Popcorn, please!

They have assigned a movie director to direct the live television coverage of President Duterte’s three SONAs probably in expectations of high drama. Well, it happened last Monday. There was conflict, deceit, and power play... elements for a blockbuster movie.

All these were happening while the President was cooling his heels waiting for the chance to deliver his SONA. He threatened to just leave unless the congressional leaders settle their differences, even if temporarily.

Political melodramas are popular in Netflix and American television. But West Wing was at least classified as fiction. SONA 2018 was airing live, a battle for political survival that showed some of the people we elect at their worst.

I have to say that I am delighted by the outcome. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo isn’t exactly the kind of model politician we can urge the younger generations to emulate. But given our situation today, she is definitely better than the political bully and thug she replaced.

I have often expressed a loss of hope on the politics of our country. But I am pragmatic enough to know that we must make the best of what we are presented with as options. Between Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and Pantaleon Alvarez, the choice is clear.

Alvarez and his sidekick Farinas have brutalized the management of House affairs. They make no bones about using raw power to pass measures that benefit them in some way and never mind the public interest.

They railroaded a tariff bill promoted by the old owner of Mighty cigarettes over the objection of the DOF and the DOH. Luckily, the Senate didn’t agree with them and killed the measure. In the end, Mighty was forced to pay DOF over P20 billion and turn over ownership of the cigarette company to Japan Tobacco.

Lately, Alvarez wanted to postpone the elections next year. That’s largely because he knows he isn’t going to win reelection in his district. Mayor Sara Duterte will see to that. He also wants an end to term limits and nothing in the new constitution about ending political dynasties.

It is simply too dangerous to let Alvarez and Farinas have anything to do with amending the Constitution. Their record in this Congress simply shows the worst in our politicians.

True, former president Gloria Arroyo is no angel. Her last years as president was a nightmare we want to forget. But that was because she became so insecure about her hold on political power that she compromised right and left. It didn’t help that people close to her, family members and political allies, were contributing to her negative reputation.

But despite the turbulence of her tenure in Malacanang, she at least started the upward trajectory of our economy. She made hard decisions to fix the government’s fiscal health at great political cost.

She launched the Conditional Cash Transfer program which is a good first step in helping a large segment of our people catch up and share the benefits of economic growth. She works hard and does not embarrass us in the international stage.

In the end, I think she feels sad that she failed to use her nine years in office to deliver more for the economy and create a more inclusive society. She was also probably concerned she might have sullied her father’s legacy somehow.

She must have felt there was unfinished business as her term expired. She chose not to retire from politics and started all over again as a congresswoman from Pampanga.

The thing with Speaker Arroyo is that she has manners. And while some UP economists sometimes don’t respect her as an economist, the fact is she once studied at UPSE, some good economic sense must have rubbed off on her somehow.

  Indeed, President Duterte recognized her credentials as an economist. Speaker Arroyo, according to the President, called on him to do something about inflation.

With Arroyo as Speaker, the President will no longer be too dependent on his economic managers. He now has an alternative source of economic advice. The Speaker is not only an economist, but is also a politician who knows how to combine economics and politics from actual tough lessons learned.

When she urged President Duterte to do something about inflation, I am sure she wasn’t telling him to dump TRAIN 1. She is familiar with the necessity of doing TRAIN 1 with her experience in doing VAT.

She is most likely looking at other means, like pushing hard for the passage of rice tariff in place of the NFA import monopoly. Or maybe she wants a more careful review of the real world implications of TRAIN 2.

Given that her father, the late president Diosdado Macapagal was also once president of the 1973 Constitutional Convention, she probably has more respect for the Constitution than the former Speaker. She did try to amend the Constitution during her watch, but respected popular negative sentiment and dumped her plans.

She probably wants to adopt a parliamentary form of government, but she may want a closer scrutiny of the federal system. Her experience as president and the economist in her will be positive influences on the final form. If there is anyone who can convince President Duterte to consider the finer economic and financial aspects of federalism, it would be her.

I think she wants to be the first prime minister under a new Constitution despite her denial. That probably wouldn’t be such a bad thing if she realizes she is being given another chance to redeem her legacy and that of her father.

That would require her to show us she has learned her lessons. She must dump those close to her who ruined her presidency. She must convince us that this time her motives are solely for the public good.

In the meantime, we can only sit back and watch the political drama continue to unfold... more popcorn please!

Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @boochanco.