Sunday, November 09, 2008 Malilong: De Castro as Gloria’s successor By Frank Malilong The Other Side
Many called but only a few were chosen. United States president-elect Barack Obama returned calls to nine leaders who congratulated him on his recent victory. As you must have guessed, President Arroyo was not one of them.
Mrs. Arroyo tried but failed to reach Mr. Obama by phone when it became imminent that he was going to be the next US president. She is due to visit the US next week but a meeting with Mr. Obama is not in her schedule. Either she’s smarting from the snub and is not too keen to meet him or he doesn’t have time to see a Third World leader yet.
If it’s any consolation to her and to us, only the Japanese prime minister and the South Korean president were the Asian leaders whom Mr. Obama exchanged “hellos” with since his election. He didn’t call the head of state of China. No, not even the president of Kenya, although it is possible that by this time, he has already spoken to his cousins and uncles there.
There is, therefore, no need for US Ambassador Kristie Kenney to attempt to humor us by saying that Obama is a “fan of the Philippines.” We know where we stand in the scheme of things in the international community. We also know that America will help us only if it will serve American interests.
That is not necessarily wrong, either. In fact, all international relations are and should be based on what is good domestically.
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One of the most notable things in the recent US elections was the accuracy of the results of the surveys, all of which pointed to a victory by the senator from Illinois. Science and technology have advanced so greatly that it may not be long when there is no more need for the voters to actually cast their ballots.
But not here, sadly. It will probably take another century for us to reach that stage where quack surveys are quickly exposed and their operators shamed out of existence. We do have reputable polling firms but the operations of the guns-for-hire in the industry have so crept into the public consciousness that they do not know who and what to believe anymore.
When you speak of polling companies with solid reputations, the name, Social Weather Station or SWS immediately comes to mind. I therefore do not doubt the accuracy of its latest survey that showed Vice President Noli de Castro as the favorite to succeed Mrs. Arroyo if the elections were to be held now.
But while I am not surprised, I am disappointed by the choice. I mean how could our people be so blind as to think that de Castro is more suited to become president than Sen. Mar Roxas? What has de Castro done as senator and vice president to deserve election to the presidency?
I was hoping that our electorate has achieved that level of maturity that would preclude a repeat of that disaster that was the election of Erap Estrada. It seems I am wrong. So I probably won’t waste my vote on Roxas anymore since he is too far down in the surveys (a consistent one, too) as to have any chance of winning.
I am now looking seriously at Senate President Manny Villar and Sen. Loren Legarda. They may not be the best but at least they’re better than de Castro.
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Mayor Tomas Osmeńa has come out on top of the many political wars he has waged. Against cancer, he is however fighting the toughest battle of all. I read in the papers that he invoked the name of God when he spoke about his health. Some people may find it unlikely for someone as combative as Tommy to talk about his relationship with his Maker publicly.
I don’t. We all go through life-changing events. The next order of the day, as Peter Yu is wont to say, is for Tommy to get rid of all bitterness, resentment and anger.
