Frankly we are not aware of Mayoralty candidate Karlo Nograles full line-up in any or all of the three districts in Davao City.
Even vice mayoralty candidate Dr. Bernie Al-ag, gauged from his recent sorties where most of the time his companions are candidates other than Karlo, it appears he is “distant” from his tandem.
But again we are somehow worried that Karlo’s lack of a complete line-up could further erode his chances of putting up a credible fight against now ICC-detained opponent former President Rodrigo R. Duterte.
Or, could it be possible that Karlo has set certain standards for Council aspirants for consideration into his official ticket?
The other possibility of course is that most aspirants desiring to have better chances of winning prefer to join or be identified with a potentially winning team. And those who decided to cast their lot for the Davao City Council find the team of the former city mayor and immediate past Philippine President Rodrigo R. Duterte the sure winner in the coming May 2025 polls.
Meanwhile, we will again reiterate our unsolicited suggestion to the Karlo Nograles Team to re-do or adjust accordingly the strategy it is using in the campaign for the city’s highest elective post.
It is common knowledge that Duterte’s detention at the ICC jail is gaining him more advantage because of the sympathy he is getting from various sectors of the city’s population as well as those from other parts of the country and the world.
Such strength however, without doubt, has also some weaknesses. And like miracles that are actually common occurrence but only seldom perceived, the weak area is right there at the very visible area of the entire political spectrum.
All the Nograles strategists have to do is review all recent interviews, statements, and actuations of the former President. And if they are observant enough they will be able to know where or what could be Duterte’s weak point.
It is in there that the Nograles team can hit hard without drawing hatred from the Duterte camp. After all it is the truth and the former President and mayoralty candidate of Davao City admitted it in words and in actions.
We therefore challenge the Nograles strategy developers to do as we have suggested and find for themselves the very perceivable weak area of the former President candidate for Mayor.
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Remember what we wrote here several columns back?
Yes, that was when the former President was arrested by our own policemen doing an errand from the International Criminal Court (ICC) through the International Police Organization (Interpol).
In that particular piece we said that if there are any evidence that could be hard to expunge by the former chief executive’s defense lawyers on his alleged crime against humanity, these were his statements made under oath during his attendance in the hearings on alleged extrajudicial killings perpetrated during the former chief executive’s bloody war on illegal drugs.
Two of his possible aggravating statements are, “I take full responsibility of all the killings” that were alleged to happen during the time of his war on illegal drugs, and that he ordered the police involved in operation against drug merchants to “encourage the suspects” to fight the policemen so they could acquire legitimate reason to kill them (the suspects).
We assumed that those statements were part of the transcript of the Senate and Lower House probes that may have been sent to the ICC by the complainants to further strengthen their case.
Meanwhile, in a recent media interview former Senior Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Antonio Carpio, said that for him the strongest evidence against the former President actually was provided by the former Chief Executive himself. And like what I wrote in my previous column the hard evidence were the statements of the former President made under oath during the Senate and House probes on the EJKs.
And those were his taking “full responsibility” and his “encourage the drug suspects to fight it out” with the police operatives so they will have reasons to kill them.
Knowing the former President as far as way back before he became vice mayor, later as mayor for several terms, as congressman and finally as President, he indeed is the epitome of what a shrewd and astute man is.
So it is our take that he is positive he could wiggle out from all other evidence and witness testimonies – if there are any allowed.
But as former associate justice Carpio said, Duterte may have provided the ICC the hardest-to-refute evidence against himself.
But of course his defense lawyers are not just any “Tom, Dick and Harry” plucked out from nowhere. There fees are not worth a fortune for nothing.
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