By Manny Piñol
By the time his term ends on June 30, 2016, President Benigno S. Aquino would have learned an important lesson on the nature of the mind – or fickle-mindedness – of Filipinos.
On Tuesday, before the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP), President Aquino said he was confident that the Filipinos would not allow a return of the Marcoses to Philippine political leadership.
“I have faith in my bosses, the Filipino people. There’s nothing that has caused me to change the faith, that they are able to discern,” he said when asked about the Vice Presidential run of Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr., namesake and son of the former president.
President Aquino’s concern about a Marcos resurgence in Philippine politics is understandable.
His father, the late Senator Benigno Aquino Jr., was murdered at the tarmac of the Manila International Airport (MIA), now known as the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
It was widely believed that the older Marcos, or people close to him, were responsible for the murder which resulted in the People’s Power Revolution of 1986 which ended the Marcos rule and brought the Aquinos to power.
The President, however, may have misread or misjudged the mind of the Filipinos of this generation, the so-called Milleneals who were born after the repressive years of Martial Law.
Recent surveys indicate that the young Marcos has a big chance of pulling off a win in the Vice Presidential race.
Shortly after he declared his candidacy for Vice President, Marcos’ popularity in the social media surged beyond expected levels.
Most of the support came from the Milleneals and from the die-hard Marcos mass base found in Northern Luzon, Western Visayas and Mindanao.
Political analysts were even surprised to discover that the support for Marcos, who opposed the Bangsamoro Basic Law in its original draft, is very high among the Muslim communities, especially among the elders.
The issue of the alleged forging of his London scholastic records and the alleged abuses and plunder by the Marcoses of the national coffers during the height of their power are not even affecting the younger Marcos’ popularity.
There are several reasons why the younger Marcos is flying high in the surveys.
One, the notorious fickle-mindedness of the Filipinos, the best example of which was the outrage following the Maguindanao Massacre and the SAF 44 murders which have died down lately. If recent tragedies like the two mentioned above could be easily forgotten, how much more of a national tragedy which ended 30 years ago?
Two, aside from Senator Francis Escudero, there is no real challenge from other vice presidential bets, not even from the Liberal Party’s Leni Robredo who momentarily stirred the imagination of the voters but whose survey ratings have gone flat lately. Alan Peter Cayetano could also be a force to reckon with if Mayor Rody Duterte decides to run because he has identified himself closely with the Davao City Mayor.
Three, there is a real anti-administration sentiment right now or to put it clearly, an anti-LP feeling because of the perceived strong-handed tactics of the party in power in getting public support for its candidates.
Fourth, ethnic support is real in Philippine politics and this comes from people who have closed their eyes and their minds to anything and are fiercely loyal to those who they believe represents them, their pride, their dreams and their aspirations.
This is the reality of politics in the Philippines that the “Daang Matuwid” cannot straighten or realign.
Will a Marcos resurgence in Philippine politics be good or bad for the country?
Nobody knows.
But right now that is a probability which we all have to face and a nightmare that President Aquino will have to live with.
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