“They are at it again.”
It is always interesting to know who the communists are supporting in any election. During the 2016 polls, it was very clear who the communists were supporting. They aligned themselves with the Liberal Party candidates of the late President Benigno Aquino III. These were Bayan Muna, Gabriela or the Makabayan bloc.
In this election, the Yellows have turned Pinkos, but the communists still keep their allegiance with the Yellows, obviously hoping that they can come to power. What is rather strange in this election is the fact that the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) and many priests and nuns have turned “Pinkos”, in favor of the presidential bid of Vice President Leni Robredo.
I have been trying to seek an explanation on why the CBCP is aligning itself with Robredo when the CBCP knows pretty well what the communists stand for. Obviously, to have power, hoping that they can manipulate Robredo if she wins in the May 9, 2022 polls. Or, is it because under Bongbong Marcos, the communists or the Yellows would be sidelined? It is very clear that this election is the last hurrah of the communist movement. It’s now or never, as far as the communists are concerned.
What is really interesting about the last effort of the communists to grab power is that it reminds me so much of way back 1972, when the late strongman President Ferdinand E. Marcos had to declare Martial Law because the communists were on the verge of grabbing power from the state when there were communists in every sector of the economy and civil society. The communists had infiltrated the academe, labor, the press and mass media, even the Catholic Church, Congress, and almost every sector of society. This compelled Marcos to declare Martial Law as the only way to break the backbone of the communist movement.
Now, the communists are at it again, using as a front the Makabayan bloc of Congress. Just how far can they go is anybody’s guess, which makes the May 9, 2022 election very crucial and very critical. It’s now up to the Filipino voters if they will allow the communists to grab power if they allow Robredo to become president, my gulay !
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As expected, the Bongbong-Sara tandem maintained its dominance over all presidential and vice-presidential aspirants in the February Pulse Asia survey, with Marcos retaining his 60 percent lead over all aspirants and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio improving her rating by 4 percent to 53 percent.
Note the dominance of Bongbong across national areas – 68 percent in Mindanao, 68 percent in the National Capital Region (NCR), the rest of Luzon by 58 percent, and 53 percent in the Visayas. Marcos was also the top choice in all socio-economic classes, especially in classes D and E, meaning the “masa”, and getting support of 60 percent in the D bracket and 58 percent in the E bracket.
Nobody came close to Marcos with Vice President Leni Robredo getting only 15 percent, with Manila Mayor Isko Moreno Domagoso at 10 percent, Senator Manny Pacquiao at 8 percent, and Senator Ping Lacson at only 2 percent.
The strategists and campaign managers of all those behind Bongbong have a lot to worry about, my gulay, with the latest Pulse Asia poll survey coming close to May 9, 2022 Election Day.
I have been asked: Where is Bongbong Marcos getting all his support, maintaining his commanding lead over all the other aspirants? Well, Marcos is still a name in the memory of a lot of Filipinos nationwide, as a strong leader especially among the Ilocano-speaking people nationwide. Santa Banana, would you believe that even in Maguindanao and Sultan Kudarat, there are Ilocano enclaves who still remember the name Marcos?
As for Bongbong’s team mate, Sara, she is equally very popular, having set up her own regional party, the Kilusan ng Pagbabago, KNP. The only vice presidential candidate who comes close to Sara is Senate President Tito Sotto. My gulay, just how those behind the BBM-Sara tandem will overcome the commanding lead of Marcos, and likewise the lead of Sara is a question difficult to answer.
With Sotto and others trailing behind Sara with her 53 percent lead, and with Sotto’s 24 percent, still the percentage points difference reflects the great divide between Sara and Sotto.
They may say that poll surveys do not mean the final score. This may be true, but as I have been saying, if the other aspirants still have their minds in the right place, they should be worried, very much worried.
According to my sources, there’s a last desperate effort on the part of some strategists and campaign managers of other presidential aspirants, like Vice President Leni Robredo, Isko Moreno, Senator Manny Pacquiao and Senator Ping Lacson to unite behind one presidential aspirant to overcome the commanding lead of Bongbong Marcos found by all poll surveys.
Santa Banana, this unity had been tried at the start of the campaign period, but to no avail for the simple reason that no one among Robredo, Moreno, Pacquiao and Lacson wanted to withdraw. Robredo had suggested that she be the only one to face Marcos. But nobody wanted to back out.
I can understand the refusal of all the other presidential aspirants to unite under one aspirant for the simple reason that even among those behind Bongbong Marcos, it would amount only to 35 percent among them, which is their total percentage. With Manila Mayor Isko Moreno at 10 percent, Pacquiao 8 percent, and Lacson with only 2 percent, that would amount to only 35 percent as against Marcos’ 60 percent of all those surveyed.
I am not counting the other presidential aspirants, which to my mind, are nuisance candidates, who, pardon me for saying it, are just out for the funds of it, soliciting contributions from friends and other sources and coming out winning at the end with contributed funds. In every election, these nuisance candidates end up winning with contributed funds.
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I don’t know why some sectors, especially mayors of the National Capital Region, are so much in a hurry to shift to Alert Level 0, with the campaign period of local candidates about to start. It means more political rallies and sorties, and personal campaigning and political activities. The only reason that comes to mind is that Metro Manila mayors believe the COVID-19 pandemic is ending.
Far from it!
Health experts have already warned that the sudden return to Alert Level 0 is just too soon. The World Health Organization (WHO) itself has warned the Philippines not to be lulled by the declining cases of COVID-19 because the pandemic is still not over. Surges are still possible, and we would be wasting everything we have gained by making a sudden jump to Alert Level 0.