A strong opponent
By Farah G. Decano
THE absence of a strong political opponent makes elected powerful leaders prone to abusive and corrupt practices. No one or very few would dare to defy and expose them in order to keep their actions in check. If someone musters the courage to refuse blind submission to them, then he or she may be slapped with dismissal, made-up charges, threats to family security, or worse, the loss of life.
To be a formidable political rival is not as simple as being a loud woke street activist. If the contrary was true, then the members of the Makabayan group in Congress should have been a very powerful bloc a long time ago. Yet, they are not among those whose voices matter until recently. They now have a good amount of support from the majority because their votes could help the cause of the one who truly possesses the influence and authority in Congress – the Speaker.
Speaker Martin Romualdez wields, without doubt, great control and influence over elected officials. He owns the invisible hand that directs the course of the House of Representatives. He is so savvy with his political moves that he does not find himself embroiled in any media confrontation with anyone even if many issues beset him.
The House of Representatives leader chooses the intelligentsia in Congress to support his plans. For example, he appointed Marikina Representative Stella A. Quimbo, my summa cum laude batchmate at the UP School of Economics, as Vice Chair of the Committee on Appropriation. He also picked Representative Jinky Luistro to become a member of the Quad Committee investigating the Philippine Offshore Gaming Office (POGO). He also knows how to return favors by rewarding his allies with large fund allocations for their respective districts as seen in the National Budget. I also heard that he helped an incumbent Pangasinan ally by dissuading the latter’s rival from filing his candidacy. Marunong mag-alaga ng kaalyado.
Who is Speaker Romualdez’s, strong political rival? The person most persecuted in Congress right now – Vice President Sara Duterte. The public believes that both have presidential ambitions and are most likely to be rivals in 2028.
Had Speaker Romualdez been weak in solidifying his forces in Congress, the representatives will not dare, most likely, antagonize the very popular and equally powerful, VP Sara. No one perhaps would use the Commission on Audit (COA) report on the confidential funds to pin down the daughter of former President Rodrigo Duterte.
I am sure that the COA had made previous findings on doubtful expenditures by some officials but the House of Representatives did not just make a brouhaha over the same – either no opponent was interested or no one was gutsy enough to make a fuss over it.
As regards VP Sara, she must have been so used to being politically unchallenged in Davao City. Her word was law for more than a decade there. She probably felt that there was no need to wisely cover her tracks because no one would venture to question her transactions and behaviour anyway.
Unfortunately for her, she recklessly exhibited the same unmindfulness as she performed her duties as Vice President and Secretary of the Department of Education. In 2022, she spent 125 million pesos in eleven days. Now, she could hardly justify or liquidate the amount. The receipts she submitted to COA are now suspected by some congressmen as falsified. She forgot that the Philippines is not Davao City – that she has a tough rival in the offing who is eyeing her downfall.
If only she knew that Speaker Romualdez would be dead serious in scrutinizing her 2022 confidential funds, then she would have been more careful with her public fund spending and its documentation. Perhaps, no funds would be suspected of going to waste.
It is always for the benefit of the people to have a healthy political rivalry in government because opponents of equal power and influence become the watchdogs of our liberties and resources.
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