The magic of a visit to Mayor Inday
I am happy Lord Allan Velasco has been installed as House speaker. I prefer a gentleman with word of honor to another who doesn’t honor his words. I have always had a soft spot for Velasco, since he was in my classes in UST Law, meek, humble, and soft-spoken, even as his father was a Supreme Court magistrate.
I just wanted to annotate that Velasco won the support of more than 200 out of the 300 or so members of the lower chamber because of four principal reasons. First, the visit to Crown Princess Sara, the kingmaker from Davao, at the crucial stage of the confrontasi. Second, the meeting in the Palace with the king. Third, the so-called Blood Compact of 1521. And fourth, the magnet of the underdog image. Demure, soft-spoken, and seemingly harmless, with his disarming smile that make Congressman Joey Salceda inspired and animated. Yes, there is some sort of charisma in the smiles of Velasco, and the young female members of the House seem naturally drawn to him.
The most important factor, however, and we should never forget this, that led to the conquest of Alan Peter was the signal that was conveyed by that simple but auspicious lunch of Velasco with Mayor Inday in Davao. The crown princess, being a consummate politician, was speaking in parables but the herds of congressmen and women, who have been favored by the gods with the gifts of wisdom and discernment, knew how to read the formations of the cumulus and nimbus clouds in the political sky. They knew that Mayor Inday was endorsing the Lord. All she said is that her Hugpong is behind the fulfillment of the Treaty of 1521. But breaking bread with the presumptive next president speaks a million words.
Actually, Alan Peter was the first to go to Davao with his wife, Lani, the former mayor of Taguig, now the honorable representative of its first district. But Princess Sara delegated the polite gesture of meeting the Cayetanos to his brothers, princes Polong and Baste. The fact that the kingmaker refused to meet him was a tell-tale sign that the heart of Sara belongs to Marinduque. The lawyers will tell you about the Latin maxim; res ipsa loquitor. The thing speaks for itself. The Velascos are closer to the Dutertes than the Cayetanos are. The only reason why Alan Peter was given the first 15 months of the Treaty of 1521 was to reward him for his many efforts especially the slaying of the ABS-CBN dragon, and the filing of petitions for TRO against the highly-obnoxious Trillanes political ad on the eve of the 2016 presidential polls.
But Velasco had already been with the camp of King Rodrigo, at those lonely times when there were only a few members of PDP in the Lower House. And Mayor Inday has a special fondness for Velasco because of his consistent loyalty to the party. All his verbals and non-verbals have integrity. Not like the Sultan of Taguig who talks too much and delivers too little. Lord Alan Velasco is the Dutertes' true favorite. In fact, the youngest daughter of Lord Alan Jay was named Sara, and the ninang is, guess who, no other than crown princess of Davao. My very unassuming former student in UST Law, Lord Alan Jay, is now a full-fledged politician. He knows how to play his marbles.
And since I have a special project for Congress, I shall be seeing my former student more often. I need his blessings for the amendment of the Labor Code, and the advocacy for the OFWs. I will bring with me my UST class records and finally show him his class standing and his mid-term and final grades in three Labor Law subjects. I know he will be amused. Lord Alan is a presumptive vice presidential bet if he plays his cards well. And his grades are part of his cards.
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