2016 Philippine Election Getting More Exciting

By: Joe Mauricio

 

Afew months ago, we wrote that the 2016 Philippines national election looked to come down to BLOODY versus BORING. The presidential race would be bloody, half a dozen candidates scrapping for attention, trying to gain traction, and pounding each other. The administration candidates would be boring, the long and lone glide of the queen, it looked like.

Our December report? Different so far from before…it’s exciting! The Comelec (Commission on Election) Division had disqualified Grace Poe for reason of not being a natural-born citizen; Rodrigo Duterte, the Mayor of Davao, set fire to the joint, and ominous—a big, dark, soggy cloud threatening at any moment to burst–but leading a consderable portion of Visayas and Mindanao toward suicidal ideation.

Vice President Jejomar Binay’s campaign is just like “tea,” you never know how strong he is until he gets in hot water. But it has been noted that Binay is the only tea bag that brings hot water with him. There is always an air of corruption, he dodges the media, and trolls them.

The worst people on Planet Earth tend to recognize one overarching truth: how little, in the grand scope of things, they truly understand. Likewise, when telling voters of the Philippines that you are the right wrangler to steer a sprawling government that has morphed into ring circus, one would hope you’d at least fall victim to a mild panic attack or momentary urge to set your gin and tonic, heavy on the gin, or fire-watching yourself on TV news. Just to remind us that everyone’s gone crazy in a fun way.

Amid it all, there were certainly moments of substance–the best and most memorable segments belonged to Senator Miriam Santiago with Bong Bong Marcos, Grace Poe and Chiz Escudero, and believe it or not, Mayor Duterte. But the end of the night, one key impression seemed to cross the most partisan lines.

There were too many candidates on the stage. Like in Oklahoma, it was a complete goat rodeo, but without the junks and the fun.

Here’s good news as we roll into 2016…the presidential candidates will narrow down. The bad news is that hubris will not be in short supply.

When the Filipino people veer into a basket case territory, it usually stems from the attempt to increase its own size, scope, and control, while negotiating basic to-do’s. If a candidate seems to assume that he or she not only can but should take a crack at running that 16,000- ring government circus and maybe expand it by a few thousand more rings, LET THE VOTERS BEWARE.

Consider the amount of money that the Filipino taxpayers have to pay out for all the wrongdoings of their so-called politicians and lawmakers.

Millions have been spent on Senate hearings without positive results. The troublesome Senators Cayetano and Trillanes are now both campaigning for the second highest position of the country.

And VP Binay whom they have been trying to destroy all along is now ahead of the pack in the latest candidates’ survey. And Senator Chiz Escudero (running as Poe’s VP) is rumored to be abandoning Senator Poe after the Comelec disqualified her for not proving her natural birth issue.

Only in DA PILIPINS that the political scenarios are like the 16,000 ring circus, and always fun to watch, just like watching a real circus. ##

Merry Christmans and Happy New Year from the Rauner Family headed by Gov. Bruce and wife Diane and children Margaret, Matthew, Stephanie, Eric, Elizabeth & Matthew (Brewer), & Katie. Thanks much, Guv, from VT/CPRTV Staff!