DILIMAN WAY: Why Sara Duterte as Leni Robredo’s VP

“If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;

If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

And treat those two impostors just the same;

If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken

Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,

And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:”

-From IF by Rudyard Kipling

My post on my fearless forecast of a VP LENI ROBREDO win in the coming May 9, 2022 elections generated a lot of reactions – overwhelmingly pro Leni, a few from Marcos fanatics and a number of those who do not agree with my prediction that Mayor Sara will be elected Vice-President.

The comments showed the best and the worst of the Filipino – some very intelligent and knowledgeable, others fanatical and ignorant about facts and analysis, a number were unthinking and showed blind devotion to their choice but most were hopeful about the right judgment of the voters and faith in the future of this country.

On the whole, reading the comments is an exhilarating experience – the appreciation as well as the disagreement and denunciation. And I love going to my usual punch line – that is the law of life and part of the game. And I feel great to be alive and part of the continuing equation and the unending reminder of Ecclesiastes that for everything there is a season. Who knows – my season may yet come with it the bloom beyond the New Horizon.

Count: The political surveys get to be confusing – the paid ones which proclaim someone as the front runner giving the impression that the election for the presidency is over; the independent ones like Google which report a fifty-three (53%) percent for VP Leni and forty (40%) percent of her closest rival are ignored; and the exit polls of overseas voters in many countries in the Middle East, Europe and Asia show VP LENI clobbering the other contenders by more than a mile, yet local media do not report it But we are facing an election and people are shamelessly lying for money, interest and favors with no limits. Unless one examines very well the various factors of the game, one is likely to commit tragic mistakes at the expense of the people and the country.

Signs: More important than surveys are attendance in rallies and the reactions of the audiences in such rallies, the length of the motorcades and the reactions of those along the way of the motorcades, election banners displayed in residences and buildings showing the choice of those who own and live in those residences and buildings.

On the whole, there is great attendance of most of the rallies of VP LENI than those of her opponents. Their reactions are very enthusiastic compared to the rallies of the other presidential contenders. Some rallies of a contender who claims to lead the pack but seen to have doctored photographs and the ones who made the claim of doctored pictures have shown evidence to prove their claim. Two rallies at least of a leading contender have shown video clips of audiences leaving before he could deliver his speech. What does this mean? That they are inspired by him? Of course, not! They were just interested to hear the singers and see the entertainment provided by the BB M movie stars. And, of course, the money that came with it.

As they say, pictures say a thousand words. And these large and enthusiastic crowds say thousand words for VP Leni. The desertion from the BB M rallies also say a thousand words against Bongbong Marcos. Or in graphic Cebuano or Camiguingnon, Nabingbing si Bongbong Marcos o diba, gilaparo siya sa iyang kanhing sumusunod. In Cebuano or Camiguingnon – someone twisted BB M’s ears or he got slapped by his former followers. That is a thousand words for BB M.

Endorsements: VP Leni just got smashing endorsements from BARMM and KMU These mean a terrifying blow on the BB M front in Muslim Mindanao which will have reverberations in the rest of the Island and even the whole country This is a major crack in the loud BB M machine. Is this an unmistakable sign that Mindanaoans have taken PR D seriously when he characterized Bongbong Marcos as a “weak leader; a cocaine, illegal drug user; and a spoiled son of a rich and powerful family.”

This is one of the very few times that PR D is correct. In short, he characterizes BB M as unfit to be President. PR D is right. How can a weak leader, an illegal drug user, a convicted tax evader and spoiled son of a powerful and rich family be a good President and good for the country and our people? Tell that to PR D, the people and me.

We will be the laughing stock of our neighbors and the whole international community if BB M gets elected President.

Why the forecast: So many people characterize me as anti-Duterte. I am not anti-person. I do not like a dysfunctional President. I have no love for an unfit President. Hate? I don’t hate anyone because hate is self-destructive and no person in this planet is worthy for me to self-destruct. Moreover, I don’t suffer from stress of any kind. Like what a Newsweek columnist said, she does not suffer stress despite the pressure of numberless preoccupations, she gives stress to people. That is what I exactly do.

It does not bother me a bit if people wonder why I predicted Sara will win as Vice-President. Here’s why – wherever I go, Sara is a runaway choice; it is obvious she towers above any of her contenders in terms of performance as an executive; she has character which cannot be said of most of the other vice-presidential contenders; she has a smile that even an enemy can love; she means what she says and says what she means; she is a woman of action; she is focused on her work; she is committed to the people, especially the poor and downtrodden; she has demonstrated she has a mind of her own even against the wishes of her father; she is the daughter of PR D but she is thousand times better in many levels compared to her father who happens to be President of our country.

I need not say anything more. As they say, among lawyers. res ipsa loquitor – the thing speaks for itself.

Why: Having witnessed and worked for the installation of Cory Aquino and GMA as President of this country and witnessed cheating in presidential elections from the snap elections and many elections later, I have lost my desire to meaningfully participate in national elections. But we are at the crossroads and the continuing dangers to the life of this country, becoming more pronounced with the PR Duterte administration, I am compelled by my duty as a citizen to contribute whatever talent and experience to urge Filipinos make the correct choice of their leader in the next six years for the good of the country and for them.

After the tomfooleries of the Erap, GMA, Pnoy and the Duterte administrations, we need the touch of qualified women to return to sanity and care for the country and the people. We cannot afford the continuing drift and meandering of the country by a trial and error leadership. Otherwise, we may find ourselves in a never ending civil war or the country ending as a province of the Peoples Republic of China or back to the status of a colony of the United States of America. None of these possibilities are welcome.

Choice: We started with a fearless forecast based on our knowledge of current political events and of our experience and readings of political situations in the past here and in foreign countries. Are we correct in our analysis and forecast, only time will tell – with genuine results of a clean and honest election. Will there be one? Again, only time will tell.

As a citizen, I’m going beyond forecast, I want to announce my choice – it’s VP LENI ROBREDO for President and MAYOR SARA DUTERTE for Vice-President. We need her to check LENI and some of her dangerous advisers.

By the way: I am not a fun of Philippine elections considering they are still manipulated by the 3Gs – guns, gold and goons. The manipulation is even faster now with SMARTMATIC. Personally, I have nothing to gain with elections. I don’t expect anything from anyone, I met VP Leni twice – first in the House of Representatives when I was introduced to her by Congressman Douglas Hagedorn when she was still a Member of the House and the second when someone asked me to have a one and one conversation with her at her Quezon City office but which did not turn out to be a one conversation with Leni as her executive assistant present when she was already Vice-President.

I have never met Mayor Sara but my friends in Mindanao told me who is she and how she works for the people and what I see and read about her in television and the newspapers. As a trial lawyer for more than forty years and as student of history and politics, and as active witness and achiever in both, my knowledge of Sara is enough to make an intelligent choice.

Postscript: It really makes no difference to me personally who win the Presidency and Vice-Presidency. But if you are a citizen interested in what happens to the country and our people in the next six years, the intelligent and patriotic choice is VP LENI ROBREDO for President and Mayor Sara Duterte for Vice-President. The alternative is a catastrophe.