"Between Robredo and Trillanes, who should make the ultimate sacrifice?"
A recent development has contravened the only one-presidential-candidate imperative for the opposition in the 2022 elections. It has thereby placed in jeopardy its chances at defeating the candidate of President Rodrigo Duterte’s party, the PDP-Laban. I refer to former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV’s announcement that he will seek election as president of the Philippines next May.
Although she continues to say that she is still in the process of deciding whether to run for president in the coming election, the general expectation is that Vice President Leni Robredo will eventually throw her hat into the presidential ring. When she does, there will be more than one opposition candidate for president.
That is one candidate too many. It is a formula for disaster.
If he believed that the nation’s number 2 official would eventually announce her candidacy, Mr. Trillanes, in making his move, disregarded the lesson imparted by the 2016 presidential election, when two leaders of the opposition—Senators Mar Roxas and Grace Poe—ran for the top spot. Intense efforts were made by their fellow opposition leaders for either Mr. Roxas or Ms. Poe to give up his/her candidacy and run as a tandem. The efforts were unsuccessful, and both Roxas and Poe, believing their victory prospects were very good, maintained their candidacies. Had they joined forces, one of them would have received a plurality of the total votes cast and Rodrigo Duterte would not have scored his shocking, come-from-behind victory.
If both Robredo and Trillanes were to run for president, there is an excellent chance that history would repeat itself and victory would go to some other candidate.
Such a repetition must be avoided at all costs.
Mr. Trillanes has a strong claim to being the opposition’s standard bearer in 2022. From Day One of his presidency—nay, since the 2016 electoral season—the former senator has been a thorn in the side of Duterte. He has been an unceasing critic of Mr. Duterte, and he has never stopped accusing the former Davao City Mayor of corruption. Truly, Mr. Trillanes has been doing yeoman’s work for an opposition whose ranks have been severely depleted by the desertion of opportunists.
But the titular head of the opposition is still Vice President Robredo. She was the No. 1 Liberal Party winner in the 2016 election, emerging victorious while her running mate, Roxas, went down in defeat. Not even the enormous financial resources of opponent Ferdinand Marcos Jr. could defeat Robredo.
In her firm and steady way, Robredo has been the opposition’s good leader during the last five years. She has the best claim to be the opposition’s standard bearer.
Robredo and Trillanes cannot both run for president next year. The opposition must field only one presidential candidate. Anything else is a formula for disaster.
A sacrifice of ambition will have to be made for the achievement of opposition victory in next year’s election. Should the sacrifice be made by Robredo? I think not.The sacrifice should be made by Trillanes—unless the dashing former senator does not believe in history and the lessons it bears.