Kaya Natin!

http://blogs.inquirer.net/philippineelections/2009/05/27/no-choice/

THE merger of the two major administration political parties, Lakas and KAMPI will definitely alter the political landscape in favor of whoever will become the administration standard bearer in the 2010 Elections.

Although many political analysts continue to believe that a President Gloria Arroyo endorsement will be a kiss of death, an endorsement will also give the candidate a wide grassroots network of more than 1,000 local government leaders for the 2010 elections.

Many people forget that when it comes to the national polls, it is not often the most popular who wins but rather the one which has the strongest political machinery on the ground.

The candidacy of the late Fernando Poe, Jr. in the 2004 Presidential elections can easily attest to that. Although FPJ drew huge crowds wherever he went, he was still unable to translate these into votes that would be counted in his favor.

This ground troops are needed not only to campaign and convince people to vote for the candidate but more importantly to ensure that the candidate’s votes are protected from the cheating machinery that usually happens in our elections.

Thus, it is not surprising that while we continue to have a very unpopular President, many continue to court her support for the 2010 elections including MMDA Chairman Bayani Fernando and Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro.

This merger will leave the opposition groups with no choice but to also find a way to merge together lest they find themselves in the same situation as the 2004 elections wherein the opposition vote was spread out between FPJ, Senator Ping Lacson and the late Senator Raul Roco.

Currently, the Presidentialables that are not inclined to seek the administration’s blessings include former President Joseph Estrada, Senators Manny Villar, Mar Roxas, Loren Legarda, Ping Lacson, Francis Escudero, Pampanga Gov. Eddie Panlilio, Makati City Mayor Jojo Binay and Jesus Is Lord Leader Bro. Eddie Villanueva.

More important, the challenge for the opposition is to find a candidate that will espouse good governance and ethical leadership since these are values that seem to be lacking right now with many of our current national leaders.

The opposition cannot just field any candidate based on his or her popularity because if the people see that there is not much difference between the administration and opposition candidates then the so-called kiss of death of President Arroyo may not be felt by the administration candidate.

There is no doubt millions of Filipinos are longing for change and a better leader for our country in 2010 but this will only happen if our current opposition and reform leaders are able to set aside their own personal ambitions towards working together for a common reform Presidential candidate that can give Lakas-KAMPI a run for its money.

For all the sins that this current administration has committed, all of us can rest assured that it will pull all the stops (both legal and illegal) just to be able to ensure that its candidate will win in 2010.

Harvey S. Keh is Director for Youth Leadership and Social Entrepreneurship at the Ateneo School of Government (ASOG). Comments are welcome at harveykeh@gmail.com