Let Leni leave

If ever there are critiques and criticisms it is not because of the inherent wish or desire for this country to go down. It is part of our hope therefore that the administration of BBM would prove wrong those who are afraid that his style of governance will be a return to the political climate of the ‘70s and early ‘80s

It would be wrong to say that all those who voted for Mrs. Robredo are kakampinks or pinklawan. To associate all those who are against BBM with the Liberal Party and more so with liberalism is certainly wrong or at the very least inaccurate.

Political fault-lines in the Philippines are not party or ideology based. I doubt if those who sided with Robredo or even with Marcos do or did so because of hardcore political beliefs or policy orientations. One is presuming and expecting too much from the Filipino people -- for them to rally behind a politician purely because of platforms and blueprints of governance.

Another point that needs to be highlighted is the fact that some of those who voted for Robredo are doing all they can to prevent the return of a Marcos. Does this make one a dilawan or a pinklawan? Not necessarily. Some of those who have decided not to align with the UniTeam were critics of PNoy. So, what does this leave us?

My bold assertion on the matter is this: We should now consider Mrs. Robredo “out of the picture” and focus the spotlight on Mr. Marcos. Our presumptive president should be given time to position himself well in the center stage. It is his turn to prove himself, this time not in rhetorical but in actual terms of performance. Precisely why it is exciting to know who his appointees are is because the people who’d surround him would contribute a lot to the success or failure of his administration.

Back to my point that Mrs. Robredo should be out -- this means that both supporters and critics of Robredo should stop talking about her. Let not Robredo be the object of our scrutiny but the incoming administration. Truth to tell, she is “the winner.” She has been relieved from the burdens of governance and can move on with all private activities she would like to engage in.

Of course, we are not privy to her plans, but if I’m in her place, I’d take a long rest and leave the next administration to prove itself. Let the next president busy himself addressing the concerns of the 31 million who are expecting a lot from this New Jerusalem. The burden is now in the hands of the incoming administration; it has a lot to do and deliver to the Filipino people, not Mrs. Robredo.

The reason why we must emphasize that the “loser” should be out is that there’s this tendency for any administration to always create a strawman to whom all the blame should go if there’s a failure in governance. So, this time, I would prefer to say “Let Marcos Lead” so that “we will see” the extent to which he can carry and incarnate his “rhetoric” of unity.

There is a danger for Mrs. Robredo to be used as an “excuse” should something go wrong with this incoming administration. She can be very well blamed as a “blocker,” as a “noisy oppositionist” or as an opportunist. The best thing that she should do is to “step back” so that the field will be clear. By giving everything to the next administration, all the accountabilities would also be theirs.

I believe that no Filipino would like its leaders to fail. If ever there are critiques and criticisms it is not because of the inherent wish or desire for this country to go down. It is part of our hope therefore that the administration of BBM would prove wrong those who are afraid that his style of governance will be a return to the political climate of the ‘70s and early ‘80s. This is a challenge our presumptive president must take seriously.