Is the Pink flame out? Or is it eternal?
Analysis and Opinion
By Joe America
The Leni Robredo Pink campaign in 2020 was awesome. It did everything but win. It was a volunteer effort. Honorable, bright, loud, inspiring.
Was it just a flash in the pan? Is it still here? Is it for Leni Robredo alone or does it have lasting power if she does not run again? Is it just one more personality campaign?
I don’t see much organized activity outside of Angat Buhay foundation, which is a volunteer social services and disaster relief effort. An impressive one.
I don’t see Pinks in the news at all. I see the Liberal Party there, re-energized with Leila de Lima’s release from her political jailing. She is speaking out with purpose. I see Bam Aquino and Chel Diokno on Twitter. I presume they are elsewhere, too. I see no Pink effort to mobilize. No back up to Robredo, someone to attack Sara Duterte, who clearly is running her campaign already. Using tax money.
I do see Atty Barry Gutierrez on Twitter, an opposition voice to both the Marcos and Duterte dynasties. He is sharp and on point.
But otherwise pink is just a popular color.
“What are Pinks supposed to mobilize for, Joe?”
Good of you to ask.
- To gain financial backing from the business community and lay the groundwork for 2028 (or 2025 if you hurry).
- To develop unity among Pinks, Left, Yellows, and independents by establishing a peoples’ super-party that will break the dynasties (see Organizing to win in 2028).
- To recruit names, and candidates, like Vico Sotto III and Sonny Trillanes and Riza Hontiveros, and movie stars like Angel Locsin.
- To take control of cities, to control barangays, to control votes.
- To plan for a strong candidate other than Leni Robredo, like Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro or Riza Hontiveros. Or a businessman or businesswoman.
My guess is that Pinks will look at this list with an empty blank stare. Their flame is so strongly attached to Leni Robredo that they are where they were in 2019, just waiting and hoping. They’ve dried their eyes and held their anger.
But they have nowhere to go with it. No other person but Leni Robredo. No other goal..
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Cover photograph from Word Press image generator using the article as a prompt.
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The Society of Honor by Joe America 
number 4 is the most promising. all you need is a punch in the face moment ala Inday Sara. if you can get Pinks to create more opportunities like that, literally or figuratively, punch powerful people in the face for the little people. you’d have stole Inday Sara’s thunder.
For her father it was the jetski and the promise to end drugs in six months, both lies, but no one cared. It was the sentiment that counts. Unfortunately, good people by definition don’t lie or punch people, and news about them is yada yada yada boring and irrelevant, so they need to figure out how to make a splash. Rappel into an arena like Tom Cruise, I suppose. Or threaten to blow one of China’s ships out of the water if they ever lay a hand on Philippine property in Philippine seas. Or propose to become states of the US. You are right, the ability to be heard the right way is huge.
Oh, statehood is actually a good idea, Joe. if US is serious about China, they’d want this too. if you can get Filipinos to clamor for statehood, like seriously. and with US backing. this could very well be the thunder Pinks need. will certainly counter my beloved Inday Sara’s soon pro-China stance. its coming and with money to boot.
Money, jobs, investments, no visas, it would be a riot of success.
statehood, I think that boat has sailed and long gone.
incidentally, duterte had wanted philippines to be province of china and was laughed at and mocked behind his back, not harap-harapan though. else risked behing tokhanged.
and yes,duterte did open philippines to chinese investors, easing off visa requirements, lessening bureaucratic wrangles and promising jobs to filipinos, and gotten pogos instead. mainland chinese were preferred for jobs over filipinos as chinese firms brought their own chinese workers with them. laws were circumvented, peace and order became anything but.
The issue is not the doing of it, but the noise attached to it. But if there are other ways to make big noise, terrific.
last I heard united states is already busting with illegal migrants, and still more coming. housing them all is a problem, and giving them jobs just as problematic. for united states to be taking in filipinos as new american citizens under statehood, I dont know how much bigger a problem would that be.
at the moment, it’s the other way round, with united states asking philippines to take in the 50K+ afghan migrants for processing in our shores for them to be finally granted legal entry to american soil. all expenses to be paid by united states, and still pbbm is hesitant and has yet to commit.
The US does not have an immigration problem, actually, and most of the noise comes from MAGA scare mongering. It has an orderly and effective immigration system, and employs almost everyone.
This is not the first time that Filipinos failed to truly continue an idea or set of ideals that were embodied by a personality:
1) The modern and efficient state that Quezon built to serve the people was never significantly upgraded from its original 1930s version, and running it became a set of mostly empty bureaucratic formalities.
2) The idea that those who have less in life should have more in law as championed by Magsaysay never truly took root. Today, there just is Tulfo, and that is a poor approximation, even as it is what most people can understand.
Now, what does VP Leni stand for? Angat Buhay is basically the idea that people are to be given a chance to better their lives. This is not about simply helping people recover from natural disasters. How to make people feel that works? I don’t know.
Barry Gutierrez probably understands the idea. He makes a good impression. From what I heard from unreliable sources back in 2022, campaign manager Bam Aquino was completely clueless. That doesn’t have to be right, of course, as I also heard of huge clashes within Pink at home and got an inkling of how some clashes happened with Pink abroad. But I do get a smug self-satisfied vibe from Bam Aquino at times. De Lima may well be like Mandela, who grew far stronger in jail. Let us see what she initiates.
I really don’t like this Tulfo fella, ireneo and i’ve watched quite a few of his videos now. something about him rubs me the wrong way. But why not run VP Leni again. same machinery just more fight. instead of all the Cory Aquino motif. D5 will never escape the driver situation i don’t think. this statehood idea, or just the rhetoric of it with US backing , i think is a good idea. something CDE folks can understand, especially once its situated as a US vs. China issue. the smart move is to understand it as a kaiju fight and that Filipinos are ants, so as ants they have to ensure they get as much from the coming fight as possible. VP Leni i think can do this, get her daughters in there too like a package deal. just do more fight instead of smiley poses. show some teeth.
ps. show some teeth towards China, i don’t think VP Leni will be able to go mean against Inday Sara. but she’ll be able to stand up to China and frame Inday Sara as a Chinese patsy, whilst not having to battle Inday Sara directly. start naming individual Chinese nationals now. like every month VP Leni should be outing chinese left and right til 2028. follow the money. gives a different connotation to Leni Lugaw for sure. lol.
Leni Robredo didn’t want to run last time, I think, and says she won’t in 2028, preferring local politics. Is it selfless or selfish, not for me to say. I like Sec. Teodoro. He snarls at China well enough. He needs to snarl domestically. No more Mr. Nice Guys needed.
I’ll have to watch more videos of Teodoro to get more sense of the guy, but what would be the process of statehood. i know its been done before but as fringe movement. but vis a vis China I don’t think thats been done. Teodoro will have to secure official rhetoric, first i guess via the US military which would be easy given his position. but then reach out to Dept of State, which might be tricky but if he’s able to win over US senators and congressmen/women here, Dept of State i’m sure will gladly go on board with the rhetoric, then from words to actual actions towards statehood. maybe a new sort of colonialism wherein past colonial powers return to the Philippines to rectify wrongs, so NATO EU can come in also along with Spain, hell even India, and fully situate Philippines as the pearl of the orient. Ireneo, whats the history of Philippine statehood and why has it failed in the past? and with China, can statehood come about today?
LCPL_X, the 1930s and rising unemployment made a lot of Americans not want the populous Philippines (not even 20 million then) sending people to compete in the difficult American job market.
The Commonwealth from 1935 onwards also meant immigration restrictions for Filipinos that hadn’t been there before is what I recall reading.
thanks, Ireneo. it does look doable, if only to cause China some worries. and to get Sec. Teodoro a platform from which to attack China further.
I don’t think gemini knows what its talking about, but here’s some bullet points to consider. just focus on 1 for now, especially if the US gov’t is also on board.
Let me research that and do it as an article. I don’t know but it is worth examining.
Just as input yesterday, August 12, 126 years ago was when Spain and the US signed the Treaty of Paris. The Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico were handed over to the USA back then.
Probably as long as not even Puerto Rico is a real US state, the chances of the Philippines ever being one are slim, but I guess it is a topic worth checking out.
it is worth reviving vis a vis China for sure. and will counter Inday Sara now til 2028. i gotta feeling CDE folks will love it too. especially if the US plays along, rhetoric as beginning but if it snowballs, hell full statehood. if not US statehood then something similar to what Spain is doing for former colonies re 2 year citizenship, justification to return to the colony trampled to rectify past wrongs, thus giving EU NATO an opening to wedge its way in the Pacific. works for Japan too. invite everyone back.
I did sense less pro-US sentiment among many Filipinos when, after the bases left, the US Army and US Embassy staff globally seemed to hire fewer Filipinos.
CDE does see what immediately benefits them, that’s for sure.
Can you imagine? No visas? Philippine workers going to the mainland, big corporations flooding here. Jobs explosion. Huge airbases, missiles galore, China pushed out of US waters. Certainly never be the same. Subic a beehive of ships.
there was a story about his US embassy experience that DU30 repeated, of not being accepted instead rejected in Manila, and he caps it with something akin to fuck America i didn’t wanna go there anyhow. i think theres an audience for this and why he like to tell it so much becuz many Filipinos have had the same experience of being summoned to the US embassy filled with hope only to be denied unceremoniously thru a counter. and they (understandably) take it personally. so as first order of maybe Sec. Teodoro can fix this. either let in more Filipinos to the US , or at the very least if they mean to reject them, to do so respecfully by not waisting Filipinos time and money. that’s just common courtesy. do that first, Joe. just clerical US embassy in Manila stuff. easy pickens.
I reacted personally when my wife was rejected the first time. They had to escort me from the building. I was kinda loud. You are absolutely right, they currently offend a whole lot of people unnecessarily.
Tourist visas. Make people post a 250,000 peso bond if they don’t return as promised. Or a half million. Joe Junior can make money running the bond business. Hire some big toughs as enforcers. Fun business.
@Joe. Could you please review my draft and queue it for publishing? Thank you.
Yes indeed. Next Thursday publication, tentatively.
“Joe Junior can make money running the bond business. Hire some big toughs as enforcers. Fun business.” I really dont like the idea of bounty hunters re filipino TNTs, Joe. if anything the US gov’t should afford preferred status to Filipinos, cuz of history but most importantly cuz of China right now, and this notion of equal allies being pushed by USA. lets really cement this partnership either thru statehood or preferred status wherein for TNTs there are pathways towards citizenship like in Spain, eg. proof of taxes paid as non-citizen gets you citizenship or if enough friends and family vouch for you you get citizenship etc. etc. Filipinos should have prefered status. its only right. so maybe Sec. Teodoro with US embassy can push for this. its just ironic that other nationalities get first come first serve status whilst filipinos fall way back in the line.
I tend to agree with others here that Statehood as a political argument would probably not be adopted by anyone. Opponents would play the imperialism and patriotism cards. But a bonding program could solve the current predicament, largely created by Filipinos who don’t return.
Inday Sara will be beholden to China and in a more obvious way than before. So I don’t think oponents can play the empirialism and patriotism card. what China has is that they’re better imperialist than the West, similar to Japanese WWII rhetoric. which is bs. now for the “out of status” Filipinos, what stuck me as significant was that a bunch of them left voluntarily post-2016 after Trump. which means TNT Filipinos most of them i think, are with means. hence returning rather than getting deported was more of a face saving issue for them. which means US embassy Manila is indeed pretty good at screening potential TNTs. cuz the very folks that won’t care about saving face are precisely the CDE Filipinos. meaning most TNTs here are AB. so yeah that bond scheme will totally work, Joe. a good idea. I’m just saying open it up to CDE Filipinos. but i do agree thats a totally different issue. one more in line with equal relationship of US and Philippines. really examine the nature of said relationship.
@Irineo, Yes, I agree statehood is highly unlikely. But we are looking for dynamite, something to give “good people” noticeability. Sonny Trillanes has had success by filing lawsuits against Duterte and Go, but he needs to sustain it. Maybe protests of reclamation works would do it. They are tragic to the glory that was once Manila Bay. Or do a land blockade of China’s nickel mines here. Have Bam bungie jump off the new Cebu bridge. Then curse Duterte.
Possibly an anti-China plank would work. “We want China out of the Philippines until she respects the Philippines.” That concept.
As Filipinos respect power/gahum/lakas/maná/prowess, it could work.
Easier than changing the mentality that shifted allegiance easily in 1571, 1898, 1942, 1944 based on who seemed to be llamado, the winning rooster. 🐓
Even Guam is not a state.
personally, I do not like the idea of state hood, but that is just my two cents.
So long as we have a leader not bowing to China, Vietnam or anyone going against our interests and we learn to defens our selves alone or with allies that would be more than enough.
As to the pinks.
I am for kiko to keep the fire burning and for Edcel agman to pass the torch.
Rissa Hontiveros is still there and De Lima.Do keep the flame eternal but keep passing the torch
karl, remember its a Hail Mary, but the rhetoric of the hail mary is what we’re after here. talk about that, keep people interested, start delivering like expanded visas, more equal and friendly interaction at the US embassy. just close that wedge. so far its just been all military ra ra ra stuff. cannot be sustainable. how bout some real equality. and statehood being the best expression of said equality.
It’s the noise that matters, not actually riding the jetski. So to speak.
@Karl, I’m sure your view is the dominant view, so we are likely to eventually set statehood aside. And the people you mention are the heart of the opposition. But they are somehow not enough. The gap is visibility, or the weight of being profound and popular. How to get from lightweight to dominant? That’s what we are struggling to discover.
I read you loud and clear.
The Yellows are pretty well gutted by turncoats I think, and the Pinks seem to be waiting. The Left is fighting its historical ghosts. And the difficulty of finding harmony is illustrated by the way parties endlessly dissolve and reform and invariably stay small. They are more vehicles of expediency rather than big principled vote-getting machines building on yesterday’s triumphs. To me the solution is clear but the problem getting there is hounded by parochial interests.
you are correct about parochial interests. and we have the hakot crowd as well, the paid heckles and rallyistas bus en masse to venues just to create havoc and destruction with their megaphones and banners, complete with loud noise and sometimes accompanied by bunch of media and reporters for maximum coverage. like what happened recently in pasig. mayor vicco sotto wanted to build a new municipal blg but was met with heckling crowd that when confronted by sotto, the noisy crowd turned out to be from quezon city and not from pasig.
this is getting typical, sheer volume of allegedly unthinking protesters hired to drown out issues. to discredit and to confuse, to discourage and to wear out, turning noble purposes into despair.
the pinks have apparently no ammunition to counter the hakot crowd. cannot mobilize fast enough to be there to face off the baying hakot crowd. lack the sheer volume of the hakot crowd and did not have the propellant that drove the hakot crowd into frenzy, like maybe an extra fat and bottomless wallet!
My late grandfather was a haciendero related to the last Vietnamese dynasty and scholar who studied in France in his youth. He later went on to pass the civil examination to become the treasurer of the province of Kontum in imperial Vietnam, then later the Republic of Vietnam. He once remarked that the Philippines, which he fondly remembered visiting during the Commonwealth and Third Republic, is quite similar to the southern Vietnamese provinces surrounding the Mekong River. That is to metaphorically say, one can cast seeds upon the soil and do nothing, only coming back months later to harvest the rice or kangkong. The fruit trees grow by themselves after their seeds are spat out by passerby. The rivers and oceans are teeming with fish. In a land of natural plenty, people don’t plan for the future. Contrasting with northern Vietnam around the Red River, or the Vietnamese central highlands, life was tough so therefore due to a lack of resources people needed to plan ahead.
Interestingly, the original population of southern Vietnam prior to being assimilated were the Cham people who were an Indo-Malay Austronesian confederated thalassocracy. The cultural echoes of Champa society, which was a feasting and raiding culture, still linger on in the population of Vietnam’s south, even if genetically the population is more or less homogeneous by now.
For people whom the majority historically survived on a subsistence lifestyle, not planning ahead was fine. It’s a population boom that greatly contributes to economic shocks. This is apparent in the rapid growth of the population of the Philippines during the Commonwealth, to the stratospheric population growth following Third Republic that continues until today. With more or less the same resources due to failure to modernize, poverty exploded.
It seems that after every era of Philippines political history, the clock is reset every revolution, every new republic, causing the Philippines to be a bangka in still oceans without oars and sails. Quezon’s sudden passing from TB was probably one of the greatest setbacks to the development of the Philippines, as he was the de facto benevolent dictator guiding with a steady hand. The Philippines version of Singapore’s LKY. Perhaps what’s needed is a strong societal shock. People can only suffer for so long before they wise up that there are other possibilities to choose from that compels them to use their own scooped hands to move the national bangka. For better or worse, the uncontrolled population growth and subsequent large mass of idle people might be that impetus.
Yes, climate shapes culture very deeply – everywhere.
The difference between more laid back Spain versus Germany, or even the more laid back attitude of Bavarians (fertile soil) versus Prussians (hard soil) – or they say among Filipinos the Ilokanos are the most naturally hardworking due to their not as naturally abundant region as opposed to Bikol where water and volcanic soil make for good harvests and yes a more laid back attitude.
Possibly the difficulty of creating anything permanent shaped attitudes in the Philippines as well – the myth of Bikolano king Handyong building his kingdom only to see “onos” (typhoon) come and destroy it all is significant.
Manila being mostly shielded from typhoons by the Sierra Madre and of course it’s natural abundance probably helped make it populous very early, it’s natural harbor and location made it a perfect hub for trading of course.
But no need for irrigation infrastructure like Egypt or Mesopotamia, in fact the datus upstream of the Pasig played games in delaying rice shipments to the delta aka Manila and Tondo where trade happened to get a higher price, this is recorded.
But culture can be overcome. Spain has a better high-speed rail network than Germany now, and Italy has more punctual trains. What is important is the will to see current issues and adapt to them, not stubbornly cling to past recipes no longer applicable to the present. The Philippines now has a population density that doesn’t even allow for the same kind of one plot per family kind of agriculture still possible in Magsaysay’s time with 1/5 the population. It can’t be ruled with as LGUs taking care mainly of themselves as modern life is more complex.
“…culture can be overcome.”
We are all here still because that is our wish: that Filipinos would overcome all the dysfunctional components of our culture so they can live well and prosper.
Filipino immigrants and OFWs know that it is possible to keep/assimilate the best of both worlds and discard the worst in both. They are the walking-talking-proof that the past does not limit one’s future.
in 2022 election, bong marcos and sara duterte won ofws votes. despite the outcry of those laid low by makoy’s martial law and the infamous ejks under ex pres duterte, both bong marcos and sara duterte won by the biggest margin.
you are correct, jpilipinas, the past does not really limit the future.
Knowing the possibility and taking action and knowing the possibility but doing nothing about it are two different mindset. Those who belong to the first mindset tend to be open minded critical thinkers who are ready to seize new opportunities and are able to see the goodness of a blended culture. Filipino migrants are often the loud ones about Martial Law, EJKs and other injustices. Those of the second mindset are stick-in-the-mud types who cling to the old culture, warts and all, and are in other countries temporarily. A lot of them are OFWs who go back to PH after their contracts and are happy with PH status quo. There are a few OFWs who fall under the first mindset too, and vice versa.
The many OFWs who voted BBM and Inday Sara of course show that resentments from home can still be mobilized abroad.
Unreliable sources from 2022 told me that for instance in Italy, Filipinos work extremely hard (and are tolerated but not truly accepted by most Italians, I happen to know) and kinda buy the propagated narrative that “elitists” are at fault for their having to go abroad.
In Germany the non-pinks managed to stir up the resentment of those not edumucated in big name universities against those who are – and some TBH don’t give them the time of day so it is the usual Pinoy pataasan ng kilay dynamic versus Beh Buti Nga, di mo ko pinansin noon etc.
Surprisingly even in the USA non-pink won in 2022, was it because those who left due to Marcos Sr. are now a minority, or is it because a narrative that “they are elitist” was peddled? One doesn’t even have to do anything to become a culprit in today’s toxic world.
Pink only won among Australian Filipinos. Surprising as in 2016 the US and Canada, also Inglesero Filipinos so derided nowadays in Filipino popular culture, were strongly pro-Leni. That the Filipinos in Middle East, HK etc feel “masa” is a given, hoy di ko sinabing “squammy” sila! 😉
“Surprisingly even in the USA non-pink won in 2022, was it because those who left due to Marcos Sr. are now a minority, or is it because a narrative that “they are elitist” was peddled?”
In my microcosm: The 70’s and 80’s Filipino immigrants are mostly professionals who found jobs in the US military/government and had relinquished their Filipino citizenship as part of the process. Some applied for dual citizenship after retirement to have a voice in PH politics. Their first generation (FGs) children were assimilated in the American culture and are often not interested in claiming dual citizenship. The succeeding generation are Americans through and through who do not know much about PH aside from the foods. The bulk of PH voters now are the newly arrived Ilocanos and religiously affiliated ones like the Iglesia ni Cristos, Quibs flock and Mormons who tend to vote for Republicans locally and for the Du30s and Marcoses in PH elections.
JP, this is what I’ve seen too. Fil-Ams who left because of Marcos Sr. are mostly seniors now, and their children are well Americanized. This is the generation I grew up alongside.
Ilokanos mostly descended from US Navy sailors before the bases closed down, and their community is very conservative. While the more recent immigrants seem to be mostly affiliated with INC or Quiboloy. Interesting side note is I had an ATT lineman do some work with the fiber internet recently. He assumed that I was a MAGA so he went off quite the deep end expecting I’m also a supporter of Digong and Sara Duterte. His version of Filipino history during the Marcos Sr. era was thoroughly revisionist.
in 2022, there was so much disinformation in the internet and the biggest beneficiary was apparently bong marcos while leni robredo was biggest target. naturally, bong marcos denied hiring online trolls that massively corrupted the truth and overwhelmingly spread falsehood that portrayed his father in very positive light, his dictatorial regime referred to as the golden years and best ever in philippines politics.
ofws allegedly relied on online information as news from home is often scant and contradictory, and got snared in the lies and innuendos of voracious propagandists, their votes attested thus.
I disagree with this assessment of OFWs relying on online news, I think their issue is still very direct. namely that the spouses and children they’ve left behind are either doing drugs themselves or squandering their hard earned money, I believe that Filipino gymnast gold medalist is in the same boat. if not directly involved in criminal activities then they are victims of it. so they base their votes on who’ll best steward their balikbayan boxes and remittances. hence the popularity of DU30. so its not online, its news directly from home they are basing their votes on, kb.
The 2022 disinfo campaign had practice since 2016. It’s a bit sad that NBI never identified and prosecuted these paid chaos agents if they’re Filipinos, or called out other countries if it’s foreign. Sometimes it’s very tiring having a discussion with my friends back in PH, because they’ll start something out with “By the way, did you know…?” and what follows is always disinformation they fell for.
I think you bring up a good point about cultural differences Irineo. One factor that’s often overlooked is that all these European countries had been fighting wars with each other for centuries, and while they may not be going to war anymore, their sense of competitiveness and national pride still stands. Western Europeans don’t like to be outdone by their neighbors, which can drive national infrastructure projects as a form of national pride versus their neighbors.
I remember when the French SNCF high speed rail first opened the Paris-Lyon line. If I recall, Spain was the second or third European country to do high speed rail. In both nations’ cases, it was decided by the national government to undertake the infrastructure project, similar to the US’s decision to build out the National Highway System. The reasons were national security and for domestic economy use, both in the national interest which justified the expenditure.
Sometimes it does feel that despite de jure being a single nation, the modern Philippines is still a de facto collection of minor kingdoms with the historical datus and rajahs being replaced by mayors and governors, with Congress members associated with local dynasties. I wonder what it would take to develop a cohesive national plan. I suspect a grand transport infrastructure system finally connecting all the major islands efficiently and cheaply would go a long way with helping achieve this.
I’ve always loved Leni, and her Angat Bahay initiative, but unfortunately the reality of PH politics often requires a bit of flair and flash.
Why not combined the service-oriented side of Angat Bahay which would handle the community work and outreach with making a concrete proposal to the Filipino/Overseas Filipino business community?
Angat Bahay would maintain it’s current objectives and mission, alongside being the public face of the Pinks in the community. It would provide community service, voter education, assistance that captains and mayors often neglect. Show that Angat Bahay can be more trusted to provide people’s needs. These needs don’t necessary need to be handouts and bribes. While there are some who are shameless in accepting “gifts,” most Filipinos would rather feel the personal pride of their accomplishment, even if they needed a helping hand to take the first step. Filipinos often feel utang na loob to those who had helped them, sometimes going back a few generations of being loyal to a party because a previous politician helped them. If Angat Bahay can perform these services that are neglected, people will start trusting the Pinks with being helpful and reliable.
On the other hand, by reaching out to the Filipino/Overseas Filipino business community, the Pinks can propose that once in power they will work within the structure of the Constitution with new laws to streamline the ability to open or expand business in the Philippines. This needs to be something beneficial to both sides, with the manufacturing industry being built right in the Philippines across every major island in every region. Overseas Filipinos of course, have achieved high positions in business and have relationships with others in their home countries that may be able to lobby for more investment from colleagues. By spreading out new investment across each region, the benefits also will be spread. Provinces outside of NCR, especially in Visayas, Mindanao would have less reason for complaint.
Everyone loves a fighter as well. Here in the States, crowds in the tens of thousands every day are wild for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz “hitting back” politically. The American center-left and left, historically known for being weaklings are now galvanized into being fighters. For the Philippines, this is easy. Call out corruption, promise reforms that are actually achievable. But most importantly, hit back rhetorically at China’s bullying, with a plan of how to address the issue of Philippine sovereignty by working with the US and new partners that the US facilitated relationships with.
I think Angat Bahay is not big enough to be much of a factor nationally. It gets the most press by being first on scene of disasters, often ahead of government agencies. But the fighting aspect is definitely necessary. Being “good” on its own is actually a negative for the crab tendencies.
angat buhay is non govt org, its founder leni robredo is not in the opposition and apolitical, methink.
the leader of liberal party, edcel lagman ,says the party is joining mamamayang liberal for the campaign 2025.
the party’s spox de lima says they are hoping to get leni to run as senator in their 2025 line up. already the party is fielding bam aquino, kiko pangilinan and chel diokno as candidates.
I think a Harris style campaign would resonate strongly with Filipinos. I supported Biden and still think he would’ve won, but Harris as Biden’s protégé embodies the both Biden’s innate kindness and fighting spirit that was more obvious 20 years ago. Both have a infectious personality once unrestrained, with the telegenic looks to go with it. Biden was certainly a very handsome man in his younger years.
The only roadblock now, is who among the Filipino political class will stand up that have such qualities of competency and decency without being afraid to shy away from a fight. I’d prefer a candidate who rose from modest beginnings rather than someone from a dynasty, but it’s hard to be choosy.
Kiko Pangilinan does know how to popularly relate.. His being married to Sharon Cuneta, brother-in-law of Gary Valenciano and uncle of Donny Pangilinan probably does make a difference.
https://fb.watch/tWfqC0n9ZS/
Now, who among the Liberals will have the courage to tell Bam Aquino he is cringe in spite of his belonging to the “Holy Family” itself?
Kiko’s advert here is a bit corny, but in a good way that’s relatable. He’s become a lot more relaxed following the VP campaign. Just like anywhere else in the world, Filipinos want someone they can identify with as their leaders. Kiko is portraying himself as the kuya/tito who one can share a beer with, but also knows how to do the serious work. Makes me wonder if he’s planning to run for President in 2028.
I know Bam Aquino is well-meaning. He really seems like a nice guy, despite him being cringe and lacking self-awareness. Maybe this is a trait of the Aquinos walling themselves off from interaction that explains their family’s high-minded dedication to the ideals. Sadly it just doesn’t work in the Philippines, where populism thrives. Bam Aquino should hire speech/debate coaches and a stylist to transform his image, or else he won’t have a chance to run for higher office.
I agree, bam aquino needs a makeover and maybe, develop a new persona with a tougher skin and a can do attitude. it may all just be cosmetic and accoutrements, for your eyes only.
for the younger generation visuals and imagery maybe everything, but bam would still the same person inside, job oriented, caring, helpful and simpatico.
laugh and the world laughs with him, cry and he cries alone.
@Joey, Harris has a huge party infrastructure behind her. Philippine parties are bands of dynasties trading favors. Leni Robredo’s campaign was similar but not as loud or big or systematized. I gave a small donation to Harris and now she, Tim Waltz, Joe Biden and Gavin Newsom are besties, writing to me 5 or 6 times a day. I’m waiting on further donations until Taylor Swift asks for a date though. Robredo had nothing like that in terms of national organization. It was train stop campaigning to exhaustion.
I agree Joe, however the US national parties also started off as loose federations of local parties. The problem with Philippine parties is that the various local parties don’t even agree on a national message, certainly not a message that’s bold and courageous. This is especially apparent with the Yellows whose infighting diminished any power they might hope to harness. The easier choice is to fall back to resentment politics like the Reds, with the prize being how many axes there are to grind.
The good oligarchs need to recognize that there are huge profits waiting in the wings if the message is one of jobs, jobs, jobs built on the back of modernized agriculture and foreign investments in manufacturing where a better economy would lift all boats, allowing families disposable income to buy more goods at the mega malls that the oligarchs so love to build. I find it so discouraging that such a simple plan is so hard for many in positions of power to grasp.
The other issue the Yellows and Pinks have is falling into the fallacy of personal politics, where everything depends on a few people for the campaign. There isn’t effective employment of surrogates directly attached to campaigns other than local leaders coming on board because they think they can get a bigger piece of the pie for their support. The US Democratic Party was languishing after Obama personalized the party apparatus, and due to the hard work of Hillary Clinton then Biden finishing it enabled Harris to have such a formidable organization of volunteers and party offices. If the Yellows and Pinks manage to appropriate that organized structure to Philippines politics they would be unstoppable.
Terrific summary of the conditions here. My view: The winning approach will be 1) get bigger and unified, 2) get buy-in from the business community, 3) get loud, and 4) bring city mayors into the fold or replace them. Sec. Teodoro has the credentials and character to do this. Senator Hontiveros, probably not the credentials. She has the character. There may be others in the business community who could do this.
(Slightly OT rant but this is needed) dammit, Bam Aquino, Mr. Clueless himself, this is NOT the way to appeal to the general public..
For reference, this is the original poster referring to a hit with 64 million views on YT.
You can even be fat to make a poster similar to that, but then don’t wear a shirt or at least wear a Hawaiian shirt and wear shells and flower garlands..
Paolo Roxas at least danced the budots well and has a youthful figure.
Kiko Pangilinan actually looks cool doing the currently popular “Eyyy” (hang loose) sign. That man at least has a nephew who is a popular ABS-CBN star, a megastar wife etc etc.. please, Bam Aquino, leave the branding to people who have some sense of what isn’t cringe.
ahem, may man drought yata itong poster ng bini kaya siguro yong poster nina bam is addressing the issue, gender represented.
Prof. Xiao Chua and his comedian friend Bayaw aka Jun Sabayton on an Isdang Pantropiko poster frying fish from the sea would at least be funny, though probably too corny and over the top even for them. 😀
Better make it properly political, with Isdang Pantropiko, Trillanes and Magalong serious faced and showing fish caught in the West Philippine Sea. 🇵🇭 🐟
Oh dear, Bam Aquino looks terrible here. My impression is he looks weak and ineffectual. He’s always tried to model himself off of his uncle Ninoy and cousin PNoy, but whereas his esteemed relatives looked dignified bespectacled, Bam always came off to me looking ridiculous. He needs to change to contact lenses and hire a decent stylist.
Yeah, I think Bam could use an image consultant. He is giving off an “elitist” and “decent” vibes and looking too nerdish and unapproachable. Some Filipinos like to smart shame and claw down people they can’t relate to so an image revamp will do him a lot of good.
I think very highly of the Aquinos, as their family seems to be serious about valuing national service. They are educated and decent people, but you’re right this often doesn’t work in the Philippines. Even PNoy was derided as being bookish and “nerdy” by many if I recall correctly. It’s kind of sad when Filipinos would rather choose a crazy uncle type that they can “relate to” over a Red Horse, rather than dignified people who want to work hard for the nation and develop stronger relationships across the world.
bam aquino will always be typecast, an elitist and will remain that way unless he dig himself out of that ‘tag’ given him, and right under the critical eyes of many. he must take the step and be seen to be doing it. we cannot do that for him and carry his cross, but we can offer support and encouragement and lots of it.
rightly or wrongly, many filipinos will play the helpful crabs at the bottom, willing to be trodden on just so their crab can reach the top. many will grab him back, and many will push him back up again, but he must climb and climb hard until he gets to the top!
all hail the crabs!
When the Visigoths took over Rome, the Senate continued to function and even the Roman bureaucracy, but the Princeps Senatus, aka the Senate President, had to kneel before the Gothic King and do his bidding.
After a time, the Gothic King Odoaker said that “rich Goths act like Romans and poor Romans act like Goths,” so the divide was being bridged.
A Roman noble young man named Benedict decided to do it differently, forming a monkhood with enormous work ethic, with monasteries high up in mountains to be far from the Game of Thrones style rulers all over Europe then.
That self-disciplined and restrained literate but vigorous culture managed to make themselves useful to the illiterate Kings of the European Dark Ages. In early Bavaria, they even managed to play politics with certain native clans, at times fatally and at time successfully.
What am I talking about? Forget it. If it were an analogy to the Philippines, it would be elitist. 😀
reminds me of this, ireneo. and the explanation is rather simple. once you’ve reached power and shared that across the board, eg. thanks to the silver found in the andes, and the windfall that followed due to it which was eventually surpassed by US gold rush. and all other nations are still playing catch up, you can afford to view everyone equally, eg. as non threats. thats the luxury of power. whilst everyone else scrounging for crumbs. well they’re gonna see each other less favorably. in the philippines it isn’t physical, but linguistic, like ewwww they’re Visayans or Ilocanos, etc. etc. they’re from the next town over… ewwww…
This is a perfect analogy to the state of the Philippines today, even if hardly anyone would understand it.
The first time I went alimango hunting in the mangroves, I got pinched pretty good by a huge one that was as big as a coconut. Bam should learn how to become a human, so he can adobo the alimango!
If I remember correctly Bam Aquino’s wife was the brand manager of Chowking a few years back. I really dont understand why Bam Aquino has a branding issue. There is probably an ivory tower issue when someone like him is too consistently cringe.
it will probly do bam an ounce of good if he has prepared a by line or a well thought sentence he can readily throw back each time, every time, at those that wished he be taken down a peg or two. let them know he is a fighter and will not take things lying down. and do it good naturedly like a good sportsman. no stones left unturned.
but if he turns the other check, he’ll disappoint a lot of people.
GC, KB, the Aquinos in general come off as bookish and nerdy even going back to the late Ninoy. I don’t doubt Bam’s intelligence, but his social awkwardness is probably the result of being cloistered around books and a small friend/family circle. Some things can’t be changed if it’s genetic, but social skills can be practiced by trial and error, but he has the resources to just hire a stylist and image consultant. Perhaps he should recruit the help of his wife. Even the most insufferable nerd Mark Zuckerberg improved his imaged by a lot with the help of such consultants and practicing martial arts, while Elon Musk’s image continues to suffer due to his lack of self-awareness.
I saw the Twitter posting this morning and had the same reaction. Cringe and despair.
And on the pedestal, these words appear:
My name is Bam Aquino, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
I agree with your assessment of Kiko’s viability as a presidential candidate. He got a lot of aces in his sleeves (like his star studded family) and he has sense of humor. He needs to study the appeal of Tim Walz (Harris’ VP): folksy, funny and relatable. Do you know that Tim Walz is more popular than Harris, Trump and Vance right now?
The present multi-party system anchored on the vision of equal representation of all Filipino sectors has not achieved its goal. It just adds to the already chaotic political situation in the Philippines. There is a lack of defining characteristics to each party (except for the Liberal Party who has democratic leanings) that it is so confusing to classify them according to where they fall in the political spectrum. Right now the fuzzy delineation of Yellows/Pinks, DDSs and Marcos Loyalists are more often used for derogatory purposes. They are also often just cult of personalities (Yellows = Aquino; Pink = Robredo; DDS = Duterte; Loyalists = Marcos). It is also customary to blur the lines further after each election when the turncoats ally to the sitting president.
Is it possible for PH to revert to the old two-party system? Or could PH parties explicitly state where in the two dimensional political compass they belong? Could someone please apply the KISS principle so Filipinos can start voting based on concept(s) instead of personality(ies)?
Probably not. The two party system would require legislation. This can be sold as a way to go around the issue MLQ3 writes consistently that elections are too expensive and this makes it too unprofitable to run.
election in the philippines takes on fiesta atmosphere. in 2022 presidential election it was alleged there were 97 aspirants! the more the merrier. nuisance candidates can be expected so long as they met documentary requirements and pay the fee required. some withdrew their candidacy, others are pseudo candidates that are probly decoys and keeping candidacy open for others. like in 2016 when there was alleged switcheroo, with dinyo vacating his candidacy for rodrigo duterte who later become president. dinyo was amply rewarded with high paying govt job.
now comelec may also have to weed out fake candidates that are not filipino citizens but citizens of other country, holding fake birth certificates and carrying false identities like bamban mayor alice guo.