Shouting out for Leni

By Herbert Vego

THE long wait is over. Vice-President Leni Robredo has announced and filed her candidacy for the presidency under the Liberal Party – a decision that has sparked overwhelming public shout-outs in both the streamline and social media.

It was the opposition coalition 1Sambayan though that had patiently united in begging her to run based on her track record in upholding morality, righteousness, sincerity and valor in public service.

“Buong buo ang loob ko ngayon,” she firmly said yesterday, “ Kailangan nating palayain ang sarili mula sa kasalukuyang sitwasyon. Lalaban ako. Lalaban tayo. Inihahain ko ang aking sarili bilang kandidato sa pagkapangulo sa halalan ng 2022.”

Having served as a representative of the 3rd District of Camarines Sur and now as vice-president, the 56-year-old widow of the late Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo believes that if she is destined for a higher position, so be it.

But “greed for power” is definitely not in her vocabulary. As she herself revealed, she had kept herself open for a lower gubernatorial position and might have gone for it had “insisted public clamor” not changed her mind.

If President Duterte could only be candid about it, she would admit that she is one of the few who could “disappoint” him without fear. He had appointed her to two important positions – first, as head of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) in July 2016; second, as co-chairperson of the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs (ICAD in October 2019. Was he hoping he would be “approve without thinking” his policies?

In December 2016, barely five months in her HUDCC office, she resigned, saying, “From the very beginning, the president and I had major differences in principles and values.”

She had criticized Duterte for his decision to bury the late President Ferdinand Marcos at Libingan ng mga Bayani, calling it “an insult to the memory of those who suffered under Marcos’ martial law.”

In November 2019, three weeks after appointing her to ICAD, President Rodrigo Duterte fired  Vice President Leni Robredo because he had lost trust in her.

She countered that it must have been due to her meetings with the United Nations (UN) officials over “extra-judicial killings” done by the police ins Duterte’s war on drugs.

Obviously, had she kept her mouth shut, she would have kept her job while lending “credibility” to his administration.

No other “opposition” presidential timber now promising a better life for the Filipinos could claim similar feats of incorruptibility. Take the case of  Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson, who had been a police officer during martial law. He and his vice-presidential running mate, Tito Sotto, had been Duterte’s voice in the Senate, being the principal authors of the  “Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020” that allows detention of suspected “terrorists” without warrant of arrest for 14 days, and extendable by 10 more days.

Are the other presidential timbers critical of Duterte– Isko Moreno and Manny Pacquiao – not good enough to restore sanity and good governance in this country?

To be candid about it Manny, who had not shown grit as congressman and senator, would not have deserted Duterte under friendlier circumstances.

Isko slipped when he vowed to give the outgoing president a cabinet post if elected.

Barring unforeseen circumstances, Leni also faces the likelihood of a “rematch” with the late dictator’s son, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, who is now presumed to be Duterte’s “successor”.

Leni bested Bongbong in the race for vice-president in 2016.

But is she is not losing in the early commercial surveys this time?

Probably, but with so much “Leni! Leni” noise expected from all sectors disgruntled with both the Marcos and the Duterte eras, this would be enough to drown the fake surveys.

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POWER DISCONNECTION RESUMES

MORE Electric and Power Corp. (MORE Power) may disconnect electricity of customers with overdue accounts within this month of October now that Iloilo City has been downgraded into the less restrictive General Community Quarantine (GCQ) classification due to a decrease in the number of COVID-19 cases.

MORE Power has temporarily suspended all disconnection activities since June this year in deference to the plight of the less fortunate Ilonggo consumers while Iloilo City was under Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ).

The suspension of disconnection, according to MORE Power President Roel Z. Castro, was meant to “give additional time for our customers to settle their bills.”

At the same time, however, he clarified that other activities such as meter reading and bill delivery would not be hampered. Therefore, he also encouraged prompt payment of bills to avoid accumulating debt and surcharges.

MORE Power still charges household customers with the lowest rate at P6.38 per kilowatt-hour. At this rate, a hard-up user may further save by minimizing electricity consumption, as in having only one energy-saving bulb on during waking hours at night.