TRIBUNE EDITORIAL: WHEN AMBITION IS LETHAL
MANILA, JANUARY 10, 2011 (TRIBUNE) There is something extremely dangerous in one politician's itchy hands and his not being able to wait for his turn in the top seat of the land.
We have seen this type of consuming ambition that created political monsters in the past. We were witnesses to the same type of ambition on Gloria Arroyo, the former president and now Pampanga representative.
Former Sen. Manuel Roxas II did not exactly give way to then Sen. Benigno Aquino III to become the standard bearer of the Liberal Party (LP) on Sept. 1, 2009, when Roxas being was portrayed by the same Yellows as making the supreme sacrifice for the country.
There was no sacrifice in the move. Instead, it was a necessary maneuver as Roxas who was considered then the LP's presidential timber was miserably lagging in the surveys which were being dominated at that time alternately by former President Joseph Estrada, Vice President Noli de Castro, then Senate President Manuel Villar and Sen. Chiz Escudero. Erap then had not even announced his presidential bid because of threats from several allies of Gloria to thwart an Estrada candidacy.
Roxas was consistently chalking up a mere one-digit preference during the surveys.
In the August 2009 SWS survey Villar posted a 22-percent approval rating, followed by Estrada with 19 percent and Escudero with 18 percent. De Castro ranked fourth in the survey with 14 percent and Roxas was a far fifth with 10 percent.
Aquino was a natural choice for the LP to rekindle its fading hopes to mount a decent fight for the presidency since sympathy for former President Corazon Aquino who died a month before Roxas' "supreme sacrifice" on Aug. 1, 2009 remained fresh among Filipinos and exploited to the hilt by the Yellows and their media.
Noynoy became the LP's presidential candidate with the shadow of Roxas always looming large on his back. It proved to be a right LP decision since Roxas even missed the boat for the vice presidency, mainly as a result of a dearth of confidence Filipinos had on him, being largely a part of the economic team of Gloria who was memorable for imposing the harsh tax measures on the populace, particularly the expanded value added tax (eVAT).
Had Roxas carried the flag for the LP instead, many believe that Estrada would now be the president for his second term.
Roxas' bargain with Noynoy, and that came from the mouth of Aquino himself during the campaign period, was for a 20-80 percent sharing of the load of the presidency in favor of Roxas who thus will have more than Noynoy's influence in the presidency without even going through the ballot.
Circumventing the voting process is an invitation to abuse. Gloria, who never had the privilege of a popular mandate, having stolen the presidency in 2001 and then again cheated her way to regain it in 2004, ruled the country for nine years which was considered as a near decade when the country hit the apex of corruption.
Noynoy seems eager to hand over to Roxas his presidential powers which are, however, not his to give. Filipinos gave him the vote to take the position and it is not a provision in the Constitution that the presidency is transferable or even shared.
Roxas for his part, if he aspires for a position in government, should cool his heels until June when he is allowed to take a government post after the one-year ban imposed by the Charter on losing poll bets.
Alternately, if Noy and Mar insist on their arrangement, Noynoy is provided a remedy in the Constitution to resign and delegate power to the vice president, while Mar cannot do anything in gaining the presidency until the next presidential elections.
A sharing of the presidency is not a provision under the Constitution.
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Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
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