Right after the hasty presidential pardon of ousted prexy Joseph Estrada for plunder, he hasn't hidden his consuming obsession to reclaim the Palace by the Pasig river.
From his actuations, talks, and body language - not excluding his walk ala duck waddle - Erap's passion to run in 2010 "if there's no united opposition" is an open card and subtly categorical. Forget the "if" phrase as it only misleads the naïve. Erap's posture of a statesman-unifier, but ego-tripping pretense to give way to someone else is all a political farce or gimmickry.
Erap has correctly read the emerging footprints that with Pres. Gloria Arroyo's popularity at its deepening abysmal low, there are too many presidential hopefuls among the opposition pretenders. Deposed Senate president Manuel Villar is ready to spend a billion, as he himself estimated. And there are other anti-GMA senators: Ping Lacson, Loren Legarda, Mar Roxas, Francis Escudero, and now touted by Erap, as the "next president" is Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay.
Again, don't be sidetracked by Erap's ploy of backing Binay "konohay" because Binay can never "unite" the opposition as its lone candidate for the Palace post. And Erap knows it. While he now crows to boost Binay as his anointed choice in 2010, Erap can not take in anybody for a fool. Binay only muddles the already mired opposition Palace aspirants. And, the more reason for their disunity under Erap's too apparent monomania of a ploy.
Whoever hatched this amateurish scenario, if not Erap himself, underestimates and belittles the intellectual acuity of the Filipinos to see it through for what it is. Of course, Erap's ever loyal bailiwick in Manila and its peripheral cities find this scenario solomonic. And as Erap's sweet revenge and self-cleansing.
In fact after the pardon, Erap has made sorties in the slums in Metro Manila doling out candies to children, some rice and goodies to the poor families, and some "envelopmental" handouts. And to boot, making himself a scoop for media chats and photo ops.
Lately, Erap and his inseparable pol sidekick in "trapo" Ernesto Maceda, who could be the man behind the Erap revival, have now begun to sally into provincial sorties. Cebu being a leading vote-rich election decider, naturally was the first stop, starting in Carmen town down to Compostela and Liloan, then later Mandaue City enroute to Cebu City. While pretending to promote Jojo Binay as "the next president", Erap ends up with the usual "if there be no united opposition, I will run in 2010".
Erap's cadre of Erapians aside from Maceda and Binay, are his prospective senators: Showbiz Rex Cortez and Grace Poe, Binay himself, and perhaps, Maceda too, GMA-disgruntled Gina de Venecia, and Adel Tamano.
With Erap's accelerated "indirect campaign", Senator Loren Legarda who used to play coy not to open up with her presidential ambition, has now "unlied" herself. She now admits her passion to run for president, as she is "young enough to dream and too old to know the problems of this country".
Meantime, Erap has also begun with his GMA bashing in his talks, specifically targeting the worsening magnitude of corruption in the GMA administration. And he also until now still professes being angelic vis-à-vis corruption during his Palace watch.
This has led to some public reaction: "Unsay pagtuo ni Estrada nato, mga ignorante kaayo nga wa masayud nga konbiktado siya sa plunder? Moingon siya nga wala gyud nangawkaw sa gobyerno, unsa man diay nang plunder, dili diay na pangawat kun "corruption"?
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Email: lparadiangjr@yahoo.com