Villar and Go likely partymates’ traitors

The election campaign seems to break new grounds. There are novel strategies adopted by politicians starting with President Rodrigo Duterte. In previous times, for example, I did not notice a sitting president going around the country intensively campaigning for his party’s bets. Most of the time within the campaign period, a Malacañang resident would just stay in the palace waiting for his candidates to come and see him not only for his anointment but more importantly for supposed logistics. He would only venture away from his office to visit few and selected areas where his favored candidates were facing tough contenders.

This has changed. More than pitching for the Senate and local bets of the PDP-Laban, his political party, in some ceremonial functions, the president is on the campaign trail sometimes with such ferocity as to make us believe that he wants to steam roll over the opposition. President Duterte made that clear when, in his characteristic tough guy language, he announced his readiness to slap the face of Mayor Tomas Osmeña for the latter’s supposed arrogance and haughtiness. “Tomparos” shouted the headlines. Believe me, I did not see any past president, when still incumbent, do that to a political foe. Yet, the president did not stop with that verbal abuse on our mayor. To demonstrate his animosity to our local government chief, he came to Cebu City to proclaim Edgar Labella and Mike Rama as PDP-Laban candidates for mayor and vice mayor.

Amidst the campaign noise, nobody dares to question if the public funds that are used in these ongoing political sorties where the president continues to star are funneled from Malacanang or not. Are we looking at a new strategy? If huge rallies are bankrolled by the Office of the President, the impropriety of which can always be justified as costs related with executive functions, they cannot be reflected in the candidates’ Statement of Contribution and Expenses as legally required of them to be eventually filed with the Comelec.

Aside from his frequent provincial campaign trips, President Duterte is seen everyday on television asking the electorate to vote for his party’s candidates. These are expensive advertisements being aired on prime television time when the president endorses his PDP Laban bets individually and at times collectively. All past presidents from Cory Aquino to Noynoy Aquino were hardly seen doing this. I hope i am wrong in thinking that using people’s money to pay for these TV ads is an acceptable new methodology.

There is, however, another evolving campaign scheme that violates my layman’s concept of decency and loyalty. In fact, this seemingly new strategy promotes double-dealing, if not betrayal. Candidates for senator Cynthia Villar, and Bong Go, are, to me, guilty of imitating the treachery of Judas Escariot in their obsession to make it to the top of the winners. Both of them are in President Duterte’s PDP-Laban ticket. When the president came here, he raised the arms of his party’s national and local candidates. On and off stage, Villar and Go, particularly, committed to support one another in the PDP Laban. Differently said, they all promised to be true and loyal to the men and women belonging to PDP Laban against opposing political groups.

I was disturbed last week in learning that Villar and Go vowed to support the candidacy Mayor Osmena because Osmena is not a PDP Laban candidate. Osmena is the opponent of Labella, the official candidate of the PDP-Laban for Cebu City mayor. In other words, Villar and Go, both of the president’s PDP Laban team, betray the president’s local candidates. Do not Villar and Go even know that President Duterte announced that he would slap the face of Osmena should they meet in undesirable times to dramatize his support for Labella? Should that situation occur, will both Villar and Go parry the hand of the president and direct it to the face of Labella instead ? If i am using an absurd situation, it is because the espousal of Villar and Go for the candidacy of Osmeña is a classic ignominious, indecent and shameless act of betrayal of a comrade-in-arms.