HOMOBONO A. ADAZA: On Presidential clashes in 2022

“And we are here as on darkling plain

Swept with confused alarms

Of struggle and flight

Where ignorant armies

Clash by night.” –From Dover Beach by

We live in a confused and confusing time. Everyone seems lost. No one appears to know what to do. Year 2022 is a bench mark year – election or no election. Why? There is hardly any choice – all candidates are discredited traditional politicians except one who filed his certificate of candidacy on October 8. So that is the sad situation with cascading tears that threatens not to end.

Rodrigo surprise: Before October 1, 2021, President Duterte declared he is running for Vice-President for so many reasons – from queer to irrational, personal to constitutional. But that is Rodrigo Duterte for you – queer like the owl. A few days ago, the queerest happened, he went to the Comelec accompanying his man Friday, Senator Christopher “Bong” Go and declaring he was no longer running for Vice-President. Instead, Duterte raised the hand of Bong Go who filed his candidacy for Vice-President – surprise of surprises! It even caught media and political experts flatfooted. I predicted he will not eventually run but not in this smashing sort of way.

Marcos declaration: A few days ago, Ferdinand ‘Bongbong” Marcos filed his certificate of candidacy for President in the May 2022 election. As usual, like other presidential candidates, he has not presented or identified any vice-presidential candidate as his running mate. Does he want to pull a surprise? It is no surprise for me if he does not run for President at all. For the moment, the Marcos and the Duterte families, I suspect, are still busy negotiating on who will run for President or they have already decided but they just want the propaganda mill going. It is good political tactic to keep the voters and their opponents on edge. This is the typical Rodrigo Duterte gimmick in the 2016 elections – I will run, I will not run but eventually he did run and the rest is history. Rodrigo and possibly Imelda want this trick repeated. It worked then, it can work again.

Possibly, it will work. It is next to impossible for Bongbong Marcos and Sara Duterte to run against each other – it’s simply insane. Why? This will disperse their forces. With them running together, it’s a blockbuster – a surefire formula for winning. It is formidable but not impregnable or invincible. Why formidable? The tandem has everything to win Philippine elections – money, power and machinery as well as influence. This enumeration is a repeat of what I have previously written on this page.

Money – they have the Marcos and Duterte billions. Power – they have the Comelec, military, police, teachers and the board of canvassers. Influence – they have the oligarchs who are like their marionettes plus the Solid North and the Solid North.

Who in the Opposition has these? Isambayan – you must be kidding. Vice-President Leni Robredo – she is an attractive and lovable woman. But beyond that – what has she go? You may say – the Bicol region. But that is not enough to win. You may tell me – some of the oligarchs discontented with Duterte and his administration. But that is not enough either. The people – they are as volatile as the weather and so unpredictable.

A joke: The 2022 elections have become a scandalous joke. Why? Never in the history of this country has ninety-seven (97) candidates filed to become President. This country has really sunk so low – thanks to Presidents Cory, Gloria, Erap, Noynoy and Digong. Now, even a security guard thinks he can do a better than President Digong in securing this country from invaders and rebels. A garbage collector thinks he can do better than Presidents in collecting the garbage of our leaders, oligarchs and our people. Susmariayjosep – Nakakahiya. I am appalled at being a citizen of this country. We are all guilty for what this country has become – for our collective indifference, cowardice and rotten concern only for ourselves and our families. Very despicable and lamentable! We should all be ashamed for what we have become.

The promises: I have listened to the presidential candidates, before and after filing their certificates of candidacy – from Senator Manny Pacquiao to Mayor Isko Moreno, Senator Ping Lacson to Former Senator Bongbong Marcos, Vice-President Leni Robredo to Senator Bato dela Rosa. They made the same promises and motherhood statements like other Presidents before and now. They are all traditional politicians – without exception.

Who is a traditional politician? One who believes in the present system – that all our problems can be solved within the system. All candidates for President and Vice-President for the May 2022 elections are true believers of the current system. They are operating within the box – nobody is thinking outside the box. The box is dark. It is good for the blind. In the kingdom of the blind – the one-eyed is king. No wonder we have Duterte and a chain of one-eyed kings and queens like Cory, Gloria, Erap, and Noynoy.

Need: If we must have a better life for ourselves and a country worthy for us, as a people – we need to change system. But before we can change the current system – we need a leader who thinks outside the box where there is light. With these as content of his thinking – revision of the Constitution which should be brief in form, broad in scope and clear in meaning; a political system that is federal in form with thirteen states and parliamentary system with a unicameral Parliament with only thirty-nine members, three from each state; a Prime Minister to be elected by the members of Parliament and who shall form a Cabinet composed of members of Parliament and exceptional individuals coming from outside of Parliament; a judicial system where all cases are finally decided within six months from the date of filing; a Supreme Court with only five members with jurisdiction on constitutionality, validity of treaties and death penalty only; an appeal system where cases from metropolitan courts can only be appealed to the regional trial courts; and original cases in the Regional Trial Courts can be appealed only to the Court of Appeals.

On the nature of the country and government – it should be lean and clean; a welfare state with those who have less in life should have more in law; nationalize all public utilities – on water, electric power, transportation, telecommunication; nationalize all schools to give free education from the elementary to colleges and universities; nationalize health services to provide free medical care; nationalize the manufacture of medicines and medical equipment; establish an automotive, air and marine industry; establish a nuclear arsenal as a deterrent not for purposes of aggression; acquire fast moving vessels armed with Exocet missiles; acquire a nuclear submarine armed with nuclear weapons; acquire the most modern aircrafts with the best fighting equipments; develop a mining industry for our uranium, titanium, deuterium, oil and gas; develop wind, solar and nuclear power to generate electricity; develop agriculture industry producing more rice, corn and high value crops and establish self-contained agricultural communities with parks, medical services, transportation and telecommunication facilities; solve the illegal drug problem in a year; eradicate the graft and corruption problem in three years; terminate the political dynasty in six months; re-orient the military and police as well as the bureaucracy; reorganize the bureaucracy to be lean, clean, efficient based on meritocracy; change the school curriculum with three years of primary education on reading, writing and arithmetic coupled with value formation, development of character and integrity and immersion into love of country; have three years of high school with courses on humanities, skills training, history and always loaded with having the right values, love of God, country and people; two years preparatory law, three years preparatory medicine; abolition of the bar examinations and adopt a system where there are only two law schools in every state except the National Capital Region which should have four with strict government control and supervision that those who fail in fifty percent of the subjects during the first semester should not be allowed to continue to study law, those who fail in twenty-five per cent of his subjects in the second semester should also be out of law school and those who fail in ten per cent of his subjects in two consecutive semesters should be out of law school; the same standards should apply to all other courses, including the military and police academies.

The main offices of the military commands and police shall be dispersed throughout the country – Army in Cagayan de Or City where the military academy for the Army will be located; Navy in Puerto Princesa City where the Naval Academy will be located; Air Force in Lapu Lapu City where the Air Force Academy will be located, and the Police Headquarters shall be in Iloilo City where the Police Academy will be located; the curriculum of these academies should be loaded with courses on proper values, development of character and integrity, love of God, country and fellow human beings.

On foreign policy – evolve a truly independent foreign policy where the country does not depend upon any other country ; develop the ASEAN into a powerful economic and military defense organization similar to the European Union; campaign for the abolition of the veto power in the UN Security Council with the caveat that if it is not done, we quit the UN and organize a UN of all non-aligned countries like what Prime Minister Jawaharhal Nehru of India did in 1956 at the Bandung Conference of non-aligned countries where some of the participants were the best and the brightest like then Senator Emmanuel “Maning” Pelaez and Foreign Minister Chou en Lai of the People’s Republic of China; move for the UN to have the power to enforce its decision and those of its agencies like the UN Arbitral Tribunal.

Organize and institutionalize weekly seminars in all barangays, subdivisions, public and private offices for at least two hours on love of country, duties of citizens and leaders, values, discipline, character and integrity, on cleanliness of the environment and on the Constitution and our laws and ordinances.

Also of paramount importance is the immediate and summary recovery of the Marcos billions and all-ill gotten of all others; prosecute, convict and jail all corrupt officials in government and private companies and institutions and confiscate all their properties; retrieve and recover all the Yamashita treasures and all other treasures; compensate all victims of criminals and government, and prosecute all crooks summarily. Decongest all prisons throughout the country and organize penal colonies for rehabilitation of criminals.

All these and more will be detailed in a new book entitled NEW HORIZON, NEW BEGINNINGS. Hopefully, it will be out before the end of December 2021.