SORRY, supporters of Rodrigo Duterte, but the man you think would be the best president the Philippines could ever have at this time will perhaps just be the best President the Philippines would never have. The tough Davao City Mayor did not file his certificate of candidacy (COC), and has reportedly decided to seek re-election as mayor of Davao City.
But his supporters, many of whom even shaved their heads to urge Mayor Duterte to run for President, never stop believing. They wanted to believe Duterte will still change his mind and replace a candidate who withdraws on or before December 10, 2015; though Duterte himself said this would not happen.
And so as of press time, Filipino voters in the Philippines and around the world, including dual citizens who hold another passport aside from the Philippine passport, will have to choose between the candidates who have officially filed their COCs before the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
There are other unknown candidates who have filed their COCs: a tricycle driver; a man who wants to legalize the four seasons (spring, summer, fall, winter); a woman who said God and aliens spoke to her and told her she should run for president, etc. For the purposes of this piece, let me just limit the candidates who have bigger chances of winning: VP Jejomar Binay, Sec. Mar Roxas, Sen. Grace Poe, and finally, Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago.
The buzz on social media echoed with support for Santiago, especially among those who were disappointed by Duterte’s decision not to run for President. But many of those who earlier were jubilant by Santiago’s bid for the presidency were turned off by her choice of Sen. Bongbong Marcos to be her running mate. Marcos loyalists, however, expressed support for the tandem should Marcos decide to team up with Santiago.
Just before Sen. Santiago announced her candidacy, The Filipino Channel’s daily newscast “Balitang America” asked its viewers: “Which tandem in the Philippine presidential elections would you support?”
The results were: Roxas-Robredo at 84 percent; Poe-Escudero at 13 percent; and Binay-Honasan at 3 percent.
With Miriam in the game, who is YOUR choice for President?
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Gel Santos Relos is the anchor of TFC’s “Balitang America.” Views and opinions expressed by the author in this column are are solely those of the author and not of Asian Journal and ABS-CBN-TFC. For comments, go to www.TheFil-AmPerspective.com, https://www.facebook.com/Gel.Santos.Relos
