GRP Mail - 21 Jun 2021
Clock is ticking to May 2022 and time is running out for the Opposition even as admin and politicians at the fringes mobilise.
Dear GRP Insiders,
It was a quiet week — on the surface, that is. The clique of influencers and “thought leaders” we monitor on social media have been kept entertained this week by Korean boy band BTS (and their new McDonald's promo offering) and that new Netflix anime series Trese.
Underneath the smooth glassy surface is a different story though. It's all here in this week's brief.
Regards,
benign0
In review and in prospect
The formidable administration bloc continues to cast gloom over an Opposition desperate for silver bullets to load its campaign guns with as the May 2022 election looms closer.
This late into the election cycle, the Opposition find themselves stuck in a belated effort to overhaul their entire campaign apparatus. It has become clear that election campaign machines across the board are ill-equipped to deal with the new battlefield — one that is going to be primarily digital where traditional campaign and PR strategists are being given runs for their money. Consider too how some of the most experienced Opposition politicians and campaign managers continue to ignore an important lesson — that demonising President Rodrigo Duterte proved to be a disastrous strategy for the Opposition back in 2019.
In the midst of all this, Opposition allies in Big Corporate Media offer no more than the same tired old spiels about “fake news”, “weaponisation” of the Internet, the proliferation of “troll armies”, etcetera etcetera. While their Western “journalist” cronies overseas do their best to echo and amplify this obsolete fear mongering, Filipinos are no longer paying attention.
Having come out of the June 12 announcement empty-handed as far as election slates are concerned and pretty much set back with regard to their brand equity, Opposition coalition 1Sambayan will have to make up for lost ground and lost time this week. They are nowhere close to any semblance of a position to compete.
Meanwhile, the rest of the broader “non-Yellowtard” partisan factions outside of the admin camp have already started to coalesce and, more importantly, are stepping up mobilisation of campaign resources. It is looking like the forces that share a common objective to end the Duterte era after 2022 will remain the disunited rabble the convenors of 1Sambayan hoped they wouldn't be.
This week will be pivotal to determining how well — or how badly — the groundwork for an Opposition win in 2022 will be laid.
Last week’s blog posts
Politics
Opposition will have to ditch its FAKERY to beat “Dutertismo” in 2022
June 20, 2021 by Ramon Ortoll
"This is why they are the laughingstock of the public. They provide entertainment and nothing more. The 1Sambayan launch last June 12 proved this when four of the six candidates they named for President and Vice-President declined to participate in their selection process."
Manny Pacquiao at loggerheads with PDP-Laban leadership over 2022 bid
June 19, 2021 by Ramon Ortoll
"Even Pac-Man with his billions can’t afford a Presidential run on his own. He can win reelection to the Senate but not as President."
Meeting between Marcos and Arroyo camps has chilling effect on Yellowtards and Reds!
June 18, 2021 by Ramon Ortoll
"If the political structure is changed to a unicameral parliamentary with a Prime Minister as head of state then GMA, Bongbong, and Sara can all run for parliament and we would finally have the continuity and consistency in policy foreign investors have long been pining for."
Lito Banayo fluff piece on Robredo reveals possible Isko-Leni tandem for 2022
June 17, 2021 by Ramon Ortoll
"A source has indicated that Banayo has been picked to run Manila Mayor Isko Moreno’s campaign. This is a surprising development since one would think that he is the logical choice for Senator Ping Lacson should he commit to run for President."
Why does selecting a Philippine president have to be so hard?
June 16, 2021 by Ramon Ortoll
"We are on the verge of running out of the next generation of leaders if you go by what we have in Congress and the Senate at present. This is why constitutional amendments are urgently needed."
June 15, 2021 by Ramon Ortoll
"As Jose said, Cory didn’t strengthen democracy. She weakened it with the 1987 Constitution. In the midst of the pandemic, where the only certainty is uncertainty, it is time to amend the Constitution."
Bakit Tuwing Panahon ng Eleksyon sa QC, Dumarami Ang Kamaganak Mo?
June 15, 2021 by Paul Farol
"Sa panahon ngayon, sa halos lahat ng pagkakataon, madidinig mong tinatawag na tatay, nanay, tito, tita, ate, o kuya ang kung sino sino. Para bang wala nang pormalan talagang alam ang karamihan at masyado nang pamilyar ang lahat."
WANTED: A new, better, and SMARTER Philippine Opposition
June 15, 2021 by Ramon Ortoll
"It’s the regional political agrrupations which wield real power. These are the political dynasties which have come under scrutiny lately because of the Opposition who are equally guilty of perpetuating the same."
Leni Robredo’s long-overdue EUREKA moment: “we” are not the “only” good guys!
June 14, 2021 by benign0
"Welcome to the 2022 election campaign, Madame 'vice president'. Perhaps Robredo’s small band of rabid followers can now recognise that winning an election is an exercise of addition and not subtraction."
South China Sea
June 15, 2021 by Ramon Ortoll
"Do we put everything at risk by taking a belligerent stand similar to that which Aquino adopted during his term? If not for China, who would sell the country vaccines in the quantities it needs to begin a return to a semblance of normalcy?"
Business
Opposition coalition @1Sambayan’s REAL agenda: oil, gas, and Manny Pangilinan’s wealth
June 20, 2021 by Ramon Ortoll
"The Opposition @1Sambayan led by Antonio Carpio and Albert Del Rosario keep on pushing for a belligerent stand against China as was the posture during the administration of former President Noynoy Aquino."
Opposition “economists” like Winnie Monsod sow doom and gloom in lead up to 2022
June 19, 2021 by Ramon Ortoll
"The Philippines is nowhere near an economic crisis that is being bruited about by the Opposition’s prophets of economic doom. We are not the 'sick man of Asia' again. In fact, our reserves are more than enough pay for all external debt."
June 18, 2021 by Ramon Ortoll
"The public should keep their guard up as the oligarchs will be running candidates who will serve to protect their interests. The problem with the opposition’s economic gurus is they practice voodoo economics in favor of their oligarch patrons."
Filipino nurses aren’t paid well because there are just TOO MANY of them
June 14, 2021 by Ramon Ortoll
"The nature of the Pinoy is kung nasaan ang pila, andun sila. So many took up Nursing. The schools couldn’t meet the demand so others started offering the course. Nurses need to do internship and residency. Soon the hospitals couldn’t accommodate all of them."
Crime
Opposition banking on ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda’s intervention due to hopeless 2022 prospects
June 18, 2021 by Ramon Ortoll
"The hypocrisy is disturbing because if the basis is principle then why has no one filed a case against the New People’s Army (NPA), the terrorist arm of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), for the killings it has committed since 1968?"
Desperate Philippine Opposition weaponises Fatou Bensouda’s International Criminal Court “ruling”
June 17, 2021 by Ramon Ortoll
"Witness how the 1973 Constitution was thrown out the window along with Marcos in 1986. They didn’t even bother to respect their own 1987 Constitution when they toppled then President Joseph 'Erap' Estrada in 2001."
June 15, 2021 by benign0
"The ICC is nothing more than a Mickey Mouse Court that picks on Third World countries. In giving it the one-finger salute, Duterte is showing the world that Third World countries need not put up with veiled imperialism..."
History
June 16, 2021 by Ramon Ortoll
"The truth is we should take back what was lost in the last thirty years of Yellowidiot rule if we want our pride back. But this can only happen if we are united. The divisiveness should end with the emergence of an opposition which will look at the future and not the past."
Society
An Open Letter (of Apology) to My Toddler
June 20, 2021 by Vincent
"I’m sorry that I allowed you to live in a society that seems to be focused on all the wrong things. Yes, we have an endless supply of entertainers, but we don’t have a supply of our own Einsteins, Ramanujans, Curies, and Pythagoras."
Important dates
30 Aug 2021 - National Press Freedom Day
01 to 08 Oct 2021 - Filing of Certificates of Candidacy (COC)
Notebook
The COVID-19 vaccine you get today (and most people don't have a choice of brand and only get what is available at the time) will likely not be your last. In any case comparing brands is not that straightforward and is effectively pointless. Full report.
Initial studies have found that the risk of clotting disorder thrombosis and thrombocytopenia syndrome or TTS associated with the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine is more common in younger people (i.e., probability of suffering this side effect is lower for older people). People under 60 in Australia will no longer be receiving first doses of this vaccine.