It’s plastered all over! It’s treated as front-page news: VP Sara Duterte, Sen. Raffy Tulfo, and former VP Leni Robredo “as top three choices” among possible candidates in the 2028 presidential derby. This is according to a commissioned survey conducted by the Social Weather Stations and released early this week.
While it is absurd, because the next presidential election is still five years from now and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has hardly warmed his seat in Malacañang, I find it interesting and rib-tickling the way the results were presented.
The score sheet shows Sara with 28 percent, Raffy with 11 percent, and Leni with six percent. There were significant others with insignificant scores that made it to the list. They included boxer Manny Pacquiao, Sen. Imee Marcos, Rep. Sandro Marcos, ex-Mayor Isko Moreno, Sen. Robin Padilla, and even former president Rodrigo Duterte and the incumbent President Bongbong Marcos.
Combine all the percentages of those cited by the respondents to include that of Raffy and Leni, but remove those of FPRRD, PBBM, and Sandro as they are not qualified to run, the numbers will still show Sara’s dominance.
Seemingly intriguing is the absence of House Speaker Martin Romualdez from the list. The survey though was done from 15 to 18 April, before he reportedly had Lakas-CMD chairman emeritus and former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo demoted from Senior Deputy Speaker, which in turn prompted VP Inday Sara to quit the party following what she described as toxic politics and an execrable power play.
Considering Romualdez’s not-so-well-kept secret presidential ambition and his incumbent position as House Speaker, he would have been on the radar of survey respondents. His body language and recent business acquisitions, among them, buying out the majority shares of ABS-CBN Teleradyo and partnering with the Lopezes, make Romualdez the most prepared politician gunning for the presidency. But voter sentiment matters and for now Inday Sara, despite being tight-lipped about her political plans, is still the preferred political leader after Marcos.
What prompted Speaker Romualdez to bump off PGMA could only be part of his political plot to check on the loyalty of the members of the House of Representatives. However, he picked the wrong sacrificial pawn. Presidential sister Sen. Imee Marcos, his cousin, has demonstrated her preference for who she thinks should best succeed her brother and makes no qualms about kinship.
As the saying goes, “The ball is round.” Romualdez may not be in the consciousness of survey respondents for now but his rah-rah boys are beating the drums. His puppets in the House have come out strongly to his defense — image boosting and boasting. Rep. Pidiong Barzaga, for one, made the hilarious claim that Martin was the man behind the decision of Inday Sara to run for Vice President. Oh well, he got a mouthful from the VP who chastised him for telling a lie. The truth of the matter was that it was Senator Imee who convinced her.
While the timing of this survey is absurd, there is levity in it in that Leni with six percent is considered in the “top three.” That’s good for an ego massage but not for a presidential run.
Post Script: Congratulations to boss Willie Fernandez for the prestigious and grand journalism award from the Rotary Club of Manila. The Daily Tribune is “THE 2023 RCM PRO PATRIA JOURNALISM NEWSPAPER OF THE YEAR!”
Aside from a TROPHY, is a CITATION that reads:
“FOR ITS TRACK RECORD OF FEARLESS AND CONSISTENT EXPOSE’ OF ANOMALIES AND IRREGULARITIES BOTH IN THE PUBLIC AND PRIVATE DOMAIN, INVESTIGATING AND REPORTING FAIRLY AND TRUTHFULLY — ENABLING CITIZENS TO BE VIGILANT AND PARTICIPATORY IN PUBLIC AFFAIRS, MAKE COLLECTIVE CENSURE AND JUDGMENT TO INFLUENCE RESPONSIBLE ACTS AND SHAPE NATIONAL DISCIPLINE.”