Ever since Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. took the lead in the latest surveys for the vice presidential derby, his rivals have been ganging up on him. From what they have been saying against Bongbong, it looks like they ran out of arguments to sustain their respective candidacies, and they are left with no other recourse but to brand Bongbong a continuation of the strongman administration of his father, President Ferdinand Marcos, In doing so, however, they conveniently omit any mention of their own political sins and shortcomings.
Take for instance Chiz Escudero, who said that opposing Bongbong will prevent a repetition of the abusive regime of President Marcos.
Really? Escudero forgot that his late father, Salvador Escudero, was part of that regime he considers abusive. His father was a Marcos minister and a rabid Marcos supporter even after Marcos stepped down as president in 1986. Up to his death, the elder Escudero continued to don the colors of the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL), the Marcos political party, on whatever he wears.
Chiz Escudero conveniently forgot to mention that he is a member of the Nationalist People’s Coalition, the political party of Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco Jr., one of the most loyal allies of President Marcos, and the KBL leader in Central Luzon during the martial law era.
If Chiz Escudero considers the Marcos regime as abusive, then he has indicted his own father and the NPC. This shows he is politically dishonest about his criticism of Bongbong, and he probably thinks voters can be won by his patronizing speeches. Truth to tell, Escudero is a Marcos beneficiary who now conveniently attacks the Marcos name because he thinks its the popular thing to do. No wonder many journalists consider Chiz Escudero a slimy politician.
Antonio Trillanes IV is just as objectionable. Nothing important can be attributable to him as a senator, despite the numerous consultants he has in his office payroll. Although Trillanes wants to project the image of an upright government official, he abuses the perks of office because the number of his consultants exceed that which is allowed by law.
When he was still a soldier, Trillanes took an oath to defend the Constitution. Trillanes violated that oath when he joined the infamous mutiny in Makati purportedly organized by Senator Gregorio Honasan, another military adventurist who is himself running for vice president. Under the statute books, what Trillanes did is treason. Being so, he has no moral ground to run for vice president. The fact that Trillanes doesn’t even have a presidential candidate running with him already speaks much about him.
Even if Honasan is also a mutineer like Trillanes, Honasan has less faults than Trillanes. At least, Honasan does not hire too many consultants at public expense.
Alan Peter Cayetano used to be the nice guy in the list of vice presidential candidates, until he decided to join the collective bashing of Bongbong. Like Bongbong (and Trillanes for that matter), Cayetano belongs to the Nacionalista Party.
Why is the NP fielding three opposing candidates for vice president? Perhaps the NP leadership under Manny Villar thinks that the multi-party system obtaining in the Constitution also means multi-candidates for the same elective office.
Anyway, as partymates in the NP, Cayetano and Bongbong are supposed to share ideals and principles, and are not supposed to criticize each other as they would their other opponents. By attacking Bongbong, Cayetano not only criticized his affiliation with the NP but criticized himself as well. After all, why should Cayetano remain a member of the NP if the NP has objectionable members like Bongbong? Why doesn’t Cayetano follow the example of Senator Aquilino Pimentel III? Because Pimentel believed that Senator Migs Zubiri cheated him (Pimentel) in a previous election, Pimentel refused to remain a member of the political party supporting Zubiri.
Leni Robredo, the administration candidate for vice president, has not been as vocal against Marcos as the others are, but she is still part of the anti-Bongbong cabal. As the anointed candidate of Malacañang, Leni is expected to do her share of the Marcos-bashing required by President Benigno Aquino III. Her being a widow and her occasional use of the public bus to go to Bicol and back are insufficient credentials for seeking the second highest elective office in the land.
Despite being a virtual neophyte in elective public office, Robredo accepted the vice presidential draft under the administration party, even if she was only the second choice (after Grace Poe refused to settle for anything less than the presidency). Since Robredo lacks the political experience needed for high elective office, and considering that running under the administration party means being supported by a well-oiled national campaign machinery backed up by an endless source of campaign funds, critics accuse Robredo of being a political opportunist. It’s like getting elected vice president (a heartbeat away from the presidency) at the expense of the taxpayers. By golly, that’s a deal other candidates for high public office can only dream of.
It was reported in the news that Samasa and Tugon, two former rival but now-defunct student political parties in the University of the Philippines in Diliman, have joined forces to oppose Bongbong. Big deal! Like Escudero, these two groups pretended to be anti-Marcos but ended up otherwise. In the 1980s, many Samasa alumni worked for Marcos allies like Ismael Mathay Jr. and Edgardo Angara. The following decade, many Tugon alumni joined Manny Villar’s NP, which campaigned for Bongbong when he ran for the Senate. Good grief!
Just recently, an anti-Marcos group accused Bongbong of graft, allegedly committed about a year ago. Why do they make these accusations now that Bongbong leads in the surveys? Obviously, this surprise move is politically motivated and designed to embarrass Bongbong and make him slide down in the surveys.
These are certainly desperate times for Escudero, Trillanes and their kind, and desperate times call for desperate measures.