It all adds up (1)
BY LITO BANAYO
Convergence?
‘If the LP and NP both declare a total repudiation of the Arroyo-style of governance, the people will have already gained a major victory.’
IT’S good that the Nacionalista and Liberal parties are now trading barbs over the Gloria Arroyo connection – past or present – of the candidates and campaign leaders in the other’s camp.
As the campaign heats up, there is still a good chance that the two leading parties will finally grapple with the defining issue in the May 10 elections – how to move the country forward after the harm done by Gloria over the last nine years.
The LP was the first to try to seize the moral high ground by packaging itself as the alternative to the unbridled greed for pelf and power of the Arroyo government. The change which saw Mar Roxas yielding to Noynoy Aquino as presidential standard-bearer following the death of Cory Aquino underscored LP’s pursuit of the theme of a return to morality and decency in government.
The NP, in contrast, hewed close to the traditional theme of uplifting the lives of the poor, a strategy that builds on the humble beginnings of Manny Villar and his record of parlaying a small gravel and sand operation into one of the country’s biggest real estate concerns.
No doubt the LP succeeding in stealing a march on the NP with its anti-Arroyo platform in the unofficial opening days of the campaign. Since then most surveys showed that Villar has been catching up with the early surge of Aquino.
Tomorrow, the official campaign period for national candidates starts.
The LP surely will try to recover lost ground by ramping up its platform of good governance. The people have had it with the lying, cheating and stealing ways of Gloria. There remains a deep reservoir of hope among the electorate for an honest administration.
The problem for the LP is how it can re-tap and ride this sentiment to victory. The NP has had a good run in opting to stay with the tried and tested formula of promising to improve the lot of the poor. While the NP is unlikely to abandon its current tack, its pro-poor platform conceivably might not be enough to propel Villar convincingly past Aquino. Moreover, the NP may no longer be able to continue ducking the C-5 funding controversy. It has to come out with a stronger stand against graft and corruption. It has to stop waffling and has to categorically say that if Villar wins, he will have nothing to do with the transactional politics of Arroyo.
It’s still a long three months to May 10. The two leading parties may yet converge and declare a total repudiation of the Arroyo-style of governance. If that convergence is secured, the people will have already gained a major victory, no matter who between Aquino or Villar wins the presidency.