Reject both BBM's 12 and Duterte's "Dirty Dozen"

The names of the announced senatorial candidates by both camps are insulting to Filipinos. They are all the same bananas, old trapos deodorizing themselves and pretending to be bearers of the good news. And most probably, the majority of the people, in the names of thousands of pesos, a few kilos of rice and sardines, will swallow their campaign slogans.

BBM's non-performing incumbents include senators Lito Lapid who continue appearing in "Batang Quiapo" while collecting salaries and perks from the Senate. We cannot remember any law authored by this politician from Porac, Pampanga where POGOs have mushroomed while he was sitting as senator. Bong Revilla is running again, while his wife and his sons are also running for Congress in Cavite. Revilla is remembered more for his dance than for any significant legislation. Even Senator Pia, supposedly a brilliant lawyer from UP, has been underperforming.

Pia's most memorable achievement was to prevent a fist fight between her brother fellow senator and a great martial artist, former Senate president Migz Zubiri. But that single incident means Cayetano will lose in northern Mindanao. Imee Marcos has done the more honorable option to disassociate from Luzon trapos. Another incumbent who is facing a dilemma is Francis Tolentino who won six years ago because of Duterte benediction, only to turn his back on the Dutertes and run under BBM. Tolentino will be junked in Mindanao while Imee will win there hands down.

Returning Tito Sotto is much better than both Lapid and Revilla but is too old and too busy with showbiz for legislation. The only saving grace among the comebacking senators is perhaps Ping Lacson. He is going to win even for or against Marcos. The Lacson brand has remained saleable. Manny Pacquiao is a good man but has he ever been a good legislator? Pacquiao should stop pretending he represents Mindanao. He is now one of the rich and famous. The BBM bets, who are dynasty perpetrators, include Camille Villar who already has a brother in the Senate while her mom, Cynthia, is a sitting senator too.

Why should a tiny city like Las Piñas have three or two members of a 24-member Upper House while Cebu, with five million people, has none? Abigail Binay, a lawyer, may be a good mayor, but does that make her senatorial material? The most difficult to "sell" to the people is Benhur Abalos although he has all the mayors and governors who can push his candidacy. Erwin Tulfo is winning but his entry into the Senate may lead to three brothers there: incumbent Raffy and independent-running Ben. If Pia and Alan, and also Camille and Mark, together with the Tulfos, then the three Dutertes Digong, Polong, and Baste win, the Philippine Senate will win a Guinness record.

Duterte's Dirty Dozen happily doesn’t include Digong himself who is running for mayor and Polong who is running for reelection as an absentee congressman. The slate includes "dirty" Harry Roque, who is being sought by the Senate, ageing, flamboyant, and rakish dapper lawyer Sal Panelo, the House defender of VP Sara, recently-ousted committee member Rodante Marcoleta, the so-called "Malasakit" medical expert Bong Go, Senator Ronald Bato de la Rosa who is becoming the favorite of the ICC prosecutor, Vic Rodriguez, former BBM executive secretary lawyer Trixie Angeles, former BBM press secretary Lorraine Badoy, lawyer Glenn Chiong, and other characters that I would rather not mention.

These trapos, excluding Lacson, are indeed, some serious abominations to the dignity and honor of the Filipino electorate. They can be called a "trapostry" of something old, something new, something bought and something borrowed, a kind of merry mix-up or "kare kare". There is no unifying theme to bind them all together. I would be hard-pressed to find a political slogan to cover all of both the BBM's choices and Duterte's cacophony of strangers. If this is the case, the thinking electors, and this group is becoming larger, would be left with truly honorable candidates like Chel Diokno, Bam Aquino, Kiko Pangilinan, Romulo Macalintal. The most winnable Leila de Lima and VP Leni Robredo are running for other offices.

If these are the kinds of choices that we voters are going to make, we better leave all the senatorial slots vacant. That will be a wakeup call to these trapos and a notice that we are not stupid all the time. Election periods should be our lucid moments.