When our Lord Jesus Christ was crucified and dying of thirst, pain, and exhaustion, he worried about his mother. But he worried more about the people who shall become sheep without shepherds. And so, in the gospel of St. John, Chapter 19, Verses 26 and 27, he said: “Woman, behold your son, Son, behold your mother.” Thus, Jesus entrusted to his mother the care and nurturing of his followers. And to his beloved disciple, John, he entrusted his own mother. Simon Peter, the rock, crumbled in fear and was not there. Judas already betrayed him and sold him for thirty pieces of silver. Thomas persisted in his doubts. Jesus then relied on a woman to take care of his sons.
Maybe more than one-half of all the candidates this coming elections are women. It is not farfetched that in 2022, two women shall fight it out for president; Sara Duterte Carpio of Hugpong and PDP-Laban and Leny Gerona Robredo of LP and Otso Derecho. For senator, leading the pack is Grace Poe and Cynthia Villar, with Pia Cayetano, and even the controversial Imee Marcos. For governor of Cebu, two women are slugging it out, Vice Governor Agnes Almendras Magpale and Gwendolyn Fiel Garcia. Maybe, we are approaching an era with women on top.
Sara Duterte of the south appears to be more aggressive and passionate than Leny Robredo of the Bicol region. If Sara partners with Imee, then the Solid South and the Solid North will surround and overwhelm the middle which is Bicol and southern Tagalog. Sara and Leny are both lawyers, they will play by the rules if they remain faithful to the Lawyers' Oath and the Canons of Ethics for members of the Bar. Sara has the strong advantage of being fully supported by her father, the incumbent president. She has a husband who is also a lawyer. Leny is a widow with three daughters to raise.
Clearly then, Sara has many advantages over Leny. Bicol's total voting population is too small compared to the combined Mindanao vote and Visayan vote plus the solid north as well as Leyte-Samar Waray votes of Imee Marcos in support of Sara. If Leny will get southern Tagalog, she might only capture two-thirds at the most. Central Luzon will go for Sara with GMA and most Central Luzon political leaders all the way behind Hugpong and against the LP. Drilon cannot solidify Western Visayas because Hugpong has strong leaders there.
The most important question is not whether Sara will win or lose. She will most probably win. The more critical issue is if she wins, will the Philippines be better off? Woman, behold your sons.