PNoy allies reject Mar Roxas in 2016

LIFE’S INSPIRATIONS: “… I will call a swift bird of prey from the east---a leader from a distant land to come and do my bidding…” (Isaiah 46:11, the New Living Translation, the Holy Bible).

-ooo-

PNOY TO DO A CORY, TO DITCH MAR ROXAS IN 2016: As things are shaping up for the 2016 presidential elections, it is becoming increasingly clear that the ditching done by President Corazon C. Aquino of then House Speaker Ramon Mitra Jr. as her presidential candidate for the 1992 elections to favor then Defense Secretary Fidel Ramos, will most likely be done too by her son, President Benigno Aquino III, in the presidential elections next year.

I am now willing to bet that the current President Aquino will ditch Secretary Mar Roxas as his presidential candidate in 2016, and instead choose somebody who is outside of Roxas’ Liberal Party, and this is most probably going to be the political neophyte Sen. Grace Poe Llamanzares, daughter of 2004 presidential candidate Fernando Poe Jr.

This is going to be a devastating blow for Mar Roxas, considering that his giving way to Aquino in the 2010 presidential elections paved the way for Aquino’s rise to the presidency that year. Surely, if Mar did not agree to slide down and become Aquino’s vice presidential running mate, it would have been very difficult for Aquino to have become president.

-ooo-

ALLIES CLOSE TO PNOY REJECT ROXAS IN 2016: But then, I am sure Aquino---and whoever maybe behind him in his desire to put in a candidate who will have a big chance of winning the 2016 elections---are painfully realizing the futility of a Mar Roxas candidacy for the highest post of the land, even if there are many, including me, who believe he is still going to be the best Liberal Party bet.

Perennially lagging in surveys, unable to entice our people, especially the middle class, to start liking him, and having the knack of doing the wrong thing at the wrong time almost all the time, Roxas is now perceived to be a sure loser in the 2016 presidential race, no matter how hard his trusted lieutenants in the Liberal Party would try to push him as the party’s standard bearer.

Because of this and a host of other reasons yet, Aquino is being forced to forget the accommodation made by Roxas in his favor in 2010. People who are close allies of Aquino, and those who would not want him jailed after he steps down from power in 2016, are now moving heaven and earth to dissuade Aquino from anointing Roxas as his candidate, and instead select someone who has a better chance of winning.

-ooo-

MERCADO FOR SENATOR IN 2016? If you frequently travel through the North Luzon Expressway particularly when you are bound for Manila, I am sure you are not going to miss one or two giant billboards extolling someone who is called “Mercado” as a crusader for truth and a fearless fighter against corruption.

Significantly, however, the billboards do not indicate the first name of this “Mercado”, nor give an inkling as to who he or she maybe, or why he or she is being advertised as a crusader and a fighter. Obviously, it is a publicity gimmick, designed to generate interest among those who may see the billboards, and entice them to do a guessing game as to who he, or she, is.

Well, my guess is this: The “Mercado” referred to in these billboards would be no other than Ernesto Mercado, the erstwhile loyal and trusted political ally of Vice President Jejomar Binay, and the former Vice Mayor of Makati City who has since made a turn around and has become a bitter critic of the Binays. Is someone wanting him to run for Senator in 2016, and thereby allow him to continue hitting the Veep publicly?

-ooo-

PLEASE LISTEN: “Ang Tanging Daan” (The Sole Way), a radio program that aims to empower Filipinos with spiritual gems from the Bible to enable them to live empowered lives everyday, and to be assured of salvation in the life hereafter, airs Mondays to Fridays, 6:30 p.m. to 7 p.m., at DWAD 1098 kHz on the AM band.

-30-