A kid’s gateway

HOUSE Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez made an interesting announcement during PDP-Laban’s mass oath activity here in Cebu last Friday.

He floated the names of Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque and Presidential Communications Operations Office ( PCOO) Assistant Secretary Margaux “Mocha” Uson as possible administration bets for senator in the 2019 midterm elections.

Actually, nothing is etched in stone as of the moment. Now until late next year names for various positions open in the next elections would be floated but that does not mean they would be official candidates. A number of bets would be vying for 12 senatorial posts in 2019 but I am sure tens of politicians are hoping they would be in the running to run under the administration slate.

The administration senatorial slate is the most attractive for a number of reasons, including it having the financial clout being in control of the government and because of President Rodrigo Duterte’s relatively high ratings in surveys.

The jockeying to be in the slate would continue until the filing of the certificates of candidacy.

I am not surprised about Alvarez mentioning Roque. Roque planned to run for senator in 2016 under then vice president Jejomar Binay’s United Nationalist Alliance ( UNA) but decided instead on the

cessing and Marketing Enterprise. I assumed the Dupligan Farmers Multipurpose Cooperative (DUFAMPCO) being the lead proponent of the enterprise, a subproject under the PRDP I-REAP (Enterprise Development) component, will be operating the vehicles.

Here’s looking forward to the full revival of Kalinga Province’s coffee industry as a top coffee bean producer and processor in the near

easier route to Congress via the party- list system.

What is surprising is the inclusion of Uson, whose main claim to fame is as a pro- Duterte entertainer and blogger. But senatorial slates in recent elections always include entertainers to attract voters.

The filing of the certificates of candidacy is still more than a year away, though— a long time for both the Duterte administration and for people occupying high positions in it. Consider one of the current administration’s advantages: the president’s popularity.

We know that it can be fleeting and too dependent on many factors the administration do not have control of. History tells us that incumbents’ popularity ratings always go down. SSCebu

future.

We extend our heartfelt congratulations to the DA-PRDP, the local government units (LGUs), and the coffee farmers and beneficiaries of the PRDP’s subprojects in Kalinga for their efforts in this venture and making the beverage a great drink for good men and women who must promote and sustain the progress of civil communities and nations. -30-