AFTER almost six years of hibernating with no public sightings and not a single statement relevant to the current situation the country is facing save for regular nonsensical posts on social media, it appears that erstwhile presidential candidate Gilberto Teodoro a.k.a. “Gibo” is largely forgotten and confined to the dustbin of almost but not quite presidential candidates.
Then suddenly from out of nowhere, with almost no warning at all, netizens were surprised when posts appeared on social media alluding – even strongly suggesting – that the almost forgotten Gibo is very much interested in joining the fray come 2022 presidential elections.
Which does not come as a surprise. After all, the man is a politician and as some say could have been a much better president than his cousin, that nincompoop Noynoy Aquino. Yes, Gibo is a member of the Cojuangco clan from Tarlac courtesy of his mother.
Again, suddenly without warning, the social media manager or whoever is handling the Facebook page of Gibo shared a post from another netizen comparing this fellow to Davao City’s Mayor Sara Duterte. And not only comparing but saying Gibo is better than Sara Duterte, and at the same time blocking reactions or comments from other netizens who completely disagree that the almost non-existent Gibo is a better presidential candidate than the current Mayor of Davao City who also happens to be the daughter of very popular President Rodrigo Duterte. That is a move straight out from the “devotees to the cult of the yellow ribbon” playbook; block and antagonize those who don’t agree with you.
At first, when I saw those previous post of Gibo suggesting an interest in joining the 2022 presidential elections, I thought they were just testing the waters. On second thought, after seeing the post comparing Gibo to Sara Duterte and saying he is better than her, I have this nagging suspicion that Gibo is the opposition’s Plan B for the presidential elections come 2022 considering the fact that Leni Robredo, after almost six years of projecting herself as the “next president”, failed miserably in all surveys and is a “hard sell” product.
In those almost six years of photo-ops, press cons, disagreeing with just anything that President Duterte says and along the way badmouthing the country and the government and all that, Leni only succeeded in making a fool of herself and exposing herself to be intellectually challenged.
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And speaking of Plan B, this is certainly one: “Our dream of leveling up and becoming an even greater metropolis got a fresh boost today with the approval of our bill adding a legislative district in Iloilo City,” Iloilo City Lone District Rep. Julienne Baronda, author of House Bill 8477, said.
Talks from the coffee shop habitués and so- called political pundits of “I Am Iloilo City” were saying that if the city was divided into two congressional districts, current Representative Baronda would avoid a face-off with outgoing Sen. Franklin Drilon who, talks say, is strongly considering running for Congress when his term as senator ends this 2022.
So Plan B and political survival indeed if that happens for Congresswoman Baronda. But really, who cares if “I Am Iloilo City” has two districts, if the city has two representatives in Congress? It will probably be good for the natives of both districts as it would create some sort of competition as to which is the better district and representative. So each one would try to out-develop each other in terms of services and infrastructure. So more bike lanes and esplanades all the way to Boracay and Sicogon.
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Meanwhile, Leni Robredo seems to have a Plan B for her political survival too. After almost six years it finally sunk in that all the pa-tweetums effect, anemic spaghetti, black olives and pandesal just didn’t seem to work, all she succeeded was having people calling her Madumb which doesn’t seem very presidential.
The final straw was probably her latest gig, “Usapang Bakuna with VP Leni Robredo”. All it did was give people a good laugh comparing her to a television talent in a detergent soap or cooking oil TV commercial.
In a recent interview with GMA News in Naga City, Camarines Sur, when asked about her plans for the coming 2022 presidential elections, she said, “So very honestly, if I had a choice, I would prefer a local position.”
By the way, will barangay elections be also held in the 2022 presidential elections? Somehow I see Leni Robredo finding her place as a barangay kagawad in her barangay in Naga City./PN
