Uncertainty haunts the BBM-Sara ‘unity’

By Herbert Vego

IT’S hard to think positive when negative developments show up in the political horizon, as in the “demotion” of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo from “senior deputy speaker” to mere deputy speaker, in addition to nine other deputy speakers in the House of Representatives.

The unusually quiet Rep. Aurelio Gonzales Jr., her fellow Kapampangan, has been elected senior deputy speaker after his nomination by Iloilo Rep. Lorenz Defensor.  We have yet to hear him speak, ironically.

The stunned GMA initially reacted in six words: “It’s the prerogative of the House.”

As if to prove that their sudden decision had only been “spoon-fed” to them by the House leadership, if not directly by Speaker Martin Romualdez, most of her colleagues kept their mouth shut.

But President Ferdinand “BBM” Marcos’ son Sandro (1^st Dist., Ilocos Norte) sounded off the “bobo” conclusion that “it was the handiwork of the opposition who desperately want to make a comeback in the 2025 midterm elections”.

Kawawang oposisyon, including former Vice President Leni Robredo, who has not even protested her unbelievable loss to BBM for President.

The truth of the matter is that there had been rumors about Madam Arroyo plotting to marshal sympathizers to impeach Sando’s dad for whatever reason in order for Vice-President Sara Duterte to take over.

While that is hard to prove, the two ladies’ closeness to each other could not be downplayed. GMA owes a debt of gratitude to Sara, who was mayor of Davao City in the time of dad Digong as President of the Philippines.  Remember? Sara is believed to have influenced the House into ousting Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, replacing him with Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on July 23, 2018.

Obviously, therefore, Romualdez had to nip GMA’s suspected plot in the bud before it could leap out of control. He is now seen as a threat to Sara’s presidential ambition in 2028.

Anyway, despite the feigned “uniteam” harmony between BBM and Sara, it has been obvious from the start that she had aspired to run for President. As early as one year before the May 9, 2022 presidential election, her rah-rah boys had been going around the country posting streamers and leaflets inscribed, “Run, Sara, Run”.

But Marcos, bent on running against her, had been warning against “Smartmatic,” saying that its “cheating machines” had robbed him of victory against Robredo for vice-president in 2016. He was careful, however, not to mention that President Duterte was also a beneficiary of the supplier of the vote-counting machines.

To make the long story short, the two made up their minds to run together. It remained unspoken whether the “unity” deal also meant that the guy would support the gal for president in 2028.

But the gal probably got disappointed when he appointed her secretary of the Department of Education instead of the more powerful Department of Defense.  Imagine how she could make use of the military for her own good.

By the way, it is interesting to note that Comelec and Smartmatic awarded the gal with 32 million votes for vice-president; while the guy, a lower 31 million for President.

-oOo-

NEW TRANSFORMERS FOR BETTER PERFORMANCE

WE recently witnessed linemen from MORE Power on the job of replacing an old 75kVa with a 100 kVa transformer in Lapaz, Iloilo City. According to them, upgrading and improving the distribution network in the city is a part of their 5-year development plan.

Every transformer has its own life span. With age, the efficiency of the transformer also decreases. It can suffer from a wide range of problems like loose connection, insulation problems, coolant or oil issues, etc.

The transformer makes electrical power accessible as it travels from a power utility to an office, home, worksite or other location.

You see, nothing is more frustrating and challenging than losing power due to breakdown of power transformer. An upgraded transformer is more reliable, a hedge against outages. It will likely require less maintenance and repair.

The latest transformers are prone to release less carbon dioxide and other pollutants. So, upgrading an old transformer with a new transformer will help to reduce the carbon footprint.

-oOo-

CONGRATS, NENE MAYE

We are happy for Dr. Mayella Mae “Nene Maye” Plameras, the No. 1 Sangguniang Panlalawigan member of Antique (Dist. 1), for having been elected regional president (Reg. 6) of the Lady Local Legislators League (4L) of the Philippines. It’s a first for Antique!

Four-L is under the umbrella organization of the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP), also known as the “league of leagues” of all locally elected officials.

This early, she is being encouraged to run for vice-governor in 2025. Good luck!

She is a younger kabayan of this writer.  I had known her mom (Noemi) and her dad (the late Rep. Jovito Plameras, Jr.) long before her birth.

In a text message, I recently told her that I was a witness to Manong Vito paying a visit to Manang Noemi at her Lolo Danding’s corner store in San Pedro in the late 1950s or early 60s. If I remember right, he was still a Law student. His patience paid off, culminating in their marriage.