IT’S been busy days for our political aspirants as they continue to court our voters in Bacolod City and province. The recent so far was the visit of Vice President Leni Robredo who is running for president. She was accompanied by her vice presidential aspirant, Senator Kiko Pangilinan.
The other week, Senator Joel Villanueva also had his sorties in the province and dropped by at the Carlos Hilado Memorial State College, being a trustee, representing the Senate Committee on Higher Education.
Another senatorial candidate, Alex Lacson, visited his hometown, Kabankalan City. I saw in the post of my friend, Adolfo "Toto" Mangao, an aspirant for the city council of Kabankalan, that Lacson met with NCIP Commissioner Jorge Largado and some barangay officials of Kabankalan.
While those who supported VP Robredo showed force in the caravan from the airport, Victorias mayor, WantanPalanca headed the caravan of Senator Bong Go from Victorias City. It was also known that this was supported by Vice Governor Jeffrey Ferrer and former Congressman Albee Benitez.
The caravan for Senator Go was to show support for his intention to be elected as vice president. This, however, would be concretized on November 15, which is the last day for withdrawal and substitution of candidacies based on Comelec rules.
Those who still believe in the Marcoses showed force in their caravan wearing red shirts. They displayed support for former senator, Bongbong Marcos, who is running for president.
It is still not sure whether Davao City mayor, Sara Duterte, will decide to run for president. Her supporters in Davao and other parts of the country, continue to urge her to join the presidential race.
The options are still open for Mayor Sara. She could substitute and run for vice president or president, through the proxies believed to have been supportive of the administration.
Some say that should Mayor Sara pursues reelection as mayor of Davao, the administration will support the candidacy of Marcos.
All these possibilities remain until we get to confirm through the situations leading to the elections next year. There is silence in the camps of the candidates for national posts, but, we can assume that there are ongoing talks behind.
In my view, once there is silence, conservative candidates should not take it as a time to assume that everything is static. One should not give it a chance if winning is the ultimate intent.
Should rivalry be intense and politics is highly polarized, the ground should be worked out. Political aspirants know that they are into the numbers game and the more they convert votes, the better.
The candidates can exert dominance either in name recall thru the air or media and on the ground. That is why they need to organize to touch the grassroots level.
What's the possibility of votes for Bacolod and Negros Occidental? As of now the social movements for Robredo are revealing. Yet this alone is not the basis for winning majority votes in the whole province. We still have time to go before the elections and many things can happen.
I have observed that when one group is making waves, other groups will respond to neutralize the projection of strength.
Many political players simply maintain their silence. This means they just want to play it safe as they prioritize the local politics. Whoever would come and ask for help will be properly welcomed, yet I doubt if they would exert effort to deliver the needed votes.
Even businessmen are into the guessing game at this time.
With Bacolod and the province being considered vote-rich, we can expect that political situations will be stirred up by political actors up to the time of elections.
After November 15, it would be planning and the start of the groundwork for political operators.
I believe there's nothing new for the people of this country than to experience the excitement of elections. This makes our political processes functional for ourselves who have been battered by the tragedy of Covid-19. It brightens our horizons and helps us to temporarily escape the trauma of separation from our loved ones victimized by the pandemic.