“SIPAG AT TIYAGA” is Sen. Manny Villar’s campaign line, corrupted into “C-5 at Tiyaga” by critics who accuse him of “railroading” the C-5 project in Metro Manila so the road would pass by his property. Lakas-Kampi presidential bet Gilbert “Gibo” Teodoro’s line is “Galing at Talino.” It’s beginning to sound like “Gloria at Danding.”

Reports say leaders of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s Lakas-Kampi held top-level talks yesterday with officials of businessman Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco’s Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) for a possible alliance. Danding is a former crony of a Guinness “lister” for biggest loot and the Gloria administration is no slouch itself.

Sun.Star accepts donations for victims of Typhoon Ondoy

If the talks succeed, Gibo, the presidentiable without a vice president would end up pairing with NPC’s Loren Legarda, the vice-presidentiable without a president. That is if Loren won’t do a Chiz Escudero and bolt the party. Before talks of a “Gibo-Loren,” the rumor mill was about “Manny-Loren” and how Villar had been wooing the NPC stalwart.

In the battle of perceptions, which some say is what elections are about, will “Galing at Talino” prevail over “Gloria at Danding”? Being associated with the Arroyo administration is already damaging enough to any presidential campaign, how much more if the Cojuangco factor is added to the mix? Two words: coconut farmers.

Time, they say, heals wounds. In the case of Danding, time plus a good dose of revisionist history has done much to repair his image by juxtaposing the word “crony” with “businessman” and “sports patron.” He is also using politics to hold off legal moves against him. But those exploited and abused by the Marcos regime know the truth.

Gibo is the son of Mercedes Cojuangco-Teodoro, sister of Danding, which means that the latter is his uncle. Mercedes and Danding are cousins of Corazon Cojuangco-Aquino, mother of Liberal Party and leading presidentiable Noynoy Aquino. Gibo is thus Noynoy’s second cousin and Danding is Noynoy’s distant uncle.

Ergo, the Danding issue can also be pasted on Noynoy, right?

Wrong. Aside from Danding’s blood being thicker in Gibo than in Noynoy, the older Cojuangco had sins of either omission or commission that the Aquinos are conscious of. Danding was a major player in the Martial Law government that saw Ninoy’s incarceration and assassination.

The mastermind in the killing of Ninoy on Aug. 21, 1983 has not been pinpointed with certainty, but some of the military men accused of perpetrating the crime linked Danding to it. The Aquinos apparently do not buy that accusation but that does not make the relation between Noynoy and Danding any closer than that of Danding and Gibo.

Is “Galing at Talino” enough to hold off the backroom maneuvers of Teodoro’s patrons once he is in Malacañang (knock on wood)?

The Arroyo administration is not Gloria alone but includes the shadowy forces that will be there in a Gibo presidency, if ever.

Danding and the old cronies will be there, too. It will be Gloria redux, even worse.

The Democrats in the 2008 US presidential elections called the Republican’s candidate John McCain as “McBush” for a reason. The line was that voting for McCain would usher in the “third term” of the unpopular George W. Bush. That contributed much to McCain’s loss to Barack Obama. I say “Gloria at Danding” will be Gibo’s undoing.

(khanwens@yahoo.com/ my blog: cebuano.wordpress.com)