Last Friday was the deadline for the filing of certificates of candidacy for all aspirants in the 2016 election.
For the presidential race, there are three serious candidates – Vice President Binay, Secretary Mar Roxas, Sen. Grace Poe and Sen. Miriam Santiago. Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, despite being egged on by his supporters, filed a certificate for candidacy for the position of mayor of Davao city. Aspirants for the vice presidency are Sen. Chiz Escudero, Rep. Leni Robredo, Sen. Gringo Honasan and Sen. Bongbong Marcos.
Marcos seems to enjoy an edge over the others because he is the lone candidate from Ilocos where the Marcos clan has a strong hold of the solid north plus the Leyte area because of the Romualdezes. Escudero, Robredo, Cayetano, Trillanes and Honasan come from Bicol, thus dividing the votes there.
Roxas appears to enjoy a small advantage over his rivals because he belongs to the Liberal Party and enjoys the government machinery plus President Aquino’s help in campaigning for him with leaders in the Senate and the House of Representatives.
Sen. Grace Poe reigns supreme in the surveys but is hounded by legal issues of her citizenship plus the weird situation where her husband and children are American citizens.
Binay’s popularity is slowly being eroded as reflected in surveys. Adding to his list of woes are allegations of corruption that make people conclude Binay is guilty although he has not been convicted in a court of law.
For the senate, the Liberal Party is predicted to get six to seven seats. There are some incumbent senators and former senators running for the Upper House as independents like Migz Zubiri, Sen. Serge Osmeña and former Sen. Dick Gordon.
What came as a surprise was Serge Osmeña’s non-inclusion in the Liberal Party slate considering that he was the President’s campaign manager in the last election. I think Osmeña’s critical statements against the Aquino administration cost him the Liberal Party slot.
Rep. Roman Romulo was hankering to be on the Liberal Party’s senatorial lineup but instead landed in the ticket of Poe-Escudero.
In the presidential race, the entry of Miriam Santiago may affect the votes of Mar Roxas.
If Mayor Duterte decides to run for president, Binay’s piece of the voters pie may shrink because Binay’s votes usually come from Mindanao.
Poe is leading in surveys today but things may drastically change as election day draws nearer.
The Santiago-Marcos tandem confounded a lot of people as they are strange bedfellows-–– a graft buster picking the son of the country’s no. 1 corrupt president. However, there are those who say that the son should not be held accountable for the sins of his father, a stance shared by Senator Santiago.
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In Cebu, the political landscape is also interesting with Gov. Jun Davide and Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale of the Liberal Party running against One Cebu party’s Winston Garcia and Nerissa Soon-Ruiz.
With the entry of Garcia, the election atmosphere in the province bears watching. Though it is said that the Liberal Party of Davide-Magpale enjoys an edge over the candidates of One Cebu, Garcia is no pushover. He can say that it ain’t over till the fat lady sings.
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