Advent foretells the coming of our liberator

Today is the start of the new liturgical calendar of the Church, as last Sunday was the end of the Ordinary Time. St Luke, in his Gospel, in Chapter 21, verses 25 to 28, gives us a gloomy picture of natural disasters and calamities, political upheavals, and social unrest. But what matters most is that at the end, our savior shall come. In our secular and political life too, our new liberator will come after May 9, 2022.

The people will never allow a political scenario where the son of a dictator would be back in Malacañang to rule over the country and place the whole nation under a clear and present danger of another martial law. The revisionists of Philippine history can never erase the bloodstained records of various political detainees, who were tortured, maimed, and silenced inside many detention centers. They cannot detract from the memory of the families of whose loved ones were taken and never returned. Thousands were snatched in the dark of night and until today they were never accounted for.

The entry of the president's virtual duplicate into the presidential race is a dreaded event, but God has turned it into a blessing in disguise for Vice President Leni Robredo. For the president's loyal followers will no longer be supportive of his daughter's presidential teammate. That means there will be no combined votes of the north and the south. Divided, they shall fall. The president himself called Sara's presidential bet as a weak leader, a spoiled son who has not done anything for the country. The camp of VP Leni does not have to attack both Marcos and Bong Go. BBM and Go are well capable of destroying each other. They can throw mud at each other while VP Leni will focus on principles, values, and concrete programs.

At the end of this political contest, only two shall remain in the ring: Bong Go and Leni Robredo. Marcos's certificate of candidacy may be cancelled by the Comelec and his attention will be distracted in trying to explain his tax problem and President Duterte's reference to alleged cocaine use. This may not be true, after all, but if the president keeps on repeating it, then it may find itself accepted as the truth. In fact, there are so many people who are now having serious doubts about BBM. VP Leni's most effective campaigner is President Duterte. It may turn out to be a Leni-Sara victory in 2022.

The candidacy of Isko is also helping Leni because the mayor of Manila will now get a big slice of BBM's votes in the National Capital Region. In 2016, Marcos got more than a million votes in NCR while Leni only had half of it. Now Isko will deny Marcos that million Metro Manila votes. Pacman is also helping Leni because the Mindanao bloc will be broken and the pambansang kamao will get a big slice of the Mindanaoan votes away from Bong Go and BBM. Ping Lacson will deny Marcos his margin of victory in Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal. Thus, all of them are unwittingly helping Leni, the only true opposition, after all.

Meanwhile Leni has the solid support of Bicol and the entire Visayas, from Aklan to Samar, except only Leyte. The governors and mayors have pledged support for either Bong Go or Marcos. But this is only to get the truckloads of campaign funds. The people love their governors and mayors, but they cannot be dictated for president and vice president. Leni will win in southern Tagalog, Bicol, in regions 6, 7, and even 8, as well as in Mindanao's region 9 and 10 as well as Caraga and the Bangsamoro.

The Advent promises a savior and the liberator will be a woman. And what a woman.