Secret candidate
It is good that Grace Poe herself denied rumors she is the secret candidate of Noynoy Aquino. By coming out, even if only to deny the rumor, she allowed the matter to be openly discussed in public. So, is she or isn't she? The truth, unfortunately, may never be known, although that will not stop anyone from speculating. As for me, I have always kept faith in conventional wisdom. And conventional wisdom tells me that where there is smoke, there has got to be fire.
Actually, the rumor is not surprising. In fact, what surprises me is why the rumor surfaced only now. Remember that this is not exactly the first time Noynoy was rumored to have paddled up two rivers, or as they say in Tagalog - "namamangka sa dalawang ilog." In 2010, the rumor was that Noynoy, or at least as faction of his campaign, supported eventual vice presidential winner Jejomar Binay instead of his own runningmate Mar Roxas. The left turn had a tag - NoyBi.
If the new rumor proves true, I would not put it beyond Noynoy to do. Noynoy is, so to speak, a dead man walking. This early, some people are already itching to file cases against him. At best, Noynoy will have pretty exciting times ahead. He needs to ensure that he will not spend the rest of his life in the same disgrace that he has unfairly caused his political enemies while shielding his even more corrupt friends.
The only way he can avoid karma is to make sure the next administration will be a friendly one. That can only happen is if his open endorsee wins. But Roxas is dismal personified. His appeal is as flat as the sea in windless summer. He is simply a candidate who inspires no confidence about winning. Even before the rumor about Poe started, Noynoy already knew Roxas was a hard sell.
That must be why Noynoy aggressively courted Poe. Why, and for what Noynoy courted Poe, no one really knows, so your guess is as good as mine. But bear in mind that at the time Noynoy courted Poe, he had not yet proclaimed Roxas as his official anointed. The situation was still fluid, so to speak. As things turned out though, Poe decided to run on her own, leaving Noynoy with no choice but to raise the hand of Roxas.
Or so it seems, because now we have a rumor that says Poe is still very much in the game as Noynoy's secret candidate. Actually, I would prefer calling her as Noynoy's insurance candidate. If only things could be confirmed instead of being just a rumor. Nevertheless, the rumor has taken on a life of its own - thanks to Poe for giving birth to it with her denial.
So, again, is she or isn't she? A few days before coming out with her denial, Poe turned up at the birthday party of Noynoy. Surprised? Probably not if you are attentive to signs, the most glaring of which is the behavior of Noynoy's appointees to the Supreme Court, where disqualification cases against Poe are taking such an extraordinarily long time to be resolved, as if designed to keep her name on the ballot.
Never have presidential appointees to the Supreme Court so unabashedly fallen head over heels to take up the cudgels of a litigant than they are doing on the matter of Poe. So shamelessly have these appointees departed from the legal issues at hand to digress into the emotional aspects of the case. From the simple question of whether or not Poe is natural born, the Noynoy appointees are splitting hairs with worry about its future consequences on foundlings.
If I were Roxas, I would be worried sick or angry as hell. Whatever the truth might eventually be, he cannot deny that the Poe secret candidate rumors exist, that the NoyBi rumors existed before that as well. He also has seen how Noynoy pursued Poe before eventually anointing him when that failed, how gutsy it was of Poe to show up at Noynoy's birthday, and how brazen Noynoy's appointees are in favor of Poe. For someone who gave up so much for Noynoy, Roxas must be twisting in the wind.
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