by Alex Roldan
The Lakas-Kampi-CMD coalition’s strength as a political party was already on the verge of disintegration when party chair and presidential bet Gibo Teodoro resigned his post ostensibly to concentrate on his (struggling) campaign. Sarangani governor Miguel “Migs” Dominguez followed suit by resigning as party president.
The crack appearing in the façade of the administration coalition began during the process of selection of the standard bearer and senatorial bets, always guaranteed to ruffle some feathers. Just when almost everybody thought Bayani Fernando had already one foot in the door after investing much time, money and effort to get a lock on the nomination, BF got the shock of his life when Teodoro was chosen instead.
In the case of the coalition’s vice presidential bet, the crack widened even more when Ronaldo Puno, who had been moving around the country to drum up support for his bid, saw his preparation go to naught when Gibo chose actor and popular TV host Edu Manzano for his running mate. The double-whammy was a sure sign that the coalition was going on a rough ride towards Election Daym
The turn of events sent shock waves through the aggrupation, especially among its candidates in the local polls who are in dire need of funding to pursue their own campaigns. For that matter, the problem of financing has become a matter of grave concern among most, if not all, of the coalition’s candidates if they are left to their own resources.
Then, there is all this talk about the First Gentleman secretly supporting Nacionalista presidentiable Sen. Manuel Villar’s bid to take Malacanang. The shift of the Osmenas of Cebu to Villar’s side is an ominous sign of such double-dealing. Or, is Gibo’s anemic performance making him toy with the idea of distancing himself from the alleged most unpopular president of the country whose support is tantamount to a “kiss of death”?
To me, the last possibility carries more weight than the others.
I believe Gibo is making a drastic gamble at this point in the campaign in a final push to change his feeble six percentage points standing in surveys by turning his face away from GMA’s “kiss of death.” The survey results must have made him realize that his GMA connection is his biggest obstacle in rallying the people behind him?
He may have his doubts about surveys because the administration party controls most of the local government units and once this well-oiled nationwide machinery starts to hum and spew out smoke, everything will change. So, he thought. But it has not, and it’s already getting late in the campaign.
Gibo could have insisted being the head of the coalition that everybody toes the line, but resigned as chairman instead! Can it be that he is being sabotaged because the disgruntled members of the coalition party never did want him their standard-bearer from the start?
Whatever the reason is, I am sure that there is no more backing out for Gibo. If his plan A didn’t work, he must be in his plan B, and that is salvaging whatever he can and hope that this can do the trick. He still has a month to prove that he is not GMA’s guy anymore.
Will it work? I don’t know. But this gambit is his best option rather than face certain defeat by insisting to stay in a malfunctioning coalition of political parties!
But what if in the coming days Gibo’s gambit works? Will administration party come rushing again to support him? They might, but it would be crazy for Gibo to accept them. The coalition is already a goner at this point in time. But on the other hand, Gibo’s fingers are crossed.
Who knows, politics is full of uncertainties until the day of decision.
For comments, e-mail to roldanalex@yahoo.com
