Phil Democracy & Its Elections: Peculiarities & What Else You Need to Know?

(This part is under development too)

Secretary Mar Roxas, who is running for the nation's top post, recently endorsed by relatively hugely popular and honest President Aquino, is a likely winner in the May 2016 national election. However, he has too many good things going favorably for him to have invited a lot of envy and apprehensions on the prospects of his rise to the post in this Southeast Asia's fastest growing economy. Unlike other aspirants, he doesn't claim to be any clean, he need not really, as he is, and as acknowledged by the people.

A Master's degree from a top Ivy League business school, a relatively blemish-free career in public service untainted by allegations of corruption, a scion of a billionaire clan & influential political family but who in his own right is also highly successful, a successful revamp of the Philippine National Police and big initial success in his new approach to fight crimes, a key figure in the Aquino administration, a person from whom President Aquino is politically indebted to, relatively young - all of these are perceived as threats to the systems of organized plunder of public resources by not a few entrenched political dynasties who want him lose the presidential election.

Vice President Binay is another one who declared his aim to win the coveted post too. He is burdened by allegations of high-crimes, but he remains relatively popular among segments of the masses who are more cynical about all of our public officials (its true across the cross-section of our society). Far majority of the masses and the very poor (more than 4/5th of the population) believe "All politicians are corrupt" or that "Majority of the politicians are corrupt" even in political jurisdictions where there is widespread fear about speaking up against the local officials who have the powers to get them harmed or silently persecuted. He fought against human rights violations and abuses of power by the government in the past, during the Marcos dictatorship.

Senator Grace Poe is a hugely popular candidate, the leading one right now. But we haven't measured the novelty effect on her popularity and to what extent the sympathy of the masses for his father will weigh in their decisions as to who to vote on election day middle of next year. Majority of the Filipino people among the classes C-E are sure her father won the presidency 2 presidential elections ago. Jesuit-educated (Boston College?) just like Roxas (Ateneo de Manila U), she too is rather untainted by allegations of corruption or abuse of power.

We predict her sliding down, meantime run for the vice presidency with Mar Roxas. She will eventually get the same mandate the majority of the Filipino voters gave her father, but which was never exercised as the election was stolen from him and the Filipino people, we're sure. But she should be wary of people near her or close to persons close to her who helped engineer and cover-up the stealing of the 2004 presidential election from her father. I'm not sure they're at sabotaging her chances or undermining her campaign the very treacherous way they tried to sabotaged the opposition's chances in 2004 (creating and keeping the wedge between Fernando Poe Jr. and Senator Lacson, one among many of their orchestrated acts as I have confirmed from a knowledgeable relative, who participated in one such operation.)

Senator Escudero is a very good bet for both the presidency and the vice presidency too, but he didn't make early preparations to organize a national campaign & explore alliances nationwide, indicating he's not bent on running this time, maybe. Or that his popularity and good relationships with kingmakers can make up for it in an instance. You lack the time, you buy time in effect by employing a great amount of resources in your campaign (large warchest of cash, purchase of necessary mass-media ad and PR slots, logistical support and all). He'll be president too, we guess.

Mayor Duterte of Davao City is a looming viable presidential candidate too. An effective executive, just like Mar Roxas, but relatively little is known about his person and kind of governance other than that he is extraordinary in his achievement of keeping the country's 3rd most populous metropolitan area as relatively very safe, no easy feat the fact that the city is located in the insurgency-troubled Mindanao in southern Philippines, the big island and the other major islands comprising roughly 1/3rd of the country's geographical area (and market) with both Muslim and Maoist-Communist insurgency groups. The city is also 2nd home - and leisure & shopping destination - to many of the island's warlords, big crime bosses, and their children and relatives.

His wisdom and no-nonsense thinking and approaches are needed in our national government too, but he needs to be more welcoming of suggestions and ideas not-aligned with his opinions and desired methods. The family commands a good level of respect of the majority of the in their constituency, and also silent fear among so many. In my 2004 hunger strike, we had a brief chat and I gave him a reading material he probably read during his flight, as he kept it in his hand as he boarded an aircraft. It's about large-scale seized-drugs recycling in the country then.


This is just a side topic...