By Al S. Mendoza

 

TO our four losing presidential bets, what now, fellas?

Ping Lacson said he would retire after having spent almost half a century of his life as a public servant—mostly as senator of the republic.

Ping was the only one among the 10 presidential hopefuls who targeted the Malacanang Palace twice—and lost both times.

First was in 2004, the year Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (GMA) officially took the mandatory six-year presidential term after serving as President in the remaining three years after Erap Estrada was deposed as chief executive in the Edsa 2 People Power revolt in 2001.

Ping had bitter memories in his first defeat, foremost of which was the belief by many that Fernando Poe Jr. could have won had Ping not run for president.

It had been generally regarded then that Ping’s votes could have gone to FPJ and been more than enough to overhaul GMA’s lead in the final tally.

This is not to include the supposed one million votes allegedly stolen in Mindanao by GMA through the infamous “Hello

Garci” telephone call scandal masterminded by GMA.

GMA gave in to mounting pressure and, in a humbling moment, she had to publicly say, “I am sorry.”

Not contented by that, Susan Roces, FPJ’s widow, went on TV after the 2004 election to accuse GMA:  “You have stolen the presidency not just once but twice!”

Roces, dubbed the queen of Philippine movies and the  adoptive mother of incumbent Sen. Grace Poe, died in her sleep on May 20 at the age of 80.

Ping finished fifth behind winner Bongbong Marcos, Leni Robredo, Manny Pacquiao and Isko Moreno.

Isko said he’d rest and then take stock of his political future, which could look bleak as he would need a lot of image rebuilding to regain his stature as a politician of substance.

I’d say Isko was a man in a hurry.

Drunk with the impact of his initial success as a maverick mayor of Manila, he became overly ambitious and aimed for the moon—prematurely.

Riding on the crest of his unprecedented popularity as mayor of a city synonymous to power, glitz and glamour, Isko just couldn’t wait, plunging himself into unfamiliar waters.

To his shock and utter dismay, his dream quickly vanished.

The nation wasn’t ready for someone so young and still wet behind the ears, so to speak.

He ended up being branded as all sound and all fury.  In short, all talk, no substance.

Had he waited a little longer, like, say, running for a second term as Manila mayor instead of gunning for the presidency this early, that would have given him more time to polish his style, to temper his bravado.

Turns out, Isko is now history.

Pacquiao is another one consumed by ambition.

He thought that his being a world boxing champion would catapult him to Malacanang.  He was massively mistaken, of course.

Now, his boxing’s billions in the bank must have been banged up a bit as a result of his defeat.

If he would fight in the ring again, it must only be against Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Sure money to replenish his reserves?

Suckers in boxing are born every minute.

Leni Robredo lost, yes, but of the four, she was the legitimate fighter, the rightful contender, the most prepared, admired challenger.

She may have lost but to many, she was the winner–of hearts and minds.

Bongbong may have posted a huge winning margin.  But against Leni, he merely survived.

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