By Gonzalo Duque

 

WE had Mayor Belen as our guest during our podcast The Punching Duo last May 17.

Ermin and I observed that Mayor Belen is now a picture of a relaxed public servant, having won by a margin of more than 40,000 votes.

Indeed, she can now stay comfortable until the start of her next term, together with other winners of the last election in Dagupan, on June 30 this year.

She will have a lot of things to do and undo during her second term of office.

But this time, she has been given the opportunity and privilege by the Dagupan electorate to accomplish her UnliSerbisyo programs on health, education, sports, infrastructure, social welfare, environment, etc., with the support of her allies in the city council.

She will have to prove that the margin of some 40,000 votes and the election of nine out of 10 allied councilors for the Sanggunian, plus Vice Mayor Bryan Kua, were a well-deserved victory. This, I think, is preparatory to the 2028 elections.

I am sure that Celia, Brian and their cohorts will take another chance during the presidential election of 2028 under the ticket of Vice President Sara Duterte, otherwise, the VP will not have candidates in Dagupan.

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The last senatorial election can easily tell us that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will now become a lame duck president.

But, who will the group of President Marcos support in 2028?  That is a $40 question.

Well, Martin Romualdez, the president’s cousin, is still salivating to succeed as president of our republic.

A third force is now emerging with the election of Bam Aquino and Kiko Pangilinan, plus Riza Hontiveros of the Akbayan Partylist, Leila de Lima, Chel  Diokno and some other remnants of the once powerful Liberal Party during PNoy’s presidency.

Let me digress for a while by recalling that during the time of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who as VP succeeded the presidency when Erap Estrada was deposed by People Power 2, she was really serious in not running for the presidency.

But when the likes of FPJ and some other candidates filed their respective certificates of candidacy, Gloria was reportedly called by Cardinal Sin and was persuaded to run for the presidency.

Cardinal Sin, according to my source, had to do this because the others who filed their COCs were not palatable to the Catholic Church. So, Gloria was finally persuaded to run. 

This matter was revealed to me by a close associate of Gloria who once occupied a sensitive position in government during her term.

Now, going back to the questions on who will be the standard bearer of the opposition in the next election of 2028, I believe that history will repeat itself, that Bam Aquino will be asked by the Catholic Church too to run for president.

Maybe, Riza Hontiversos will settle for the vice presidency, using the same formula as that of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s. 

Well, Bam Aquino qualifies because he is academically prepared, given that he graduated summa cum laude from the Ateneo de Manila University and has already served as senator.

He will be a perfect candidate of the Americans or a pro-American candidate, called Amboy. 

In this game going to 2028, Archbishop Villegas will play a pivotal role.

But I will not be surprised if First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, a first cousin of Mar Roxas, will vote for Bam Aquino, secretly or otherwise.

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Ermin and I agreed to reschedule our podcast every Monday at 10:30 a.m. via the  Zoom platform, instead of its original schedule every Saturday at 10:30 a.m.

This arrangement has been made to allow Ermin to invite guests from Manila.

As for me, we can invite guests from the local community.

By the way, our next guest on May 26 is Vice Mayor BK Kua, and it will be Councilor Mike Fernandez, who topped the council’s race, a week later.

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