Dear GRP Insiders,
It seems the Opposition have played and exhausted all of their negative campaign cards, the last being the ill-thought-out disqualification petition against Bongbong Marcos.
What else can the Opposition play in their campaign to return to power legally in 2022? There is still one thing they haven't whipped out and that is a platform that is a proper strategic vision and roadmap to a better Philippines in 2028.
Six months to go. The Opposition still have a bit of time to grow a brain.
Regards,
benign0
In review and in prospect
The November 15 deadline for substitution is approaching and it seems anything can still happen. Speculation is still rife that Sara Duterte, who had earlier stated categorically that she has no intention of running for president, may still enter the national race in one form or another. Either way, whether it is Bongbong Marcos (himself a highly-winnable candidate) or Sara leading the admin camp, the Opposition remains in a desperate situation with their supporters spread across several individually-weak aspirants for the presidency.
As such, while most people's eyes are on the admin camp, there really isn't much of consequence to see there. Marcos and Duterte are effectively interchangeable as they have many political and governance goals in common, not to mention both being extremely winnable.
The same can't be said of the Opposition camp, however. Each faction takes profoundly different positions on many matters to the point of having no common ground other than a shared hate for the Marcoses and Dutertes. Campaign platforms based on hate evidently no longer work as decades of parroting the same hateful rhetoric have reduced these to quaint punchlines utterly devoid of political value. The only thing growing in the Opposition side is each factuon’s bitter feelings for the other.
The week ahead is essentially a coin toss. Either a huge winning upheaval is in the works, or no news that is also good news for the admin camp comes to pass.
Last week's blog posts
Politics
November 4, 2021 by benign0
"Want to change that status quo? Having a COVID-19 'Strategy' will not do that for you — specially one that is full of all the Whats-to-Dos that lend well to media sound bytes and campaign slogans and utterly thin on the How-Tos."
The Cult of Leni Robredo: Are its members RABID enough to deliver a win for her?
November 3, 2021 by Ramon Ortoll
"Robredo’s support comes mostly from the 'ABC' demographic but that’s not enough to win it and Andy Bautista isn’t around to do his magic for her."
November 3, 2021 by benign0
"According to current Foreign Affairs Secretary Teddy Locsin, Bautista was also involved in Mar Roxas’s senatorial campaign as an 'adviser'."
November 1, 2021 by benign0
"Soc Villegas essentially gives the Church’s blessings to Filipinos to accept bribe money from politicians on one hand and then, on the other, states that 'you are not obliged to fulfil an immoral [and/or] illegal contract'."
Business
November 2, 2021 by The Unpopular Opinion
"It is through wealth generation — not wealth distribution — that every Filipino’s living standards would improve."
Media
November 2, 2021 by benign0
"The fact is, Maria Ressa is a bag of lies. She gallivants all over the world making herself Nobel 'Peace Prize' worthy at the expense of the Philippines, its people, and their government."
Crime
Leni Robredo: No need to DQ BBM, “we won without a disqualification” in 2016. But did she REALLY?
November 7, 2021 by benign0
"Did Leni Robredo actually win the vice presidency in 2016? Is she the Philippines’ rightful VP today? All that remains debatable because the COMELEC had left many questions unresolved..."
Sport
The Houston Astros are Baseball’s Equivalent of Andy Bautista
November 4, 2021 by Gogs
"In 2016, Leni Robredo based on a vote tally produced by Smartmatic machines. A result that has since been questioned. In 2017, the Houston Astros won the World Series , a result that has since been questioned."