IN A column we wrote a few days back we harped on the disadvantages of local candidates who are not aligned with the local government administration. While the piece was intended to pertain to all the opposition bets in the entire Philippines we were actually focused on candidates for elective LGU positions in Davao City as it is here that we are familiar with the current political situation.
We said then that those who are running outside the ambit of the ruling political party will likely be ignored when there are big celebrations and similar activities in the barangays. Now this situation is more overt with the elections barely six months away.
Yes, the midterm polls will still be in May of 2025 and the official period of campaigning is still far. However, the local administration-backed candidates from the mayor down to the last councilors appear to have all the freedom to move around their area of jurisdiction without fearing the risk of being charged with early campaigning.
They get invited to every major activity in the barangays especially when these villages are under the rule of officials who were backed by the home-grown party Hugpong sa Tawong Lungsod (HTL) when they ran for office. One such activity is the annual “Araw ng Barangay.” And we know of one such “Araw ng Barangay” a month back. The list of invited guests includes the City Mayor, the Vice Mayor, and all the councilors of the district where the barangay belongs. There were also private citizens and corporate officials of large establishments with plants located in thereat.
All the politician guests invited were made to deliver their speeches including the representatives of those councilors who did not come to attend for this and that reason. As a result, the “Áraw” celebration turned into a political rally where the invited elected officials or their representatives were asked to give their speeches.
The message of each invited official was all political speeches complete with promises of doing this or that project. Most re-electionists even talked about their supposed accomplishments including those that are still in the deepest recesses of their minds.
So, political rally-like are the latest barangay activities that even an aspirant for councilor under the HTL banner was introduced as “Councilor so and so. And the candidate? Well, he/she appeared to be so elated that he/she acted like a poll winner when the candidate strolled on the stage.
And it seems nobody cares about the contents of their speeches no one even talks about its being a violation of the early campaigning prohibition.
But of course that is the sad reality – the disadvantage of the opposition candidates is one major advantage of the candidates under the wings of the administration, be it local or national.
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The other day an impeachment case was submitted to the Lower House against Vice President Sara Duterte. No, it was not an action initiated by any member of the House of Representatives but by a combined personalities coming from various social organizations and government watchdogs.
The mixed personalities include running priest Robert Reyes, former Presidential Peace Adviser Ging Deles of the PNoy Aquino administration, and some members of the Makabayan Bloc. Former Sen. Leila De Lima was with the group when it went to Congress to have the impeachment complaint received by the House Secretary General.
Also with the group was Act Teacher Party-list Rep. France Castro. Like De Lima, Castro also claimed she was lending the impeachment filers her moral support.
Will the House be able to generate the needed number to support the impeachment case and have the same be transmitted to the Senate for final disposition by the members of the Upper Chamber acting as judges?
Assuming that the Lower House, some members of which felt “insulted” by the vice president’s demeanor when she was invited to attend Committee hearings on her confidential and intelligence funds, will be able to muster the needed affirmative votes to endorse the case to the Senate, will the Upper House convict the VP?
We are raising these questions since it is common knowledge that the Senate is composed mostly of lawmakers who won with the endorsement of former President Rodrigo Duterte. Hence, whether we like it or not most members have their “debt of gratitude” to the former President and father of VP Sara, the subject of the House impeachment process.
Frankly, we agree with some sectors that believe the filing of an impeachment case against the VP, not by any member of the lower House but by some personalities, could have been driven by some other motives.
Yes, there could be truth to claims that the initiators of the impeachment case against VP Sara could be out to create the thought that the Philippines is now in an era of political instability.
