-!
TtreElbctorate should rake up th€ pronuses uutcrre
10
POSTSCRIPT
FEDERICO D. PASCUAL JT.
It's a referendum
on Duterte regime
\AffiH rTii"'?nlTii:f#
V Y ing aspect oi the May i3
election- that it is also a midterm
refercndum on the Duterte presi-
dency - be brought into focus to
help the people dast an informed
vote, especially on the 12 Senate
seats at stake.
of app:oval on how he has been running the country-
And every vote for opposition Senate candidates,
particularly for the Otso Diretso team, muld register as
arebuke to Duterte, or at least serve flotice that the voter
wants a perfonnance upgrade or a quick replacement.
Some sectors say, with rcason, that a vote fn'r DuHle's
candidate may not alu,'ays mean approvaf but couldiustbe
a mani{estatirjrr gt the effect.of prupaganda. To cunirt$e
civic nourn, the acaderne media md odrer
sec-to1€ isanvohrdeducation-
- as 12 or hall of its 24 seats ara
gp lqr grabs lts present Palace'friendly majori$ could
be diluted if voters would only select candidates not on
the basis of their popularity rir being simpatico, but for
their competence, empathy and honesty.
The Senate could stillbecomelargely independm! as
desire{ if transfused with fresh deih 6lood *rough the
election of candidates wbo, aside from being comfttent
and pakiotic, are not beholden to vested interesb and
lobby groups, nor are runners of the President.
If we are looking for check and balance, we can
count out the House of Representatives which generally
functions as an annex.of Malacaflang. ThenthEreis ats"o
the Supreme Court, with Chief Justice Lucas Bersamin
holding the line, but it seldom comes into play except
when cases are brrcught before it.
It is interesting btw, that with several senior SC mem-
bers looking forward to retiremen! all the i5 jusiie will
eventually be Duterte appointees if he lasb frll2022 But
while the magistates ariinttical appointees of tte Presi-
dent, memben of the Sernte are elected by the people.
The May 13 election comes, thereforb, as in oppor-
tunity for an aroused citizenry to install a fiercelylnde.
p_endent Senate, a chamber fopulated not by .io**,
show;biz characters and would-be plunderers, but by
statesmen, intellecluals and patriots.
As the President acts as ehdorser of favored candi-
dates, particularly for the Senate, the election campaign
becomes a period for putting the endorser himself under
scrutinv in some kind of oolitical audif-
to win the-presidenry in-20161such as ending
comrption and ttie drug menace in six months, stol>
oine dre
ping ENDO practice with contract labot
the UNOO labol so.lving
solving the
EDS.A'traffic mess, making the nation self-sufficient in
rice, and opening more'iobs, et cetera.
It could^tum oirt that 6ome of the statements he made
on the campaim trail were not solemn promises, but
outright lied toised at people made vulneiable and gul-
lible 6v programmed ignorance and poverty.
Throush"the ballot, the people must also speak up on
Duterte'.s"stance on Chinats oicupying and militarizing
features in our Exclusive Econoinic Zone, on Chinese
disolacins Filipino workers and fishermery and his
hoc'king vEluabie patrimonial assets to secure huge loans
for his ambitious proiects.
Catholic voters, *ho comprise 80 percent of the
oooulation, mav want to us^e the election to teach
bt"rt" a lesson'in politics and morals, for- his-vulgar
language and his pnUticty insulting God' the Chundx,
its tenets and its flock.
President Duterte is aware that his political nedc is
on the line, that the.coming election is a referendum on
his nersona and his turbulent presidenry.
A* *" noted in our Postscriit of Ap6[Z1',he devotes
a good part of his rambling chmpaign speeches to his
pbsratils and performance before he segues almost as
an #ter-thouglit to briefly mention his candidates sitting
bored on staie. See: h tttjs : | | tinvurl. co m I y xnsy 5 cc
appalently believe
Some of drterte's cairdidates who afparently
they can make
thev it on their
1n+e 4 9n.theg own
owrl or u*
are aFaid
++d many to be splat-
tered
ter*5d with
wlth the flak
tlak that he
ne gets do
oo notioin
not lorn his
of rus
or
campaign sortieg -but u{g iaring well. One.example is
Sen.'GrXce Poe, who is fixated with capturing the No.
1 snot in the Senate race.
' . Dutede bets slide in polls but keep lead
ALL administration senatorial candidates lost per-
centage shares of the "votes" in PulseAsia's April 1'&1'4
but held on to the top lzslott even while four
",l*"ln
ooooiition bets sained shanis but still failed to land in
# st#stcaly Vvinning br-acket except for Sen' Bam
Aouinowhowas No. 14.
'W" uttnttt" that everything about the survey, in-
cluding the design and the fieild work on the sample
repre#nting sotrie 60 *illion voters in 81 provinces, the
naltional capTtal region, 146 citie+ 1,488 to*ns and 42,036
barangaysiwas aciomplished in FIVE DAYS according
to orofessional standardsl
tvnthia \4llar edeed out Grace Poe to lead the field.
ComDarins the Apriipoll results to those of the previous
-o.til't (M"arch), ire ioted, howevet that wh'ilb ail the
administration bets slipped, four opposition candidates
smred notable gains in heir percentagb shares of the votes.
We cannot dxplain theifone-month slidg so we will
iust give the figLires based on tlre Pulse Asia tables:
' CX the votes of the 1,800 adults interviewed nationwide
in April these candidateg two of them from the Oeo
Direfuo tickeL slid in their shares of the votes: Pe (22.1
percent), Sonny Angara (-18.1%), Bong Go (-14.9%),F.
tolentino (-12.9%), \rnar (tz%), ImCMarcos (9.47o),
Nancv Birrrv G9.3%), S. Osmena (-8.4%), Bato dela Rosa
G8.1%), P Cayetano (-8.1%), Mar Roxas (4'U/o),Iinggoy
Estrada (4.4%) Bam Aquino C5%). Others slipped by
smaller Dercentases.
Gain5rs u*o""s the opposition candidates were: N.
Colmenares (+2.8!ercent)-, G.Alejano (+1.5%), S. Gutoc
(+1.1%)and C. Diokno (+.6%).Despite their gains, they
failed to land in the first*l4
?ttf
ADVISORY' P o st s t r p t sare archi ved at ms n il am ail'
i
rntn. Atfihor is onTwittei as @FDPqse'nl. Email feedback