If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Diosdado Macapagal, late President and father of the incumbent, lost his re-election bid to Ferdinand Marcos. He lost by landslide.

His daughter, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, is bent on not duplicating that debacle.

First, she allies herself and her party with that of Marcos crony Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco. She’ll be needing his party machinery and dollar moolahs. Danding, who failed in his presidential bid in the last elections, is contented to be king- (or should I say, queen-) maker and will back up Gloria because the opposition has no viable contender.

Secondly, she’s engineering future massive cheating through the Commission on Elections (Comelec). The latest news is that the Comelec has disallowed the National Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) from conducting its own unofficial count.

When asked by ABS-CBN why Namfrel was being banned, Comelec Chairman Benjamin Abalos had stated, “Suppose we have different tallies, who will the people believe?” Of course, we all know the answer to that. For years Filipinos have looked to Namfrel for unbiased counting. In coming elections, the all-important one being next May, it will be just the Comelec to tell us who’s winning.

Thirdly, Gloria would need a Supreme Court favorable to her and her party in case of complaints about election irregularities. The independent-minded Hilario Davide would not be of the best interest. Thus, a collusion with Danding, Speaker of the House Jose De Venecia and Congress lap dogs to oust the Chief Justice.

Yet, she did not foresee the public outrage at the impeachment of the Hon. Davide (politicians, in fact, never feel the pulse of the nation). So she tries to save face by publicly supporting the embattled Chief Justice. So does the wheeling-dealing de Venecia. And a number of Congressmen who first signed to impeach, but now have withdrawn their signatures.

At present, talks are underway in Congress on its next move. The Supreme Court, after receiving several petitions from various groups for a temporary restraining order on Congress, has requested the Lower House not to forward the impeachment just yet to the Senate. Congress has reluctantly complied.

My guess is Congress will stand down, withdraw the impeachment and, as much as possible, come out rosy. I wait with bated breath at how they’re going to word their restraint of abusive power.

The good news is, whatever the outcome, Filipinos already know whom not to vote for in the coming elections. It looks like Gloria will follow in her father’s footsteps after all.

Click here to send money to the Philippines with Xoom. ONLINE & CONVENIENT – LOW FEES – GUARANTEED. Send now.

Mindless Terrorism?Gloria Powerful? Over Who?Gloria Resign! And then What?