The New Year is but a few winks away and for some politicians gearing up for the 2016 national elections in the Philippines, the coming year will be a defining one in their personal lives. 2015 is the year of political alignments, coalitions and propaganda galore. The filing of certificates of candidacy will commence in October of next year, with nationwide elections scheduled on May 2016.
It will be a make-or-break year for the presumptive administration candidate, Secretary of Interior and Local Governments Mar Roxas, who gave way to then Sen. Noynoy Aquino when the latter decided to aim for the presidency after his iconic and beloved mother’s demise. Roxas lost the vice-presidency to former Makati city mayor and now Presidential Adviser on OFW Affairs Jejomar Binay. Vice-President Binay declared his presidential aspirations right after his stunning electoral victory in 2010, something quite unheard of in Philippine politics. Secretary Roxas has yet to declare anything, except to gush about his loyalty and admiration for his boss and good friend, President Aquino.
The audacity of veteran politico Jojo Binay is in direct contrast to neophyte Sen. Grace Poe, daughter of defeated presidential candidate and popular action star Fernando Poe, Jr also known as FPJ. FPJ lost to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo who has been placed under hospital arrest by the current president, her former college student in economics. Vice-President Binay is one of the chief supporters of FPJ, so it was quite astonishing that no offer was extended to Sen. Poe for her to run under the UNA ticket in 2010. The articulate and smart lady senator ran and won the number one seat under the Liberal Party slate, thus owing a big one to the powers that be.
Interesting how in this political tableau, everyone knows each other extremely well — a testament to how the Manila-based political circles have shrunk to fit a cozy coffee shop while the rest of the population try to survive rising prices, traffic paralysis, and unpredictable weather patterns. Social media has become an escape valve for the gamut of emotions that rise like steam from irate passengers on delayed local and international flights, with cargo as well as people trapped in traffic congestion from seaports to roads ironically described as expressways.
Next year marks the start of official party line-ups from the national to local levels. It will be the people’s turn to sit in coffee shops and look out to witness politicians of all stripes trying to get their attention. Look at how much I love you, one would declare. I love you even more, says the closest rival. All that love so joyously proclaimed like a suitor discovering his emotions for the very first time, makes Philippine politics more interesting than all the popular reality shows combined.
Meanwhile, everyone will be extremely courteous, kind, and forgiving for the visit of Pope Francis from Jan. 15-19. Woe to any politico who stupidly attempts to grandstand during the papal visit. While Filipinos, majority of whom belong to the Catholic Church, take politics with a grain of salt, they do take their faith seriously.
