Think about it
The PM race
By Jun Velasco
WE saw a thread of heroism in former Chief Justice Hilario Davide, at least, in the way he interprets our national hero Jose Rizal’s life and thoughts, which makes him an ideal spokesman of the hero: his thoughtful nature.
In an informal huddle at the Social Security System auditorium last Tuesday, the country’s ambassador-elect to the United Nations (vice Lauro Baja, who will, reports say, take the Foreign Affairs portfolio) was himself even in small “chismis,”so that when we whispered that he was the dark horse for Prime Minister, he laughed the loudest.
Some say that his appointment to the UN was intended to get him near Washington or Pentagon which will surely have a say in the election (or selection?) of the Philippine PM after.
We think otherwise. The UN post is “kicking him upstairs” because he is becoming mabango locally, which should naturally disturb the other key players including PGMA, former President Fidel Ramos and the irrepressible JdV who is busy organizing an Asian parliament.
The rumor mill has added the names of Mayor Sonny Belmonte, Senator Ed Angara and Senator Manny Villar in the PM politics.
We feel JdV is most “at home” in this game which is all-too-familiar with him because he is the author of the entire charter change and unicameral caboodle, barring last-minute reversal by the Supreme Court of Cha-Cha’s constitutionality.
Back to Justice Davide who at press time is also being groomed to be the next supreme commander of the Knights of Rizal. We thought Davide, lawyer Alfie Bince’s classmate at the University of the Philippines, was too decent to be dragged into a free-wheeling type of politics, although we know him to be the foremost persona behind the formation of the Pusyon Bisaya.
Let’s watch and see because his new public image is shifting as a regular guy tailor-fit for a rough and tumble game.
These Manila watchers are agreed on one thing: there will be Charter Change but there will be elections. There are still those who equate Charter Change with a no-el scenario, but the public sentiment favoring the holding of elections is just too pervasive to be ignored.
You see the proof of it everywhere. For how explain the frequent visits of the speaker in the fourth district, the increasing visibility of Mayor Benjie Lim and most political players—candidates or kibitzers everywhere. Congressional aspirant Rachel Arenas is trying to outpace Mayor Leo de Vera and Jun Tulagan in public fora in the 3rd district.
Matira ang matibay, eh, Gons?
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