Pacman in the political ring

By Gerry Garcia

OUTgoing Gov. Victor Agbayani’s wifey Dr. Jamie Manzano will probably have Speaker JdV’s blessings as LAKAS-CMD’s standard bearer in Pangasinan… to the utter disappointment of VG Oscar Lambino, who naturally had expected to get Joe’s okay for him to run for the governorship, especially being Victor’s partner for 9 years and provincial co-chairman of the administration party and, further, by virtue of the party’s adopted principle of choosing candidates only among the incumbents.

But Governor Agbayani, being also LAKAS-CMD’s co-chairman, has the edge over him. Victor had just administered the oath of allegiance to additional new members of LAKAS-CMD– all converts from the Partido ng Masang Pilipino (PMP) of former Pres. Erap Estrada. These are: former 2nd Dist. Congressman Teddy Cruz who used to be PMP’s provincial chair. Mangatarem Mayor Nelson Cruz, Vice Mayor Gil Cuaresma, members of the municipal council, former Mayor Lamberto Cruz, Teddy and Nelson’s father, including Nelson’s father-in-law, Don Marcial Punzal. This has virtually left the PMP in Mangatarem, the 2nd congressional district and possibly the whole province leaderless and without any member at all.

It’s now one’s guess as to whichever of the two–Jamie and Oscar — will get LAKAS-CMD honcho JdV’s sanction to run as the party’s standard bearer here in the coming May elections.

* * * *

What  formerly seemed like a nightmare to sober-minded members of the Pangasinan electorate has now become a shocking reality: The country’s very  promising  boxing icon Manny Pacquiao at  age 28 is now in the political ring to fight for a congress seat for Cotabato’s first district.

Manny “Pacman”, certainly not more or less gullible than the late FPJ, finally took the bait.

And like FPJ, the reluctant Opposition bet who met untimely and unexpected death while they were counting or not counting his votes, Manny who says his ambition was the serve the poor, will soon find himself in a complicated and unfriendly world- the world of Pinoy politics. Hardly knowing anything about governance, he will be told, or to be more precise, dictated on what to do. Doing what he is told to do would be easier. Doing what he would like to do is no easier, though, because he would not know how to do it.

(For past columns, click http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/category/opinion/here-and-there/)

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