By Dr. Dencio Acop
The President to beat is NOT Bongbong Marcos but Leni Robredo. The poll surveys and all notwithstanding. Why else would three presidentiables, all trailing behind, come together and ironically ask VP Robredo to withdraw? Now Senator Lacson and socdem Norberto Gonzalez are backtracking because they just realized that even their sure votes may now be shifting to the Vice President. We good citizens of the Republic were hoping that all candidates against the return of Marcos Part 2 would be capable of selflessly uniting behind the strongest challenger for love of God and Country. We got previously good now radically turned trapo Isko Moreno campaigning for his rival Bongbong by asking Leni Robredo to withdraw and give way to another tyranny that we all thought initially Isko’s politics were all about.
Now the red-tagging. Who is the real communist? Leni or Duterte? Ask General Jovito Palparan and many other officers who dare not speak what they know. Digong is since his Davao City days. He even admitted it like he admitted that he is a murderer. Who is the enabler of ‘Communist’ China? Bongbong is another enabler like the rest of all the trapos (Isko, Gloria Arroyo, etc.) who cannot say NO to China’s millions and billions of cash buying nations’ souls especially their political leaders. Instead of responding objectively, Badoy attacked the person of General Tutaan who was simply explaining that the Vice President was not against the NTF-ELCAC’s goals and objectives if properly exercised and that she was certainly not a communist as she abhors violence. Tutaan also manifests that while many among our military are hawkish in their approach, many also are not and have learned from experience that winning the hearts and minds of the people through good governance is the only effective way and means to decisively defeat insurgencies which are actually rebellions against social injustices. By the way, the NTF-ELCAC is not the only whole of nation’s initiative of the government against insurgencies. Right after the EDSA Revolution, the government already had the AFP and other agencies implementing OPLAN Lambat-Bitag and the like which had CLEAR-HOLD-CONSOLIDATE-DEVELOP strategies to win back rebels by way of good governance all the way down to the barangay level. Essentially, it necessitated all officials, local and national, to lead honest lives and serve the people well especially the least, lost, and last. So the burden for true peace and development to occur lies among the authorities. To not abuse their power and authority. To not abuse the people. Otherwise, rebellions will just keep on coming. Or win the hearts and minds of the people. The Vice President fully understands this and in fact has been on to it all her public life. It is absurd to red-tag her only to intimidate her voters. To the BBM camp and those in power I say: fight fair especially if you keep bragging that Bongbong is already way ahead. Because if that is so then why do you need to deploy squid tactics on a hapless woman? What are you so afraid of?
Vice President Leni Robredo is no ordinary political leader or person. She has faithfully, humbly, and courageously delivered on her mandate from the people as public servant even and especially through the long pandemic. Her proven public service performance is on record for everyone to track. How about Bongbong’s? All I see are fake news and revisionist (in other words self-serving lies) history from his education to his public service. Leni Robredo has brought out the best in the Filipino since the saintly Cory. For the first time, Filipinos across all age, economic, and philosophical backgrounds have come together to support and campaign for her using their own resources. These people have finally found the courage to speak their voice against the murderous tyranny, massive corruption, treasonous foreign policy, and simply just the worst governance the country has seen the past six years. The people have found their hope in Vice President Leni Robredo. They see her as the leader of the Pink Army who will lead them towards realizing their constitutional values and self-respect once more. They see her fighting alongside them for their values and moral way of life. Fighting for their common good. The right kind of good despite what the despots, demagogues, and trolls say. The ordered kind of good away from the self-serving, dysfunctional, even grotesque version of what is supposed to be good. Let us vote for the Republic of the Philippines. Which can only be with the President to BeAT: Vice President Leni Robredo.