AT AN alumnae meeting with Theresians last weekend, talk naturally sauntered off into politics. Of course, we’re as politically diverse as any other group.
Knowing that Theresians can be quite intense about their affiliations, we all agreed that we could pitch in a word or two about our presidential choices. But we would not aggressively push down another’s candidate.
We have our own reasons, and we did our own prior researches. But if one asked an earnest why, we’d accommodate.
Besides, politicians come and go; friendships should last. Especially because, as history has shown us, politics does make strange bedfellows. That’s why in levity, we share comments culled from everywhere. We rip the room apart with our laughter, and then dish out another sharing.
From the Internet was this question “What’s the blood type of the presidential candidates?” Answer: “Roxas, royal blood. Poe, half-blood. Santiago, high blood. Duterte, cold blood. Binay, dinuguan.”
That pun was obviously from a Mar Roxas supporter and a rabid Jejomar Binay critic.
One asked, “Who’s handling the PR campaign of Roxas? He has the track record, the name, the clean reputation, the administration nod and certainly, the money, but he remains way down. It’s just 38 days before election day. And now this comics brouhaha.”
Despite Theresians being women, very little was discussed about the two women candidates for president, Grace Poe and Miriam Santiago, except that the latter was really past her prime, aside from being sickly, while the former was a bit “too ambitious.”
The latest survey polls, however, show there’s no disconnect between one’s ambition and a vox populi who decides when it’s too soon or too late.
The phrase “presidential timber,” localized as “may presidential dating,” describes the total persona that encompasses such intangible qualities of leadership, toughness, conviction and charisma.
From his posturing and his characteristic man-of-few-words style, Rodrigo Duterte is certainly far from the other politicians around. At some gatherings, VP bet Alan Peter Cayetano can be the motormouth while Duterte stands beside him, cupping his face in his palm.
Looking your everyday man on the street, Duterte, however, has a good track record as long-time mayor of Davao City, and exudes toughness and conviction. His message remains the same--end corruption, criminality, and drugs.
And he makes his own measurement of performance--just six months; “You’ll see,” he says. Mouthing the same message wherever he goes could make him sound like a broken record.
Rather, it creates echoes among the crowds because he wants what the “madlang tao” wants. “Presidential dating” also means a candidate’s ability to appear bigger than life.
He’s the pistol-packing “Dirty Harry” who’s “action agad” (six months, he promises). He’s what the masses have been looking for, the hero that Erap Estrada and FPJ could only portray in the movies.
I can see why Duterte’s numbers are increasing…and why he has sidelined Binay. I can see, too, why our family, which used to vote straight, is now a house divided.
Still, I’ll remember the desaparecidos of yesteryears and say, “Never again.”
(lelani.echaves@gmail.com)