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Tuesday, September 30, 2003
Malilong: Arroyo to announce her candidacy on Oct. 6?
By Frank Malilong, Jr.
The Other Side
A visit to the Vatican was all it took for President Arroyo to discern what God’s plans are for her in 2004. If you will recall, the President, through her spokesman, said last week that she was seeking divine guidance on whether or not to run in next year’s elections.
Go, it’s all right to break your word. That must have been the message that she got from above because the latest I heard is that Mrs. Arroyo is turning back on her pledge, made on Dec. 30 last year, not to run. My source, who is very close to the First Couple, said the President is due to announce her candidacy on or before Oct. 6.
The President’s decision (if she does run) is not surprising. Her body language has changed markedly since the time she swore off partisan politics on Rizal Day last year. One wonders now whether she really meant what she said or if her disavowal was a spur-of-the-moment thing, the kind that is associated, albeit unfairly, with women.
What is certain, however, is that her announcement did not sit well with many of her political allies, some of whom stand to lose their perks the moment she leaves Malacañang. They must be ecstatic over the President’s change of heart.
Of course, running is not the same as winning even if you are the incumbent who has all the resources of the republic at your disposal. The President’s approval rating has dipped significantly in the aftermath of the Jose Pidal scandal.
While Sen. Ping Lacson has so far failed to directly lay his claim of graft and corruption right at Mrs. Arroyo’s doorstep, the alleged involvement of her husband is a weak and vulnerable spot that the opposition could exploit. The 2004 campaign can really test the President’s patience and tolerance to intrusion on her family’s private affairs.
If Mrs. Arroyo does run, Lakas congressmen supporting businessman Eduardo Cojuangco will have to rethink their own political plans. These congressmen had counted on Cojuangco becoming the administration coalition’s standard bearer.
But since Danding’s only option now appears to be the opposition, his backers in the ruling coalition will have to draw the line now. That will prove to be difficult for many of them but they have to deal with political realities.
There are other presidential wannabes in the opposition, of course, but only Cojuangco has the resources to match those of the administration candidate.
The opposition knows only too well that its only hope of winning lies in its being able to put up a unified ticket. Cojuangco may be lagging behind in the surveys but a one-on-one between him and Mrs. Arroyo can be a real slugfest, the outcome of which will be difficult to predict.
Meanwhile, at the local front, it is all systems go for Agriculture Undersecretary Junie Martinez. A source said Junie met with former president Fidel V. Ramos and former Cebu governor Lito Osmeña at the Marriott Hotel last week. I‘m sure they were there not to discuss the weather.
I spoke to one of Junie’s trusted lieutenants recently and he already spoke of his boss’s plans if he is elected governor. He said that one of Junie’s first acts would be to establish two modern hospitals in the province, one each in the south and the north.
They will create a sports academy, to be located at the old Cebu International School site, to train and develop athletes with potentials to become world-beaters. Sports development is close to Junie’s heart since he was a varsity basketball player at the University of San Carlos during his college days.
Junie’s men are confident that he will beat all comers in the 2004 elections. “We already learned our lesson in 2001,” said one of them. John-john or Gwen better watch out.
(September 30, 2003 issue)
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