I know that the pressure is mounting now for Naga City Mayor Leni Robredo to run for president in 2028. If the liberals and the progressives really want to put up a candidate to oppose efforts to make Vice President Sara Duterte the country’s next president, then Robredo should consider being it. I have noted those surveys whose results put her above everybody else as the most viable presidential bet for 2028.
Supporters of Sen. Risa Hontiveros seem to have started their own push for her candidacy. But I do believe that for the opposition to win, it must put up a single candidate. And Hontiveros does not fare well yet in some surveys, although I think that will change if she becomes a unified candidate in case Robredo opts out.
Risa is actually a viable bet considering that among the progressives, she and her supporters seem to be the ones who understand well how elections under a liberal democratic setup work. In the past, I actually didn’t subscribe to that thinking. When I was younger, the fire in my belly taught me to line up with radical personalities rather than with what some consider as “moderates.” But I continued to be friendly with Risa supporters.
There has always been some dynamics between the militants like Bayan Muna and the moderates like Hontiveros’ Akbayan. But as years passed, especially in the legislature, whatever differences they had seemed to have been minimized. A unified front in the House of Representatives, for example, has become broader and less ideologically-driven.
That is perhaps the reason why destabilization efforts against the administration of President Bongbong Marcos have failed so far. Attempts to link BBM to some scandals have failed and no big mass actions have formed. Nobody seems to be bothered about claims by some supposed bodyguards of Zaldy Co that they delivered money to some known personalities. Even the alleged flood control scandal has not gained traction.
Who would have thought that no major polarization of forces would exist under a government that is being ruled by a Marcos? Even now that BBM’s alliance with the Dutertes is broken, destabilization attempts could not fly. Instead, Marcos has succeeded in minimizing the power of the opposition by sending former President Rodrigo Duterte to The Hague.