MORE than a year into President Rodrigo Duterte’s term and some sectors are already talking about the 2022 presidential elections. I think this all started with the President himself floating the name of his daughter Sara, the Davao City mayor, as his possible successor. Then I read in social media rumors that presidential son Baste is being groomed to be Sara’s running mate.
But it is not only the Dutertes who are at it. I also read somewhere Manny Pacquiao talking about his presidential ambition. This is not surprising because his boxing manager, Top Rank’s Bob Arum, has long been floating the idea. That was even before Pacquiao won a Senate seat. That should be interesting considering that the Dutertes are also from Mindanao.
And didn’t a DDS (Duterte Diehard Supporter) blogger complain about his not being invited to the recent hearing called by the Senate committee headed by Sen. Grace Poe that tackled fake news? Lawyer Bruce Rivera eventually quarreled with another DDS blogger Sass Sasot and let out the supposed purpose of the hearing, which was to raise the political stock of Poe who is said to be running for president again in 2022 with Foreign Secretary Allan Peter Cayetano as her vice.
But that is usually what happens in a presidential election. The unity of the politicians under the administration (in this case that of Duterte) cracks under the strain of competing political ambitions. Still, 2022 is still too far away and, like what we always hear politicians say, many things will still happen by then.
In the meantime, the administration party has to consider the 2019 local and national elections first. I think there would be no problem for the administration as far as the local elections are concerned. Whoever wins among local politicians will surely be beholden to the president. Note that even a supposedly independent politician like Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña is sidlling close to the president. It is the elections for senator that needs looking into.
From now until 2019, the president’s popularity is crucial. For the first time, the president’s popularity suffered a dip following the surfacing of various issues from the killing of minors in the war against drugs to the smuggling of P6.2 billion worth of shabu that some sectors linked to the president’s son to the failed reduction of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) budget. That obviously rattled the administration prompting it to raise the specter of destabilization.
But the so-called “dilawans” or the opposition led by the Liberal Party (LP) may have things in mind other than destabilizing the Duterte administration. They could be preparing for the crucial 2019 electoral battle for the available 12 Senate seats. Some people in the Duterte camp floated possible PDP-Laban senatorial bets that included House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez and Rep. Rodolfo Fariñas. I still have to hear of the LP coming up with a list of possible bets.
I say control in the Senate is still crucial even with the pro-Duterte majority in place there. A sweep either way is crucial to that control after 2019. Will the administration still prevail or will it be payback time for the LP?