The friends of Max Soliven have chosen Gibo!

I was in Manila last weekend for the graduation of my daughter Katrina from the International School for Culinary & Hotel Management (ISCHAM) at the Palms in Ayala Alabang. When he knew I was coming over, my good friend Erik Espina (the son of former Cebu Governor and Senator Rene Espina), columnist of the Manila Bulletin, took advantage of my being in Manila to have me as guest of his TV show dubbed “Republika” on Destiny Cable, which was shown last Friday evening. This was my third TV interview in Metro Manila in just a span of ten days.

If there is something I’m learning about these elections it is that a lot of people have become so confused partly because even the mainstream media, both in print and on TV, are supporting one candidate and considered biased. It reminds me of the Presidential elections in 1986, when the people could no longer rely on the mainstream media because they were owned by Marcos cronies. Hence the so-called mosquito media sprouted as they came up with a more credible reportorial of the news events as they unfolded.

However thank God that today we have the Internet or text messaging where reports that often cannot see print or reported on TV are being peddled to the general public. I submit that too often, we have to make sure that these reports are verifiable. This is why when stories about the mental health of Liberal Party (LP) bet Noynoy Aquino came out, we refrained from writing about it… as it was difficult to verify. But then, The STAR’s Carmen Pedrosa came up last Saturday with that article that after all, “It was Ninoy who sought psychiatric help for Noynoy.” How I wish that all this was a cruel joke!

But this should bring us to the question whether or not all the Presidentiables should be made to take a series of tests, from drug testing to psychiatric evaluation? This was one of the questions that Erik Espina asked me and I pointed out that if the Land Transportation Office (LTO) requires drivers to take a drug test so we can drive around the country… how much more for our heads of state who would steer this nation either to prosperity or to further decline? If I had my way, I’d say there is still time for this test.

Meanwhile as we go towards the last kilometer stretch in this Presidential race, I encountered a lot of people who are still undecided. A lot of taxi drivers would tell me that they were once either for Erap, Noynoy or Villar… but because of too much mudslinging they don’t know whom they should be voting for. In fact, a lot of my readers have also emailed me asking me the question, if Sir Max Soliven were alive today, who would he be choosing as our next President? The only way for me to find this out was to ask his old close friends or barkada who are still in close contact with each other.

Call it an uncanny coincidence or even divine providence that while I was staying at the fabulous Bellevue Hotel (courtesy of my good friend Hotelier Arthur Lopez), Sir Arthur called me to join the old core group of Sir Max Soliven for dinner at the Alabang residence of Sir Babes Romualdez which was a mere five minutes away from the Bellevue Hotel.

Of course, we talked a lot about politics over wine and Kobe beef and I asked each one of them whether they have decided which candidate they would choose and it was unanimous… they have declared their support for Gilbert “Gibo” Teodoro Jr. Then I asked them that if Sir Max were alive today, would he agree with them on their choice? The answer was a resounding “Yes!” and they gave me the go-signal to spread this information.

I can vouch for this because since the 1992 elections, Sir Max and our group would always analyze each single Presidentiable and we would come up with a consensus as to who was the better man or woman to take over Malacanang. A case in point was when we chose Fidel V. Ramos against House Speaker Ramon Mitra Jr. and Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago. We were right on the nail as FVR became President. The only time I differed with Sir Max was when he was for Erap in the 1998 elections, while I had to support our fellow Cebuano Lito Osmeña. But I knew Erap would win that race!

In the 2004 elections, again we went on a consensus choosing between then survey leader Sen. Raul Roco, Sen. Ping Lacson (who was then the choice of Sir Max early in the race) and Fernando Poe Jr. Well, we analyzed all the facts and we supported Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (GMA) and she won despite the fact that both SWS & Pulse Asia predicted her loss.

Back to the taxi drivers, I asked them what qualities they liked about Gibo and I got the same reply… that Gibo earned their respect as he refuses to engage in mudslinging, which the other Presidentiables have been doing. Hence they believe that a Gibo Presidency can heal our land faster than those Presidentiables who have thrown mud and hate at each other.

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For e-mail responses to this article, write to [email protected] or vsbobita@ gmail.com. His columns can be accessed through www.philstar.com.