Necro-politics

With the unexpected turnout in last Monday’s elections, political neophyte Grace Poe-Llamanzares remains the talk of the town. Poe pulled off an upset as she topped the Senate race to the “magic 12” winning circle. Coming from behind in the pre-election surveys, Poe dislodged re-electionist Senator Loren Legarda from top spot. She also eased out two other front-runners in the pre-election surveys: re-electionist Senators Chiz Escudero and Alan Peter Cayetano.

With more than 15 million votes of partial, unofficial results as of press time yesterday, Poe sealed her stranglehold of the No. 1 spot. With Legarda coming a close second, their fellow Team P-Noy senatorial candidates Escudero and Cayetano are contesting the third and fourth slots.

The Team P-Noy sweep of the top ten was only broken in the middle by another political neophyte, Nancy Binay from the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA). She is the daughter of Vice President Jejomar Binay. Banking on her father’s name in politics, Nancy snatched the fifth slot.

Convening as the national board of canvassers, the seven-man Commission on Elections (Comelec) chaired by Sixto Brillantes officially proclaimed  the top six finishers in the Senate race. In hurriedly organized proclamation rites held last night at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Roxas Boulevard, Poe, Legarda, Escudero, Cayetano and Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara were paraded as the official top six winners of the Senate elections. Binay did not show up because of UNA’s petition to defer proclamation.

By all standards, Legarda, Escudero and Cayetano are veteran politicians that Poe pushed down the ladder of potential presidential timber. This was the apparent source of friction during the campaign among her fellow Team PNoy candidates who keep moist eyes on the next presidential elections in 2016.

Poe, 44, became one of the youngest, if not among the freshest faces installed into office as senator of the Republic. First appointed as chairperson of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB), Poe profusely thanked President Benigno “Noy” Aquino III for this newest opportunity to enter another field of public service.

Poe admitted earlier she herself was the most surprised candidate when she landed first in the initial unofficial canvassing of votes. Aside from being new in public service, Poe conceded she knows little about politics other than having helped in the campaign of her late father who ran but lost in the May 2004 presidential elections.

Poe, daughter of the late action star Fernando Poe Jr., is not getting much flak for being the senator with the highest number of votes. She credited her victory mostly to the supporters of her late father that voted for him but lost reportedly due to election fraud.

She acknowledged also with gratitude the endorsements she got from her father’s bosom buddy, former President Joseph Estrada despite the latter being one of the leaders of the rival UNA senatorial ticket. Poe should also thank Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim who put up in December last year a monument for her late father at Plaza Ferguson along Roxas Boulevard. This brought back Poe to the national consciousness of Filipino voters.

Coffee shop wags, however, have come up with the term “necro-politics” as the most plausible explanation for Poe’s stellar finish in the Senate race.

The selection of a virtual unknown in politics like Poe to run under the administration-backed senatorial ticket was a big gamble of P-Noy that paid off handsomely. After all, P-Noy himself is also a product of “necro-politics.” He cut short his six-year term as senator and decided to run for the presidency in the last 2010 elections following the death of his very popular mother, the late President Corazon Aquino.

Former President Aquino ran and won against the late dictator in the February 1986 snap presidential elections, riding the crest of popular unrest after the death of her husband, ex-Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. The widow was bashed by Marcosian propagandists for being a “plain housewife” who knew nothing about running the government nor the affairs of state for that matter.

Another product of “necro-politics” is Leni Robredo, widow of the late Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Jessie Robredo. A lawyer by profession, Leni won in the third congressional district of Camarines Sur against the political dynasty in the province.

Filipinos are culturally known for sympathizing with the underdog during elections. This was again proven in the just concluded elections with the victories of plain mothers and wives like Robredo, Poe and Binay.

Unlike Poe though, Binay’s fifth place finish continues to reap the vilest attacks. Actually, she has been at the receiving end of such cruel criticisms during the entire campaign period. Nancy’s swarthy complexion like her father’s was the butt of more derogatory comments, especially those from the elite in the social media. Aside from being literally tagged as a “dark” horse during the campaign, Nancy’s being a plain mother and wife was also cruelly ridiculed as not qualified for the Senate.

Father and daughter took in stride these attacks on them primarily because of their family’s domination in the Philippine politics. First ruled by their patriarch, the Binays have lorded over the city of Makati for more than two decades now.

Binay’s namesake son, Junjun won virtually unopposed in last Monday’s election for his second term as mayor. Another daughter, incumbent Makati Rep. Abigail Binay also won her third and last term in Congress.

Obviously, however, the attacks on the Binays are largely fueled by the rather premature declaration of the Vice President to run in the next presidential elections three years from now.

The results of this year’s mid-term elections are seen as a preview of the coming 2016 presidential contest. A number of other political dynasties in the country were not as lucky as the Binays. The chinks in political dynasties are showing this early. Barring necro-politics – because we do not wish death to anyone – it is still anybody’s race in 2016.