LP, civil society’s pressure tactics

Civil socialites who were earlier for Sen. Mar Roxas as presidential bet dumped him for Noynoy Aquino, after they saw the opportunity to ride on the public sympathy shown during the wake and funeral of former President Corazon Aquino, in the belief that the sympathy wave would translate to votes for Noynoy. They certainly had the Yellow press, along with a giant TV network, in essence providing free publicity to Noynoy through the daily hourly plugs featuring his parents on screen with just about the same message Noynoy gives out these days.

The Noynistas, within and without the Liberal Party, with the help of the Yellow media, portray Noynoy as the “torch bearer of reform” following in the footsteps of his parents, and therefore should be the next president of the republic, as they claimed there was this great clamor for Noynoy to run for the presidency. The clamor, incidentally, is too obviously stage-managed — to the point of these Yellows re-enacting the propaganda and pressure tactics employed in 1985, during the run of Cory Aquino — including the “reluctant” candidate style, with even the Noynoy spiel of going into a retreat and seeking the advice of the nuns, as his mother did, as well as applying all pressure on the Liberal Party bet, Mar Roxas, to give way to Noynoy.

Frankly, Roxas shouldn’t have caved in to the civil society’s pressure tactics, for many reasons, one of which is the fact that Noynoy is still an unknown political quality and he has not been measured in surveys for the top post. What Roxas could have done, if he was talking country and the LP’s vow to fight, was to call for an LP convention, where delegates, not civil society, not the yellow media, would be made to choose between him and Noynoy.

But then again, Mar may just have given up his hopes on the presidency, given his low presidential ratings, with very little hope of leaping to the first three survey slots, and giving way to Noynoy the way he did, was a better option for him. Not only would he be seen as having sacrificed his presidential ambitions, but he would also be saved from spending hundreds of millions, if not billions, for a presidential race where the odds of his losing the race are high. Unfortunately, Roxas was also seen as having caved in to civil society’s pressure tactics.

One would have thought that, with the Noynistas in the LP and the civil socialites having succeeded in getting Mar out of way of their anointed, Noynoy, they would have stopped at that.

Not so. The pressure tactics they employed on Roxas are now being applied on former President Joseph Estrada.

The LP members, led by Franklin Drilon, are now appealing to Estrada and other opposition presidentiables not to run for the presidency but to support opposition unity by endorsing Noynoy, asking them to do as Mar Roxas did.

Drilon was quoted as saying in an early morning interview: “I hope the other parties, particularly former President Estrada, should consider endorsing Senator Noynoy,” adding that Aquino is a rightful leader for change with his very clean record as a politician. He said he believes more presidential aspirants will give way and endorse Aquino once he officially declares his presidential bid.

That’s the LP and civil society way. They want to have it all the easy way, having another plant the seeds, but with them reaping the fruits. But don’t the LP members and their allies, the civil society groups, believe that their anointed can win the race on his own, so much so that they need the endorsement from Estrada?

That’s really chutzpah, on the part of the LP and its allies. If they believe Nonoy is the “rightful leader,” then they should go all out for Noynoy as the LP candidate. He’s their anointed. That’s their party. So why butt in on other parties’ business? To ask Estrada and other aspirants to sacrifice and do as Roxas did by endorsing Noynoy is what can be termed as Kapal in Tagalog slang.

What? Those who are ranking high in presidential surveys are being asked to give way to Noynoy Aquino whose voting strength in surveys is still an unknown factor? He’s a reluctant candidate? Well, why bother to run then?

Not even these civil socialites are united behind a Noynoy candidacy. And who is to say who is the “rightful leader” if not the Filipino people, and certainly not the LP nor civil society.

And what makes the LP think Noynoy is the “rightful leader?” Is it because he is the son of Cory Aquino and Ninoy Aquino? Is that enough to be a “rightful leader?” He has not proven himself. Even his congressional record is hardly worth a mention. Neither has he really taken strong positions on issues, even when he was a congressman for nine years, and two years or so as a senator.

But that has always been the problem of civil society types, many of whom can be found within the LP. They always think that it is they who should dictate to the nation just who should be the country’s leader, this despite the fact that they produced two political lemons — and going on three.

The LP and the civil socialites may have succeeded in pressuring Mar Roxas to cut and cut clean from the presidential race, but their pressure tactics won’t succeed on Estrada or the other presidential aspirants. –Daily Tribune