Just as I predicted, after it became known that presidential daughter and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte Carpio and Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos (on behalf of her mother, former First Lady Imelda Marcos) were behind the ouster of former Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez and the installation of Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo as Speaker, national parties and local groupings would gravitate toward Sara’s Hugpong ng Pagbabago.
At least three national political parties and six local groups have forged an alliance with Hugpong. This includes the Nacionalista Party, the Nationalist People’s Coalition, the National Unity Party as well as the local groups of Serbisyo Bayan party (Quezon City), Alyansa Bols-sano Alang sa Kausaban (Bohol) and Aggrupation of Party for Progress (Zamboanga del Norte).
This means that aside from the ruling PDP-Laban, this alliance has become a major national political party, There are expectations that it will eventually become a national party alliance.
As such, the nine-party alliance can now field their own senatorial slate and local candidates for 2019 with Imee Marcos heading that ticket together with the group of Senate reelectionists Cynthia Villar, Grace Poe, Nancy Binay and JV Ejercito, together with returning senatorial bet Pia Cayetano.
My gulay, even reelectionist Senator Koko Pimentel could be included if the PDP-Laban chooses to align itself with Sara’s group.
I say outright that this nine-party alliance is the party to watch.
Indeed, politics is the art of the possible.
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Being in public service, you can only end up frustrated.
It really is a thankless job and if you are a person of honesty and integrity, you may feel you just wasted your time. It’s worse if you are an idealist, wanting to make a difference and then seeing that everybody else is stealing.
I have known government officials leaving their posts penniless because they could no longer stand the stench of corruption.
They tell me what they learned: That if you are not a “team player,” you will be harassed with suits or fall victim to “whistleblowers.”
In other words, public service is not for idealists. This is why I never held a government office.
I remember when an official in one of the government commissions sought my advice because there was infighting among her colleagues. I told her she should get out of government and move to the private sector. I have lost track of her and don’t know whether she indeed got out of government.
Sure, there are exceptions—those who have enough money and fortitude to avoid corruption. But these are exactly that—exceptions.
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It is becoming clear that the debate on Charter change to effect a shift from the unitary to federal form of government is dooming the proposal.
How can there be Charter change when senators are united in opposing it? How can federalism push through when millions of Filipinos are clueless about it?
Most of all, how can it happen when the country’s economic managers are now speaking out against the risks of shifting into the federal form?
I asked some friends in the business sector what they thought, and they told me they have no idea how federalism would affect their trade.
A property developer, for instance, expressed fears over the planned 18 federated states with their own policies, rules and regulations. Instead of dealing with only one government, businesspeople now have to deal with many.
If the President is listening, people feel that we are not ready for federalism. Perhaps sometime in the future, when people are more informed, we can make a serious go for it.
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Somebody asked me if the Bureau of Customs can ever change. Most recently, some P7 billion worth of shabu was able to slip through its watch. Can you imagine how much more is being smuggled without us knowing about it?
I have given up suggesting what to do about Customs. I covered it for many years when I was business editor for the Philippines Herald. I know that smugglers would not be as brazen if they did not know people inside Customs.
We have done so many things to end corruption and smuggling. We have tried importing technical knowledge, to no avail.
I know that privatization is a draconian remedy, but something has to be done. If this does not work, nothing will.
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President Duterte was quoted as saying he hates gambling casinos.
If that is true, why did Pagcor grant the Landing—Nayong Pilipino gambling casino a five-year provisional license to operate?
Why not stop all the gambling casinos operating at Entertainment City?
Lastly, why not just abolish Pagcor?
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If my column is short, unlike other opinion pieces that are kilometric aimed to display how erudite and learned the authors are, it is because I know that the attention span of readers is only five minutes. I write to be understood, period.
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