| Roco Should Withdraw By Antonio C. Abaya April 28, 2004 We are all happy that Raul Roco is back from a two-week medical sabbatical in Texas, and we are all relieved to hear that his affliction with a recurrent prostate cancer is apparently not immediately life-threatening. Prostate cancer is one of the few cancers for which prognosis is not automatically a death sentence. Many men live many years after being found to have prostate cancer; some even survive it completely. US Senator John Kerry, the Democrat rival of George W. Bush in the November 2004 presidential elections, has been living with prostate cancer for some time. And so has retired Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf , who led the first war against Saddam Hussein in 1991, and macho film star Sean Connery. The key is early detection (through a periodic PSA test, which costs about P850 in Metro Manila) and early management through diet and medication. But Raul Roco should withdraw from the presidential race as soon as possible. His candidacy under the Alyansa ng Pag-asa is, well, hopeless. In the two weeks that he was away, his rating in public opinion surveys dropped significantly from 15% (in the SWS poll of April 10-17) to 8.9% (in the NFO Trends poll of April 20-22). The complete ratings in the NFO Trends poll are: President Arroyo, 36.9%; Ronald Allan Poe or FPJ, 26.4%; Lacson, 13.2%; Roco, 8.9%; Villanueva, 5.2%; undecided, 9.5. Of the 6.1 points that Roco lost, 4.7 apparently went to President Arroyo, and most of the balance joined the undecided. Neither FPJ nor Ping Lacson nor Eddie Villanueva gained significantly from Roco�s virtual withdrawal, which should not surprise anyone since Roco�s supporters are mostly middle-class, educated and idealistic, whose main concern at this point is to prevent the ignoramus FPJ from hijacking the presidency. A formal withdrawal soon would produce similar results, whether or not he formally endorses President Arroyo. This ignominious finale to his presidential campaign and political career would be especially heart-breaking to Roco since he was leading in most of the surveys in 2003, before the entry of FPJ into the arena. I have always referred to Roco as the most attractive alternative to President Arroyo because of his intelligence, his eloquence and his unblemished record of public service. It is ironic, and a disgraceful indictment of this country�s political culture, that Roco was done in by someone who is his exact opposite: incredibly dumb, insurmountably inarticulate and with absolutely no experience in government service. Hanging on to second place in the surveys, Roco suffered another blow when President Arroyo, under fire for going back on her word not to run, chose the vastly popular TV news reader Noli de Castro as her vice-presidential partner, a move which catapulted her to second place and pushed Roco down to third. Which is where Roco languished for months, until his fate was sealed by the recurrence of his prostate cancer. Roco must be heartbroken and embittered by the unraveling of his political career and personal destiny, and must be asking himself why God or the gods has/have not smiled on him at this critical juncture of his life. In hindsight, it can be said that he peaked too early, that he could not sustain his leading position in the surveys, absent any spectacular initiative from him to counteract the mass appeal of Da Emperor with No Clothes. But offhand I cannot imagine what spectacular initiative he could have launched to stay on top other than to proclaim that early what everybody except the turds in the Pwet ng Masa now acknowledges, that FPJ was supremely unqualified for the presidency. Roco was, perhaps, too politically correct, too gentlemanly to resort to such negative campaigning, but he would, perhaps, have gained more middle-class points for his brutal frankness and candor. It can also be said that Roco�s inability to enlist a more high-profile vice-presidential partner and a more complete senatorial slate of well-known public figures contributed to the dimming of his political star. True, he managed to coalesce his Aksyon Demokratiko with Lito Osmena�s Promdi and Rene de Villa�s Reporma parties. But one miniscule party plus two miniscule parties equaled three miniscule parties. There was no synergy in the alliance, consequently not much campaign contributions either. Roco stood out from among the five presidential contenders by the brilliance of his intellect and the sharpness of his eloquence and wit. But this is not Victorian or Edwardian England, only Da Pilipins, the roughest, toughest, scruffiest place west of Tombstone, Arizona, where effete gentlemen with manicured manners and impeccable grammar are laughed out of the Pwet ng Masa Saloon. But Roco�s exit could have been better managed and strategized. I can understand his compelling need to remain in the fight, but more candor would have been appreciated. There was no need to keep secret the names of the Texas hospital where he sought treatment and (until April 29) the Texas doctors who attended to him, and there was no need to hide (until April 29) the medical bulletins that spelled out his affliction. There was also no need to pretend that he was in Houston when all the time, it turned out, he was in LA. This did not augur well for transparency under a now-academic Roco presidency. For his sake, I hope that Raul Roco will have withdrawn with grace by the time this article sees print and goes through the Internet. ***** CORRUPTION HORSE MANURE. A full-page ad which appeared April 14 in the two broadsheets that I read and which was a paid advertisement from an organization which called itself the 3 Years Is Enough Coalition, screams: We�re No. 4! Subhead: It took GMA less than 3 years to move us up from No. 11 to No. 4 in the graft list. Sub-subhead: RP ranks 4th most corrupt in Asia. An article from �Tribune, March 4, 2004� is reprinted, as is a portion of an article from Today, April 11, 2004, together with a table of Corruption in Asia 2004, from Malaya, March 17, 2004. But nowhere in the text is there any reference to the Philippines moving up from No. 11 to No. 4 in the graft list. In the Corruption Table cited from Malaya, the Philippines is ranked No. 4 (after Indonesia, India and Vietnam), a position which the Philippines has consistently occupied every year during the presidencies of Cory Aquino, Fidel Ramos, Joseph Estrada and Gloria Arroyo, as I pointed out in my article of March 31 titled �Most Corrupt Leaders� (archived in www.tapatt.org). If the Philippines was ever only the 11th most corrupt country in Asia, as the stupid ad claims, then that would have made this country even cleaner than Singapore, which is the 10th and least corrupt country in the cited Corruption Table from Malaya. But this state of affairs never ever happened in the entire history of Planet Earth. The 3 Years Is Enough Coalition should be pilloried for peddling an outright lie. ***** The bulk of this article appears in the May 08 2004 issue of the Philippines Free Press magazine. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Reactions to �Roco Should Withdraw� I don�t think there�s anything that prepares a man�other than his courage and inner character�for the cruel dilemma Roco now faces as he stares at his inexorable political and, God forbid, not improbable physical demise. He will be assailed by conflicting forces: the need to give some measure of hope to partymates who are all doomed to defeat, to bow out of the race with his dignity, honor and sense of self-importance intact, to keep the fire and the dream of his party�s resurgent youth arm undimmed, to avert an unmitigated disaster with an FPJ victory and a possible upheaval with a GMA win, to keep still and remain whole even as his consuming dream of finding the Holy Grail unravels. I pray he will find the courage, and may his own inner resources lead him, to decide what�s right for himself, his family, his allies, his country and by his God. Vicente C. de Jesus, [email protected] April 30, 2004 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww The Tribune is a forlorn paper. Often I see it in the stands gathering dust till evening. Yes, Roco should have withdrawn in the American way: straight to the point instead of the Filipino roundabout way. Ross Tipon, [email protected] April 30, 2004 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww 11:26 PM 4/29/2004, you wrote: >Roco Should Withdraw heck, his campaign is terminal already anyway. Jim Ayson, [email protected] April 30, 2004 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Tony-- We all have been taken for a ride by the lawyer in Roco. He went to Los Angeles, not Houston, as he now admits. Vic Agustin, [email protected] Philippine Daily Inquirer April 30, 2004 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww (Through the CebuPolitics egroup) YES, he should not! The survey spin masters may have infiltrated the mind of our Tony. Consciously or unconsciously, I wonder which? Neither, no? Although Tony is reputed to be a good fellow, I think anyone who mouths with confidence the suspicious survey data, manipulates them and tries to thrust into our heads the flawed conclusions (obviously) as truth deserves to be doubted or scrutinized with extreme caution. Did Tony see the turnout of Bro Eddie�s rally yesterday? The media, who are probably in cahoots with the present administration, no different from the pollster who are, estimated the crowd to be around 10,000. Gee, many saw it like it was 80,000, the more credible figure for me. Does Tony see what I am getting at? What I mean is, we can't just take someone's word with candidate preferences especially since vote buying and client-vested interests have never been factored. You know, if some people overwhelmed by their vested interests can still have the guts to tell us 10,000 with everyone's eyes able to see 80,000 for himself, how much more for a survey where the questions are hidden from us, the manner of gathering the answers unknown to us, the client is craftily never divulged, and the possibility of lying and cheating are ever so present?! If we take the survey as credible, like Tony does, then by golly I can agree with him. However, since the surveys are suspicious, as they are to those who understand the technical nature and intricacies of surveys, and if I may use a few of his very words, I�d say, �But this is Da Pilipins, Tony! So why make them the bases of your recommendations?� I don�t know much about our Tony, but by the way he talks, he doesn�t seem to be an experienced politician (authority) or a very reasonable fellow. But I have to agree to certain assertions he made, like, 1) �I have always referred to Roco as the most attractive alternative to President Arroyo because of his intelligence, his eloquence and his unblemished record of public service, and 2) Roco stood out from among the five presidential contenders by the brilliance of his intellect and the sharpness of his eloquence and wit.� These propositions were made to convey Roco as the best candidate in Tony�s eyes. However, what followed right next to the second statement is a complete denial because when he factored in the masa into his �best candidate formula,� he completely negated the "truth" he previously gallantly declared! Roco, after all, did not stand out before his eyes! He does only without considering the masa. What I have next to say may not be news to Tony. I hope though it is. It is my view that today Roco stands out before most everyone, including the majority in the masa! This view will not change despite surveys to the contrary. It stays until I am proven wrong by the actual count in May 10. Ogie Reyes, [email protected] April 30, 2004 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww (Through the CebuPolitics egroup) If Roco withdraws he may be viewed as a quitter. Not a good sign for a presidentiable. So I hope he does'nt. And what about the millions of citizens that need a good leader at this critical juncture in the country's history. Maybe some are floating this idea to confuse the electorate for their candidates benefit. Ray Eced, [email protected] April 30, 2004 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww (Through the CebuPolitics egroup) You can bet on that, Ray. Somebody's dirty tricks team is at work here, trying to confuse the people so that they will still settle with their candidate who will only continue to bury the Philippines in the grave of poverty, backwardness, and hopelessness. Raul Roco should fight on. Who knows, the Filipino people might just wake up to the truth that they still have the best choice available for them. It's still 9 days to go before election day. As Roco said, political fortunes can be overturned in 1 day. Let's continue to support the best, most qualified choice for our sakes, our children's, and children's children. Go ROCO go! :) Cheers, Johannis Dihayco, [email protected] May 01, 2004 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww A wise man should know when to say "Yes", say "No" and when to quit...Anyway, whoever wins this presidency will surely fail as described in your past column. Sad to say but our leaders just don't have the little hinges that will swing big doors for our country. Juancho Sempio, [email protected] May 07, 2004 OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO |
 |
 |
| ON THE OTHER HAND |