The Senate voting as a Committee of the Whole voted 12-0 to proceed with the investigation of the ethics complaint against Senator Manuel Villar. The Villar camp and some senators either boycotted or did not participate in the voting. In a press conference, Senator Villar charged that presidentiable politics intervened in the process with the refusal of other senators with presidential ambition to inhibit.
Is there politics in the ethics complaint against Senator Villar? Undoubtedly, the present political context of the case is the heated presidential contest. Whether we like it or not, it is already a fact that presidential aspirants have been maneuvering and campaigning since last year. At the moment, the prize at stake is getting the three or four slots available for serious contestants.
The Villar case will definitely affect his chances and may even lead to his dropping out from the race. The strategy he adopted–defining his own public forum and shunning the Senate process–is very risky and opens the possibility of reinforcing the public opinion against him. At this time, the prevailing public opinion is basically open-minded and tolerant but this may change if he continually avoids the Senate process.
The more politically prudent move is to recognize the institutional process, bring the public and media in to observe the proceedings and establish his innocence in the public mind. In this way, any political maneuver or persecution by other presidentiables (or other senators) will be exposed. Becoming an underdog, he may even win sympathy.
Avoiding the Senate process–and worse, intimating that the institution is incapable of handling its own problems and has failed rules–is counterproductive and lends easily to a guilty verdict in the public mind. If this happens, it will be the surest way to a failed presidential bid.
However, the case has its own weight. If there is a critical mass of evidence, it is also possible that it may also endanger, if not derail, Villar’s presidential bid. On the other hand, if he is cleared by the probe, it will considerably boost his chances. Either way, the Villar ethics probe may have a decisive impact on his quest for presidency.
The Villar slogan should be:C5 at Tiyaga!
All the Senators have skeletons in their closets. It just happens that Villar, with his war chest, can mount the strongest bid for the presidency against Gilbert Teodoro, who will be backed by Malacanang and secretly by Danding – as agreed in a secret deal between GMA and Danding to capture the presidency in case Chacha fails.
Administration senators and rival presidentiables will surely try to destroy Villar, given the smallest chance, led by Lacson whom I believe is a GMA mole along with Erap.
The other opposition presidentiables, blinded by their ambitions and self interests, unknowingly are letting themselves being used by GMA.
here is our problem. dirt-dishing is a common political ploy. the public get immune to it. in fact, the public accept it as a fact (without those hard evidence) because it is the “kalakaran”, that politicians are crook. the public don’t get excited anymore except the politicians doing the “mudslinging”, and public would not cheer on the sideline because the mudslingers are doing it so they can prop-up his own political career to make money for themselves.
in japan, political “mudslinging” is not routine. so if you get labelled as corrupt, the politician resigns posthaste.
in our case, you can lump them together as corrupt and the public don’t care.