(An open letter to Sen. Grace Poe)
I have been one of your ardent political admirers and my efforts contributed to your spectacular showing as the topnotcher in the 2013 senatorial elections.
In the 2004 presidential elections, I worked hard for your father, Fernando Poe, Jr. as head of the legal panel of the opposition in Cebu province.
Many believe that had your father not been cheated by former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as exposed by the notorious “Hello Garci” electoral scandal, he would have been the duly elected president of the Republic.
Your popularity is a phenomenon in contemporary political history of our country. For the last nine months, Vice President Jejomar Binay had been the frontrunner in the poll surveys. But last week, you overtook the vice president and is now enjoying a commanding lead in both the Pulse Asia and SWS poll surveys.
You have been playing coy to the tempting offers of some self-seeking politicians and political opportunists, an attitude which all the more endeared you to an admiring public. You have been titillated by Sen. Francis Escudero to run for president and offered himself to be your running mate. You have been tempted by Sen. Vicente Sotto III to run for president, claiming that the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) is ready to adopt you as its standard bearer.
To be president of our country is a legitimate aspiration of every politician especially for you who has gained popularity despite or because of the stupid issues of residency and being a “foundling,” issues raised by such political morons of the UNA, Rep. Toby Tiangco and J.V. Bautista.
As your admirer and supporter, I sincerely advise you to temper and moderate your dreams in the face of some harsh political realities. The people’s desire nowadays is to continue the straight path of governance and maintain the investors’ confidence in our growing economy. They are afraid of a Binay presidency for obvious reasons.
The need of the hour is unity within the ranks of the administration coalition and to prevent a Binay victory. Despite his fall in the recent poll surveys, Binay still enjoys the support of a core group of rabid supporters who have been mesmerized by his false promises for a better life.
Our unity is also geared towards the prevention of Rodrigo Duterte from becoming president. His dramatic rise in poll surveys is attributed to the propaganda that the Duterte presidency will make the country “crime free” like Davao City. The trouble with this utopian dream is that it can only be achieved by abolishing the Constitution and building a national pyramid of corpses in the name of peace and order.
Madam Senator, to block the emergence of a corrupt Binay government and a bloody Duterte regime, we must maintain the present coalition by promoting a Roxas-Poe tandem.
With your integrity, patriotism and popularity, your appointed time or destiny will come in 2022 after the victory of a Roxas-Poe tandem. Francis Bacon once wrote that a man’s best time is when he is young enough to be bold but also old enough to have experience.
If you and Mar Roxas will have your separate ways and both run for president, you will surely split the administration coalition right down the middle and pave the way for a dreaded Binay or Duterte presidency. That is tragic for our country. --Democrito C. Barcenas