invented for the entertainment of the jaded Pinoy and where comical characters like Pac Yu are always welcome to make their bid and appearance. Nothing is really accomplished and we simply have to go through the motions of it all – a façade for a deteriorating government.

Erap for President

What? Again? Not this time around!

This was my reaction when I learned that Erap is seriously considering running for presidency in the 2010 elections. He even has the nerve to refer to the study made by several political experts that he wouldn’t be breaching any constitutional law by running for presidency in the year 2010.

His arguments for him being qualified to run are in fact valid since according to Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III the constitutional provision against reelection of a president applies only to a sitting or incumbent president – and since Erap is neither, then he has all the green signals to run in 2010. After all, he hasn’t finished his last presidency term and he seems to have unfinished plans for the country, right?

Yet this would only materialize if the opposition wouldn’t unite under one candidate. Erap stresses over the fact that the votes of the Filipino people would be divided over the various presidential hopefuls of the opposition. They are no other than Ping Lacson, Manny Villar, Mar Roxas, Loren Legarda, Chiz Escudero and Jejomar Binay. He is worried that the same 2004 scenario, wherein FPJ and Lacson, two oppositional candidates who fought over the presidential slot were both “cheated” of their respective votes. He maintains that cheating against the opposition would be easy if they will field a lot of presidentiable candidates in the upcoming elections.

Well, we still have July or August to find out for certain if Erap will indeed run for presidency.

***Source: The Philippine Star News Page4 May 24, 2009***

Erap’s headache over the numerous presidential aspirants of the oppositon brings to mind my opinions and views on the party system of the Philippines. The election scene of the country is obviously party-oriented and not reform oriented. I am no greaat fan of the US but I must admit that I admire their approach to democracy and elections – that is in the sense that they only have 2 parties – Democratic and Republican, the major difference being in the reforms and beliefs of the said parties. And when a voter votes, he or she considers not the politician per se but the party he is in and the reform or advocacy of that party he is part of.

In the Philippines, there is no control as to the number of parties participating in the elections. Every election year, we hear of parties being made with some fading into oblivion in the next election year. This has happened so many times that we have ceased to really concern ourselves with the party and instead managed to look at the candidate himself thus making our election process personality-based instead of reform-based. If we closely looked at the nature of these political parties, we would see that most of them have basically similar reforms albeit worded differently.

So why then are there numerous presidentiables who would simply establish their own parties if their previous party had the unfortunate slip in decision to make them the presidential bet? Does it not make us think that they are now merely running for their own personal gain and not for the reforms that they claim to be their motivations for serving the public?

I know that our country is unique and I do not have any intention of it being patterned entirely upon US election scenarios, much as I admire those scenarios. It’s just that I hope our public servants would stop and think for a while and would really be sincere in what they want to accomplish for the country. I believe it would serve the voters more if we would be able to wisely decide who to vote for, not on the merits of the candidates personality, but on the merits of the reform his party advocates.

Another thing, it is easier to vote or select when one only has two options than when one is given a multitude of choices, right?