It is a source of wonder why 30 years after Filipinos staged a peaceful revolt to oust a dictator, many of them now seem eager or willing to embrace a presidential candidate who threatens to impose a strongman rule and a vice presidential aspirant who is the namesake son of the supposedly hated leader they deposed in what is now known as People Power Revolution.
If the surveys were to be believed, it seems Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, who admits to using strongman tactics to combat crime and corruption in his city and promises to do the same when elected, and Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., who firmly believes the country was on the road to greatness until the EDSA uprising stopped short his father’s term in 1986, have a greater than fighting chance of being elected president and vice president, respectively, in the May 9 elections.
President Aquino and the ruling Liberal Party have moved heaven and earth to destroy Duterte and Marcos as they did — also unsuccessfully it seems — to bring down Vice President Jejomar Binay ahead of the May 9 elections and hopefully boost the chances of their candidates, Mar Roxas and Rep. Leni Robredo .
In the latest Pulse Asia survey released last Friday, Binay and Sen. Grace Poe and Vice President Jejomar Binay were statistically tied for top spot in the presidential preference poll with 26 percent each, while Duterte and Roxas were also tied with 21 percent. Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago was in last place with three percent.
In the same survey, Marcos and Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero are now statistically tied in the vice presidential race. Escudero had 29 percent of the respondents, while Marcos had 26 percent. In third place was Robredo with 19 percent. Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano was in fourth with 12 percent, followed by Sen. Antonio Trillanes with 6 percent, and Sen. Gringo Honasan, 4 percent.
In the latest survey conducted by The Standard in-house pollster published on Monday, Duterte (24 percent) edged closer to Poe (26 percent) while overtaking Binay (23 percent) and staying ahead of Roxas (22 percent).
In the vice presidential race, The Standard poll showed Escudero maintaining a six-point lead over Marcos. Escudero led with 30 percent, followed by Marcos (24 percent), Camarines Sur Rep. Leni Robredo (20 percent), Senator Alan Cayetano (11 percent), Senator Antonio Trillanes IV (seven percent) and Senator Gringo Honasan (4 percent).
These surveys confirm what many expected, that this election is shaping up to be the closest and toughest presidential race in the country’s history. As they say in basketball, there have been many lead changes and ties, ensuring a tightly fought finish.
While Binay, Poe and Escudero have been expected to be on top most of the way, the rise of Duterte and Marcos in the latest polls were surprising to many. The two surveys were conducted just before and after the 30th anniversary celebration of the EDSA People Power Revolt, and one would surmise that with the people being constantly reminded of the perils of strongman rule as exemplified by the martial law years, the appeal of Duterte and Marcos would diminish. Instead, their stars shone even more brightly.
I am surprised to this day that many people, even from the so-called civil society, are supporting either Duterte or Binay for president and Marcos for vice president. I know many doctors, lawyers, journalists and other professionals who swear to high heavens that Duterte is the kind of leader the country needs. Another group swears Marcos could make this country “great again.” And others believe that despite all the graft cases against him, Binay is the one who could lift the masses from poverty.
One explanation is that some or many of the people who gathered on EDSA from Feb. 22 to 25, 1986 have been utterly disappointed that another set of oligarchs and dirty politicians have taken over the reins of the country and have not brought the hopes and aspirations of EDSA to reality. Thirty years later, the government is back to “business as usual” and the poor and the middle class remain ignored and forgotten.
Another explanation is that those who went to EDSA did not really reflect the general sentiment throughout the country at that time, and now the people outside of EDSA want to be heard this time.
As for Binay’s continued stay on top despite the graft allegations, the poor have an explanation for it: “Pare-pareho lang namang corrupt yang mga yan, di doon na tayo sa malalapitan natin” or something to that effect. In other words, the masses are tired of politicians’ pretensions of being honest and sincere while they and/or their cronies rob them dry. And that is bad because it seems the people have accepted corruption as a fact of life in the Philippines.
As I have said earlier, if this coming election were a referendum on whether the people believe Aquino’s “daang matuwid” has succeeded in reforming the government and society in general, it would seem that based on the surveys, he is in for a resounding defeat.
We can go on and speculate but in the end, it is only the outcome of the May 9 elections that will ultimately matter in the next six years – whether the country could move forward or take a few more years backwards. And sans any election fraud, the people themselves will decide on which course the country would take.
(valabelgas@aol.com)