HOMOBONO A. ADAZA: Fearless forecast – VP Leni Robredo, Sara Duterte will be elected President and Vice President

“Trust no future however pleasant

Let the dead past bury its dead

Act, act in the living present

Heart within and God oe’rhead.”

-From A Psalm of Life

By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

I am not an opinion survey expert. I have been out of electoral politics for several decades now. But I am a keen observer of political developments in this country – both electoral and non-electoral. I have written a lot of books on Philippine politics – published domestically and a number published abroad.

Getting tired is not one of my habits or inclination. I have done battle under the most difficult circumstances – during the most written about Marcos de jure dictatorship under martial law. Despite lack of money and organizational support, I got elected as one of two Opposition provincial governors out of seventy-three provincial governors in the country, under the banner of my political party, the Mindanao Alliance (MA).

MA was the first regional political party organized in the Philippines in response to the challenge of President Marcos in 1977 to the Opposition to participate in the first national legislative election in 1978 since the declaration of martial law. Leaders of the national Opposition parties initially decided to boycott the elections – men like former President Diosdado Macapagal, Senators Salavador and Sotero Laurel, Lorenzo Tañada, Benigno Aquino, Jr., Eva Estrada Kalaw and Speaker Jose B. Laurel, Jr on the theory that participation in the elections would legitimize Marcos. All of them former holders of public office – for reasons that their terms have expired or they were abolished by the declaration of martial law.

Misamis Oriental: It is understandable why the province of Misamis Oriental was the first to respond to the Marcos challenge. The province elected one of the most brilliant Congressman, Senator and Vice-President rolled into one – Emmanuel Neri Pelaez, brilliant, handsome and articulate. Had he beaten Ferdinand Marcos in the 1965 Nacionalista Party convention, the country would have avoided the blight of martial law and the country would have been a thousand times better. But that is the name of the game – delegates, many of whom were money oriented, decided on who should be the presidential nominee and Marcos was it.

Misamis Oriental was one of the few provinces in the country which voted for Senator Claro M. Recto for President – probably the most qualified candidate at that time and probably at any other time. It also voted outstanding trial lawyer Fausto Dugenio as the lone congressman in the country who got elected under the banner of Recto and Tañada’s Nationalist Citizen’s Party (NCP). Two Vice-Presidents come from Misamis Oriental, Pelaez and Teofisto Guingona.

No wonder it organized the first Opposition party against Marcos and it elected the only Opposition Provincial Governor from Mindanao and the Visayas in the first election of local officials during martial law in 1980.

Witness: The preceding discussion is necessary for the purpose of qualifying the witness. In law, when a trial lawyer presents a witness in court who is an expert, he must let the witness detail his qualifications before the court will allow him to continue testifying on the subject matter on which he is to testify. This is known as qualifying a witness.

I have to do this as there are a lot of young bloggers who speak with authority on the history of this country and argue with bravado why a presidential candidate will be elected President as he is way ahead in the polls.They continue blabbering even if they have neither the resume or experience on the subject. In plain and simple language, they are incompetent to speak on the matter to the point if ignorance and stupidity.

These enrage me having been a practicing trial lawyer for more than forty years, taught Political and Constitutional Law, held positions of Provincial Governor, Member of Parliament, Commissioner of Immigration and Deportation, yet I don’t harangue people, unlike these bloggers who bombard people with their incompetence, ignorance and stupidities

Presidential candidates: It is quite obvious that VP LENI ROBREDO towers above all the other presidential contenders. She is a dedicated public servant. She has an open mind to worthwhile suggestions. She cannot be intimidated by political rascals like President Duterte. Her heart goes to the poor and downtrodden. She means what she says and says what she means. She is a woman of action better than all other presidential candidates who are men.

All presidential candidates are traditional politicians just like VP Leni. So what makes the difference is the personal element. On that score she leads all of them.

Contrasts: The rest of the presidential candidates worth considering are outstanding in their lack of character. They lack dedication to their public duties but they are so dedicated to their parade of women. All of them have extra baggage from their past – Senator Ping Lacson has the Kuratong Baleleng rubout, Rosebud charge on illegal drugs, notorious record of torture and disappearances of Metrocom; Former Senator Bongbong Marcos has a conviction for non-payment of taxes which is a crime involving moral turpitude, scandalously claiming that he has a college degree from Oxford University, being characterized by President Duterte as a weak leader, spoiled child of a rich and powerful family, and no less than his father, President Marcos, is reported to have characterized him as a child without direction and a non-achiever; Mayor Isko Moreno Domagoso, a known bold star together with everything that comes with it, a known casino gambler, reported to live luxuriously not consistent with his claimed poor origin; Senator Manny Pacquiao has obvious lack of intellectual training which will shame the country if elected President.

VP Leni is a lawyer with a degree in economics from no less than the University of the Philippines. Bong Marcos, Ping Lacson, Isko Moreno, and Manny Pacquiao are neither lawyers nor economists. There is a gap of a stellar parallax between VP Leni and the rest of the gang.

Why VP Leni: The only challenger to VP Leni is the so-called front runner – Bongbong Marcos dubbed as BB M which means Baby Marcos as he is just a baby compared to his brilliant and accomplished father, President Marcos. Look at the tale of the tape.

Qualifications VP LENI BBM

Academics Excellent Poor

Character Very good Poor

Dedication to service Exemplary Poor

Work ethic Exemplary Poor

Capacity

for telling the truth Excellent Poor

Criminal record None Convicted

Capacity for false claims None Excellent

Courage Exemplary Poor

Ability to debate Very good Poor

Plan of action Very good Imaginary

Record of performance Very good Poor

The tale of the tape is like a picture which tells a thousand words – VP Leni is a giant while BB M is a pygmy. If BB M did not participate in presidential debates on the claim that they were loaded against him, what kind of a President will he be?

In the vice-presidential race BB M lost to VP Leni? How does BB M expect to win this time when criticisms are mounting like tidal waves with every passing day against him and his family?? Organizers of Isko Morwno and Ping Lacson have flipped over to VP Leeni which is the wise, intelligent and right thing to do for anyone concerned with this country and our people. People from all walks of life are shouting their heads off for LENI and courageously hanging banners in their residences of LENI.

Options and fearless forecast: If presidential candidates like Ping Lacson, Manny Pacquiao and Isko Moreno love this country and our people – the right, honest and intelligent thing to do is to withdraw and endorse VP Leni Robredo for President. That will finish BB M for good. That is what PR D calls as the time for reckoning coming to pass with a lot of glory for the country and our people.

In takes a lot of ignorance, incompetence and stupidity to vote for BBM for President.

To use the current street lingo – I am not a dilawan, a Marcos loyalist or a Dutertista, I am for God, country and our people. To those who believe in my intelligence in making the correct, proper amd intelligent choice – vote for VP LENI ROBREDO for President and MAYOR SARA DUTERTE for Vice-President. They are the best of the lot.

In a clean and honest election, LENI and SARA will be elected President and Vice-President, respectively. Only President Duterte and SMARTMATIC can prevent that from happening. If they do that – HELL is likely to break loose and let the chips fall where they may.