Serge Osmeña for President
How is it that JoeAm, who ballyhoos his support for President Aquino, could easily learn to like a candidate who calls our president an “awful manager” and condemns the President’s cabinet as “NPA”, or “Non Performing Assets”? (Rappler Article, look for links within links.)
Well, one view of President Aquino is macro (he has re-energized the Philippines on a straight path) and one is micro (President Aquino makes mistakes, and one of them is being overly loyal, or the flip side, overly vindictive). Even Senator Osmeña is willing to recognize that President Aquino has the right ideas. He just believes execution is poor.
- Execution.
- Executive.
- Management.
Something the country desperately needs to organize its vast resources and put them not only on the straight path, but the productive path.
And while we are posing questions, why is Senator Osmeña getting ready to conduct his first survey of presidential aspirants? Will HIS OWN name be on the list of presidential choices? Is he establishing a counterpoint to President Aquino’s predicted choice in order to craft his own positioning? If you go through his recent talk with Rappler, you will see that he has pigeon-holed three main candidates negatively:
- VP Binay: tied to the corrupt.
- Mayor Duerte: lacking a national perspective and experience.
- President Aquino’s Choice (presumably Secretary Roxas): not a good manager.
On the other hand, he has said Senato Poe is a “marvelous candidate”, and Senators Cayetano, Cayetano, “Bam” Aquino and Escudero are reasonable candidates, along with Rehabilitation Secretary Lacson.
Well, let’s put Senator Osmeña onto the list as well, eh?
Who is he, exactly, and why does he stand out as a strong contender?
Well, for one thing, he says that managerial capability is what the winning candidate should bring to the Philippines:
- “He should be able to say, ‘I’m clean but I can manage better’ so the debate now will start concentrating or focusing on the management side, on the ability to deliver what the people want delivered to them.”
Quick Shot Biography
Here are the basics about Serge Osmeña from Wiki with notes supplied by by JoeAm.
- Born 1943 in Manila. He will be 73 in 2016. Jejomar Binay will be 74 in 2016.
- No college degree, but studied at St. Clement’s College in Iloilo, Ateneo de Manila, Beaumont College in Berkshire, England, University of San Carlos, University of the Philippines, Los Baños, Harvard University, and Georgetown University. Restless dude.
- From a senatorial family: Both grandfathers were senators, his father was a senator, and a cousin was a senator.
- Lives in Cebu and has strong backing from that area.
- Imprisoned by President Marcos because his father ardently opposed Marcos. Escaped from Fort Bonifacio maximum security prison in 1977. While in exile in the U.S., he “served as the Director for Movement for a Free Philippines. He was also the Founding Director of the Justice for Aquino Justice for All (JAJA) Movement.” He returned to the Philippines when Marcos left.
- Working background is in business. In the 1960’s and 70’s he served in key positions such as Assistant to the President, General Manager, or Chairman to a variety of businesses: Essel Inc., Cebu Autobus, De La Rama Steamship Company, LRO Farms, Cebu Contracting Company. During the 1990’s he had Director or Chairman positions at: Pacific CATV, Telecommunications Holdings Corporation, Intervest Group, Micrologic Systems, Philippine National Bank and San Miguel Corporation.
- First elected senator in 1995. Bounced around a lot of different political parties, generating the criticism of being a political turncoat and the compliment of being an independent person.
- Advocacies have included impeachment of President Estrada, cleanup of U.S. toxic wastes at Subic and Clark, and exposing corrupt projects. Criticized for being close to the Lopez group and not being aggressive when dealing with Lopez companies: MERALCO, Maynilad Water Services, SkyCable, Manila north Tollways and ABS-CBN.
Assessment
Here are my impressions of Senator Osmeña.
- He is past retirement age, and there are risks of electing an old guy to the top position: (a) questionable physical endurance, (b) questionable mental clarity, and (c) higher possibility that he might not complete his term. The same can be said for Jejomar Binay whose recent acts for sure don’t reflect mental clarity to this observer.
- He has excellent depth of experience in the business arena. He is impeccably pragmatic, which offends those who are of the “power and favor” mien, including President Aquino. Of course, Mar Roxas also has a good business background, and he was able to obtain his college degrees.
- He is not corrupt and is independent of mind, both important traits for a leader. We want clean, and we want someone who can break free from established institutions and ideas.
- He can be a tough guy, a bit of a conniver, and he can hit hard. I like those traits. He would be a more outspoken but more articulate leader that Mr. Aquino, I think. I imagine him stepping up to the microphone and putting China in her place, with some diplomatic perspective, but with a lot of sharp words, too. He would not rely solely on his Foreign Affairs Secretary to do the heavy lifting.
I admit to being attracted to the idea of the team of Osmeña for President and Poe for Vice President. He has the executive experience and pragmatic ability, she the good character and unlimited upside potential. Winning would likely seal in place 12 years of good governance and presumably a strong management focus on key goals like job creation. He takes care of her weakness (light on experience) and she takes care of his risks (age).
I believe Senator Osmeña is a much more solid and proven manager than, say, Senator Cayetano. It is like CEO vs. Assistant Vice President.
Your Turn
My overview is basic, the conclusions perhaps superficial. Presumably readers have more background or insight into the strengths and weaknesses of Senator Osmeña than I do. So as we did with Senator Alan Cayetano, it would be good to get reader perspectives, and to do so with the particular candor of trying to leverage him for the win.
In particular:
- What are ALL of the Osmeña strengths?
- What are ALL the Osmeña weaknesses? How can we respond to them when they are raised by the opposition?
- What are the MAJOR Osmeña achievements?
- What are ALL the Osmeña mistakes? How can we respond to them when they are raised by the opposition?
We won’t go over the strengths and weaknesses of his opponents, as that has already been hashed out with the Cayetano review.
One interesting recent act of Senator Osmeña was to file a case against the DOTC’s awardee for construction at the Cebu Airport. Does this reflect corporate game-playing (does he favor one of the other bidders?), or public interest? Here is a link to the Rappler article on the matter.
What do you think about an Osmeña candidacy? How would you structure the case for a win by Senator Osmeña?
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[…] Senator Osmeña […]
The Society of Honor by Joe America 
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1. He is also the grandson of Sergio Osmeña, who became the fourth president of the Philippines (1944 – 1946) upon the death of Quezon.
2. The original Osmeña lost to Manuel Roxas in the 1946 elections.
3. If Serge and Mar face off in 2016, it will be a repeat of history in exactly 70 years. Not necessarily in terms of results, only in terms of a presidential contest.
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Interesting reflection on the small set of ruling families and recycled relatives.
1. He has managerial and business experience and “seems” incorruptible. You’re right in suggesting that he can be branded as a “National CEO”
2. Very close ties to some corporate oligarch; won’t even touch the monopolies owned by the latter. How can he convincingly promote investment and competition without appearing as an hypocrite if that’s the case?
No visible legislative work aside from senate investigations “in aid of legislation.”
At this point in his political career, I’m sure he’s not immune to politics of favor and patronage.
Want proof? Even the less experienced Pnoy was vulnerable to that. (shooting buddy LTO chief, the AK-47-wielding appointee, Dee captor’s re-assignment, etc.)
Obviously, not popular among the masses.
Solution: He’s a potentially OK vice-president at most. Sell his managerial and political experience. Make him a mentor and stabilizing presence for someone with bigger potential.
You know, partnering with the “Saving Grace” can give him a shot at the vice presidency :P.
3. Not sure if he has nothing or his achievements aren’t publicized. I won’t consider legally inconclusive senate investigations and exposès. Out of those accused in such, who were sent to jail?
I did a quick search and found his bio on the Senate website. Here are his supposed legislative achievements:
“Senator Osmeña has authored and/or sponsored numerous economic reform measures, such as the new Insurance Code, the new NEA charter, the new Rural Banks Act which allows foreign capital infusion in rural banks, the Anti-Money Laundering law, the Retail Trade Liberalization Act, Government Procurement Act, Securities Regulations Code, and the Electric Power Industry Reform Act. ”
Disclaimer: In the Senate, you can be an “author” by simply amending the bill to include your name. That doesn’t mean you did the nitty-gritty, legal-technical stuff or defended the bill during interpellation unless he was the principal proponent. If you’re really interested in his senate track record, I suggest you check those bills one by one and see if it’s his brainchild.
4. In my opinion, he’s too much of a maverick loudmouth without any notable achievement in politics.
Very nice critique, David. Point 2 rings very true. He is deeply involved in the oligarchic circle of power and control. I had written the whole blog, then he filed the lawsuit to try to invalidate the DOTC’s selection of winning bidder for Cebu airport reconstruction. It did not seem like it was done in the spirit of public interest, but in the spirit of private gain. I left the blog the same, but I immediately drew a parallel in my mind to Manny Villar and his working of private and public interests together. Not cool.
Indeed, VP may be a better position for him where his pragmatic managerial expertise could help guide agencies. But I’d still be wary of serving personal interests might be a part of the mode of operation.
In the spirit of the blog, I suppose the Osmena camp would offset this argument by saying the Cebu lawsuit was clearly in the public interest, and show that he is not engaged with any other bidders. The “oligarch” charge would be countered with the statement that he is independent, and the Philippines needs a “maverick” who can break through the log jam of ineffective management.
If he is involved with other bidders on the Cebu airport, he is done as far as I am concerned. I have no interest in a game-playing president.
Err… he’s like a Mitt Romney without the Mormon angle… I remember the Mormon promised to put Merica back to work, but he was attacked with his ties to Wall Street bankers.
Anyway, is there a Phil. politician that doesn’t have personal interests and immune to favor-trading? Hey! It’s expensive to run for the elections. They also have this argument: “If we can’t get back our expenses in the elections upon winning, who will want to be to pursue a candidacy? If no one wants to be a candidate, who will run the country?”
I’m straying off topic, but this sense of exceptionalism from politicos might be a good topic when you return to full force blogging.
Maybe the not-so-prominent-and-rich ones such as Sen. Flavier and Trillanes. Again, the trick is choosing the lesser evil for now.. which is such a downer.
Have you made one about Dick Gordon? I’m not sure if he’s lucky to have the Americans during his time in Olongapo, or the city’s growth was a product of his good governance. Sure, he might be a disciplinarian and good manager, but the National Government is like a pro league while the LGU is just the collegiate ball. Just look at Robredo’s time at DILG.
Ahahahaha, yes, Mitt Romney. I don’t attach Poe to the power and favor crowd, although she certainly got good funding for her Senate run. I should dig into the sources in more detail. Indeed exceptionalism would be a good topic for exploration.
Dick Gorden I think has had his day in the sun. He really did a poor run for senate, having only one major donor backing him. ‘Executive experience” has always been the tag attached to him by his backers. But I don’t think he can get enough backing for another campaign. My son was born at the Gordon hospital in Olongapo. Whilst digressing, I would note that Gordon wholeheartedly supports having the US Navy back in town to bring money and jobs into Olongapo.
It’s well known that Osmeña along with Chiz Escudero have been egging Grace Poe to run for Prez or Veep.
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I have the impression that the winning vice-president is usually not of the same party as the winning president especially in recent times.
1. Garcia was Nacionalista; Macapagal Liberal.
2. Ramos was Lakas; Erap NPC.
3. Erap was LAMP; Arroyo Lakas.
4. Arroyo was Lakas; De Castro was an Independent.
5. PNoy is Liberal; Binay PDP-Laban.
For some reason, Filipinos split their votes – symptomatic of their schizoid psyche. So having Grace as veep will not assure her partner of winning the presidency.
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Time to have the exception.
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Or change the Constitution: a vote for a president is a vote for his veep. Theoretically, it would ensure that the programs of the party would continue to be implemented should the president leave office. And it would secure the back of the president from proximal stabbings. 🙂
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This is an interesting observation. I haven’t noticed that before.
It’s me that electing a vice-president is a nuisance and unnecessary. Just look at the US elections. In addition, soliciting campaign funds for a VP candidate just exacerbate the problem of campaign finance, leading to favor-granting if elected.
Isn’t the Philippines Metro Manila and the surrounding regions? We had once an accident with am Ilocos president, so let’s be double careful with provincial powerhouses. Can you imagine the influx of Cebuano/Ilocano speaking in all government positions? A few is OK for the diversity, but a tidal wave as in Marcos time? Or is this something that can’t be said, something of the past when the Spanish were still here?
The Osmeas is one of the families with a remarkable success in maintaining political power since 1906. Not unlike the Marcos family, but renouncing violence (too) early and thus losing the chance for the presidency in 1969. This “political mastership”, even without violence, worries me. Will he give the anti-dynasty movement a push?
What is the magical trick to find an outsider with all the required attributes?
“What is the magical trick to find an outsider with all the required attributes?”
You mean outsiders such as Flavier and Trillanes. Well, in Trillanes’ case a coup could be one of the tricks. A public service-oriented TV show won’t hurt as well. Yet, the dynastic scions have resorted to the TV/movie tactic such as Mikey Arroyo, Bong Revilla’s sons, Lito Lapid’s son, etc.
if the clannish/regional mentality can’t be set aside, we might be as well be federalist like the USA. Weaken the National Government that works for the few.
Indeed, politics needs actors, people who can pretend to serve the people. Those who pull the strings know better.
I proposed more Bangsomoro’s before. Why limit this transformation to one federal Muslim state. Why not a Federal Marcos Land in the North, A Pacquiao-Dueerte allience in East Mindanao, a Visayan state, Greater Bicol, Semi-independent Panay and a Tagalog Homeland… ? But that might be for another blog.
man, go ahead and write it up! Indeed a good idea.
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I am warming to the view of federalization. My principal objections before were (a) dialectal diversity; (b) multiplicity of governmental tiers; and (c) economic viability of the states.
1. Dialectal diversity. My contention was that Filipinos cannot become a statal person because of the extent of dialectal diversity. The solution was to enforce the adoption of English as the primary language, Tagalog as a secondary language, and to let the local dialects wither away.
1.1. Given the refractoriness of the Filipino, the chance of dialects withering away is slim.
1.2. Rather than homogenizing the lovely people, it might be better to preserve and encourage the cultural diversity.
1.3. I would suggest the retention of English as the main medium of interstate communication. Tagalog may or may not be disposed. (Note that in Sereno’s opinion on the RH Law, written in Tagalog, she cannot avoid peppering the paper with English terms and phrases like “conscientious objector” and “compelling state interest test”.)
2. Governmental tiers. The introduction of a state tier would increase the number of administrative tiers to five: federal, state, provincial, town and barangay.
2.1. The ideal number of tiers would be three. I would suggest: federal, state, and town.
2.2. Each state, like Bangsamoro, would have its own constitution, executive and legislative body. I would suggest that the judiciary should also be at the state level in recognition of Sharia and to facilitate the dispensation of justice. The police force, including a coast guard, should also be at the state level.
2.3. The state lines should be re-drawn along the commonality of dialects, geography, and resources.
2.4. The federal level will be responsible for the armed forces, foreign relations, customs, central infrastructure (roads, railways, and energy), communications, and the standardization of education, weights, measures and currency.
2.4.1. The Executive would be a President plus a limited Cabinet.
2.4.2.. The Legislature would be bicameral: a House of Representatives, one from each province; and a Senate, one from each state. If unicameral, it should have two members from each state or province.
2.4.3. The Judiciary would be a Supreme Court, a Court of Appeals (?), and an anti-corruption commission.
3. Economic viability. In principle, each state should be economically viable.
3.1. We cannot have a queue of state officials trooping into Malacanang for handouts.
3.2. The wealth-sharing formulas between the federal and state levels should be weighed in favor of the former. This is so because of the centrality of the armed forces and foreign relations, and because of the need for the central government to redistribute wealth from rich states to poor states.
3.3. Generally, income, payroll, business, customs and estate taxes would be at the federal level. The states would have limited taxation powers such as on property and sales.
4. If we are doing a sweeping change, why not attempt to resolve some of the critical problems that we face? These would include, but not limited to: state and church separation, religious and charitable organization taxes, civic campaigns, livelihood programs, disaster relief, dynasties, and warlordism,
I leave it to you, Joseph. You da man.
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I agree on most of your ideas except the retention of barangay which should be removed. Barangay is the epitome of lack of professionalism in Philippine governance.
There are barangay captains who aren’t college grads; Brgy. Treasurers don’t know basic accounting; Brgy Secretaries are ignorant of parliamentary rules; and Tanods are the usual unemployed goons in the area.
Indeed, I’m looking forward to Joseph’s more elaborate blog.
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2.1. No barangay.
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Oopps my eyes skip 2.1.
I kinda like the state (euphemism for regions, I guess) representatives to the Senate. At least, that Senate will have a well-defined constituency. Unlike today when Senators just pick issues that will make them visible.
However, defining powers of a state is tricky. It’s like giving powers to the current regions.
I’d say: Provinces, Cities and Municipalities. Representatives (elected by provinces like governors) will have national legislation powers; cities and municipalities can make ordinances such as today; and provinces will review those ordinances.
Oh boy! What happened to the discussion on Osmeña’s presidential chances. : )
My initial reaction to “sweeping change” is that it is impractical. Yet, if the Bangsamoro agreement goes to the Supreme Court and is rejected, it may be that an opening is created to consider changing the constitution to permit semi-autonomous regions, or “states”. I tend to see the House of Representatives as a huge, ponderous fairly useless organization, filled with people of considerable popularity and no particular skill. If the Philippines is sincerely interested in a functional government, it should also do away with that pack of rabble (I exaggerate, of course, for literary effect).
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But it’s so tempting to do things all at once. Some of the problems mentioned will have to be ideally resolved before federalization because of linkage. On the issue of dynasties, for instance, federalization might well result in the creation of dynastic fiefdoms. Which might be worse than now, because these fiefdoms will operate with a higher degree of autonomy. And in the case of Bangsamoro, the issue of religious freedom comes to the fore. Its creation may give Moros freedom at the social ethnic level, but what about at the individual level? (Malaysia provides an example of what might happen: in the social progress index, opportunity is scored 47.68 below the Philippines’ 61.63.)
As to the House of Representatives, it is supposed to look after provincial interests, but it is indeed a house of ill repute, whose couch-potato members are engrossed in watching Manny deliver and receive fistic punishment, and are only moved to duty when properly induced by monetary rewards coming from Malacanang. I also exaggerate.
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Only by a wee small smidgen, I fear.
I thought for a time that Abaya was the detached guy, but DOTC seems unable to get projects going. And if he can’t do that, he can’t get the Philippines moving . . . or keep it moving.
Ronald Reagan was an actor and governor, George Bush a cowboy and governor, Bill Clinton a studied politician and governor, JFK a dynasty guy, Lyndon Johnson a veteran senator, Romney a businessman and governor. The Senate in the US is not the only path to the Presidency. I don’t know of any businessmen with political aspirations in the Philippines, and provincial people seem . . . provincial. Governors are not able to establish a national presence somehow.
The idea of a bunch of Cebuanos in key positions is amusing. It could be refreshing unless you got people like Gov. Garcia.
I don’t think there are virgin politicians, but there are some with character, and maybe it is best to look for them. Or, as David Webb suggested, do a search for exceptionalism. I think I’d end up with Edgar Lores, and where would that get us?
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It would get you to the place where you are right now, yet somehow in a different dimension, where you will find bliss and enlightenment. Where Filipinos will find an inner peace such as they have never known and which surpasseth all understanding.
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Works for me! 🙂
I love this blog! (happy)
I’ll vote for anybody who will take Edgar as Executive Empath. (happy emoticon)
Edgar is a brilliant idea, if he gets president, than I have some family members I could recommend for highly profitable positions 🙂
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I would hire Joseph in a microsecond but, sorry, no nepotism.
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I am impressed, but then I’m not.
This much I will say though- I certainly would prefer Serge over the two current front runners. However, the problem is this – should 2016 become a three way fight, the least clean among the three aspirants will become president…courtesy of the masa vote. Unless Senadora Grace teams up with National CEO Serge Osmena.
President Obama will be in Manila soon. He is expected to reiterate his administration’s “Pivot to Asia”
foreign policy as part of his discussion on the increased US military presence in the Philippines. With 2016 just around the corner, is it far fetched to say that this Asia Pivot policy will bring back America’s CIA into the Philippine electoral arena? If so, who will be The Anointed?
Several reactions. First, yes, if the opposition to Binay divides the “good” vote, Binay will win. It will be interesting to see if people have the largeness of patriotism, ala Roxas, to step aside for the dominant candidate or pursue their own agenda. Would Cayetano step aside if Poe blasted onto the scene?
As for the CIA, the current director (Brennan) is so radical and arrogant as to offend the Senate oversight committee headed by one of the best senators around, Senator Feinstein of California, so who knows what scorpions he has up his shirt. I think the situation is, however, that there is no one to back, for the U.S., as no one can predict what even Binay would do. In the modern era of social media, I think Binay would be very stupid to try an Arroyo. That said, the last time I was in the old building (5 years ago), the US Embassy had some interesting looking people walking the halls, young, muscular, military hair cut, and a lot of antennas out back.
Serge Osmeña is a know-it-all. He does not possess the humility required of a public servant. Also take a close look at his position relating to the power industry. He is always quick to point a finger away from the power generators and distributors. Why?
But I must grant that the man knows how to play politics. He chooses his battles and he is not careless with off the cuff comments.
Finally, if you reread his comments re the president’s management skills and put them in context, you will see that he called the president an awful manager because the president did not heed his counsel.
Ah, I appreciate the wisdom, MB. It fits. And per your response to David Webb, I was not aware he and Chiz Escudero were urging Grace Poe to run. That is very interesting, indeed. Heartening, actually.
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1. Who is Serge Osmeña?
1.1. This may be the problem with him. Not anonymity, but lacklusterness? I do not know him.
1.2. This may be a good thing or a bad thing. Good in that he is not known for doing bad things, and bad in that he is not known for doing good things.
1.3. I had to peek into Wiki to find out he won office in 2010 at the same time PNoy stepped into Malacañang. And, as noted, this is not his first stint.
2. Is he an NPA, a non-performing asset?
2.1. I had to dig to get his stance on some of the major issues in the current Aquino administration.
2.1.1. Truth Commission. In favor.
2.1.2. Corona impeachment. Voted guilty.
2.1.3. RH Bill. Was in hospital for pancreatitis.
2.1.4. Cybercrime Bill. Abstained.
2.2. Altogether not a bad record.
3. Using Joseph’s criteria for leadership – vision and values, power, charisma, intelligence and situational interaction – I would give him low marks on the first 3 and on the last.
3.1. He has good values – he was anti-Marcos and is anti-corruption – but does he have vision?
3.2. I like his intelligence – chairman of this, director of that.
3.3. His situational assessment of the three main candidates is perhaps accurate but not particularly insightful. His communication skills and humor are question marks.
4. The name of the game in Philippine politics is 60-80% “The Name”. If you have it, you get it.
4.1. Obviously the Osmeña name resonates. (He won the 10th slot in the 2010 senatorial race.) It does not resonate with the clear tones of a large bell. He has it but he has not flaunted it. Or not flaunted enough.
4.2. This points to the lack of vision, ambition, and perspicacity. Whereas Binay and Roxas have positioned themselves at the starting gate years ago and are roughly midway on the racetrack turf, he is only doing so now. It smacks of Serge-come-lately. Or perfect timing now that Binay is wounded – allegedly wounded. (I have tried to determine if Binay’s rating has gone down in the first quarter of this year, but no luck.)
5. To win Osmeña would have to create a larger-than-life image. Anything can happen in the time left, but it would take events of a seismic nature, or a stack of money the size of pharaoh’s pyramid (?), to impress his name as a frontrunner.
5.1. It is not an impossible task. After all, Grace LLamanzares did not have national presence until she transitioned into Grace Poe. And the seismic events concerning the plundering senators and representative could see Binay’s front-runner status overturned.
5.2. It depends if Binay, in an Osmeña-led anti-corruption campaign, is successfully tagged as fifty shades of gray too dark. As with parengtony, I agree that Osmeña may not fare too well in a multi-horse race.
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2. Ouch. 2.2. Indeed.
3. Nice analysis. It helps to have a sense of humor. Prevents a politician from going nuts.
4. Also very good. He’d save himself a lot of money, I think, if he canned his survey and read what you write.
5.2 Yeah. He has a lot of work to do if he intends to run. And, to be clear, he has not said he is going to.
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And in insane news…
“Binay recorded an approval rating of 87 percent (11 percent undecided, 2 percent disapproved), up seven ticks from 80 percent in December.”
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/596368/aquinos-ratings-hold-pulse-asia
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It shows that we in social media yap in our isolated bubble that does not really reach the masses. I’d need to do a content analysis of popular newspapers and tabloids to determine how the Vice President keeps his halo on straight. It seems to me that something is not getting translated right into common-speak.
You mentioned his interest in the Cebu Airport issue. These past few weeks, I couldn’t help but imagine a connection between that and his recent criticisms of the President. I’m likely wrong.
Senator Osmena is very scientific and disciplined. He is the brains behind the success of the Poe campaign, and was instrumental in saving the President’s 2010 campaign when it threatened to lose steam. That speaks a lot about his leadership/management skills.
He’s also very independent, as you’ve already mentioned. People like Manolo Quezon call him a maverick. At the height of the soaring popularity of the President he has helped get elected, he stood up and spoke out against one unfortunate presidential decision: the nomination of Domingo Lee as ambassador to China. He led the Senate’s rejection of his nomination.
He’s a great manager and I don’t mind him being president. However, I think the ticket should still be Grace Poe as president and him as vice.
I believe a successful president would be one who’s not only spotless but one who can cut across all classes. Like the Aquinos, he or she should be above the fray. That requires a powerful narrative that can mesmerize Pinoys. Poe has that narrative, Osmena has none.
I was hoping someone would explain the airport issue, who the bidders were, and if Osmena has a connection with a rejected bidder. I might try to dig that up myself, because it would be very telling. I appreciate the additional insight on Osmena. I didn’t know he was involved in the Poe campaign, and if that was mainly his achievement, then, wow, what a team . . .
“I believe a successful president would be one who’s not only spotless but one who can cut across all classes. Like the Aquinos, he or she should be above the fray. That requires a powerful narrative that can mesmerize Pinoys. Poe has that narrative, Osmena has none.”
I agree with you about Poe, J. Amazing Grace does cut across social and economic classes. Seems like she is the only one who has the capability to challenge Binay’s popularity. While I have no problem with Osmeña being Poe’s VP, I wonder about his “winnability”. Edgar Lores cites his lacklusterness, which may be a huge factor in 2016. A while back, someone explored the possibility of a Poe-Aquino (PNoy) team. I think this is worth pursuing.
Serge seems to have the qualifications to be a president. One glaring advantage is that he is a seasoned campaign manager whose candidates won the races they were in. That says a lot about his ability as a kingmaker so I will not write him off just yet. The maverick label reminds me of John McCain though. We all know what happened when McCain ran for president of the United States.
My personal wish for a Philippines’ presidentiable is someone outside the dynastic families. Someone who will push for the anti-dynasty legislation and end the oligarchic stranglehold, once and for all.
John McCain, now there is a guy who has lived a rich life. Mostly I like what he has done and stood for, and it is an interesting comparison. I sense that Senator Osmena is perhaps a little more reflective. I wonder if he is a military hawk, like McCain.
He’s wife is from the Lopez clan. He shared a cell with the late Geny Lopez in Bonifacio, which explains his bias for the Lopezes.
He ‘practically’ wrecked the EPIRA law when it went to Bicam by inserting of provisions that favored his friends in the Power Sector (the A’s and L’s), particularly the cross-ownership provision that allowed owners of distribution utilities to own power generating facilities. It legally allowed them to sign long-term power contracts with their own companies at the detriment of the consumers. No one could see the contracts, no one could question the contracts. Thus, the massive move of these conglomerates into the lucrative business of power generations.
So, no. definately not him for president.
Ah, convincing argument. Another favor trader, a Binay is sheep’s clothes. Thanks for the info.
Many have negative comments and some positive comments made to Senator Serge Osmena. My suggestion is for him to declare his intention to run and how he intends to fix the mess were all in. Almost all if not all have their negative side but we need a leader who will put the interest of the FILIPINO people ahead than his personal undertaking. Senator OSMENA this is your last chance to help the country for you have been a witness and a victim of the Marcos years… They say you do not have the education but your experience and wisdom goes beyond education! Run for President come 2016 and many will be behind you…. You have nothing to loose but we have a lot to loose if this country goes to the dogs!