January 20th, 12:25am January 20th, 12:08am TDTWithout Fear Without Favor

The difference between President Rody Duterte and his predecessors is their approach to the so-called lameduck years or the second half of an administration in which the incumbent President’s political luster is on the wane.

Rody had long said that stepping down will not be a problem to him since he had long desired to spend his years of retirement in Davao City.

The focus of Rody now is to wrap up his still unrealized commitments to the people which are essentially eradicating the crime problem and his ultimate goal of leaving the nation a Federal government.

His predecessor’s regime, in contrast, was rendered ineffective by its objective of a long-term party domination.

In his twilight years, former President Noynoy Aquino was packaged as being above politics to pave the way for an eventual successor, who was none other than Mar Roxas, now a senatorial candidate.

The whole six-year term of Noynoy was devoted to politicking, as the first half targeted the destruction of the political opposition figures in the guise of an anti-graft crusade while the final years were meant to make Roxas acceptable to voters that proved to be a futile undertaking.

Realizing that Roxas will never click at the polls, the Liberal Party (LP) campaigned for Charter change (cha-cha) to allow Noynoy a second term despite the unpopularity of such a move.

A Palace-designed online movement called “One More Term for PNoy” that claimed four million supporters suddenly popped up from nowhere.

Noynoy broached his preference for an extended term during a television interview in which he said the constitutional limit of a single term of six years for the presidency should be removed to allow continuity of reforms.

The online movement soon enough had Roxas endorsing it along with Caloocan Rep. and LP errand boy Egay Erice who filed a resolution to amend the political provisions in the Constitution, including the term limit on the presidency.

The frantic LP effort was rejected by the public based on surveys.

Realizing the futility of cha-cha for extension, the LP was stuck with Roxas, thus it worked on the command vote concept where in theory the choice of local leaders influences the eventual outcome of the votes.

The LP, thus, worked on keeping heads of local government units (LGU) content and to attract as much political support as possible for Roxas.

Government projects and funding for LGU thus flowed.

Noynoy and his LP mob have become adept at using government resources in achieving political ends such as the removal of an official with a constitutionally-guaranteed term or in exploiting government resources according to their whims which had often conflicted with limitations under the Constitution.

The efforts were all directed to the continuation of the LP dynasty in government.

Noynoy then tried to dictate his thoughts to the public saying the 2016 elections should have a discerning public who will not elect leaders who have “no substance.”

He said voters should “discern properly as to whom is extolling populist sentiments with no substance as opposed to those who not only say the right things but whom you can trust to delivering the same.”

He added there should be a continuation of people of like mind who will deliver on the promises that are real and not just self-serving or nice or pleasant to hear.

Impliedly he was talking about an 18-year dynasty of the LP which was the party’s goal but faces a huge hump since Roxas needed to win first before it is put into effect.

Roxas was offered as the candidate who would continue the reforms of Noynoy.

Indicating that a “like-minded” candidate should be voted into the presidency would not work either since that usually resulted in a death kiss from somebody responsible for a lackluster administration.

The grand effort failed in the face of a mayor in far off Davao City who made a sincere vow to eradicate crime and drugs.