Bum choices

Two former allies of President Rodrigo Duterte provide abject lessons for standing on one’s principles and loyalty.

In his firm belief that incumbents enjoyed the upper hand with name recall, media exposure, and established networks — and the backing of the administration guaranteed victory — this former PDP Laban stalwart missed the train, miserably finishing dead last in the Alyansa senatorial slate.

He was very visible during the campaign. He even made headlines by exposing an alleged Chinese troll farm, which was considered a bold move. The reelectionist styled himself a champion of the West Philippine Sea conflict, which was carried on his radio and television ads that aired day and night in the provinces, yet he lost.

In 2019, with President Rodrigo Duterte’s endorsement, he handily won a Senate seat. However, his decision to run out on PDP Laban for the Marcos-backed Alyansa slate turned off voters.

Then there’s the case of the former sports hero who seems to have a hard time keeping himself in a political party, showing a complete lack of loyalty.

In 2024, he joined the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP) after hopping onto almost all key parties such as the Liberal Party, Kampi, Lakas, Nacionalista, UNA, PDP Laban and Promdi.

He joined a breakaway group of the PDP-Laban when President Duterte’s term was about to end, which many voters remembered and questioned. TDT

Achievers stay

Department of Health insiders came to the defense of Dr. Ted Herbosa amid the Cabinet shakeup.

His supporters disputed the allegations against him, such as the number of his overseas trips, which critics claimed were excessive. His supporters emphasized all the trips were official and yielded significant benefits for the Philippines.

Notably, he secured a $25 million – almost P1.4 billion – grant from the Pandemic Fund. He is also credited with facilitating the delivery of tuberculosis drugs for multidrug-resistant TB from the Stop TB Global Partnership, valued at over $150,000 or P8.3 million.

He also played a key role in obtaining a $400 million – P22 billion – soft loan from the World Bank.

Acquisitions from such travels included digital technology and hospital systems from the United Arab Emirates, as well as funding from the Green Climate Fund.

During the country’s recent participation in the 78th World Health Assembly (WHA) in Geneva, Switzerland, Herbosa faced criticism for bringing along a sizable Philippine delegation.

Herbosa’s camp dismissed the criticism, pointing out that other countries sent even larger delegations—China with 170 delegates and Vietnam with 80.

The World Health Assembly is like the Olympics with numerous events, meetings, side meetings and bilateral discussions. To secure investments, recognition, and influence, you must be present at every event.

Herbosa was elected president of the 78th World Health Assembly this year.

He is the first Philippine health secretary to be elected to the WHA, the World Health Organization’s decision-making body.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. welcomed this historic election as a recognition of the Philippines’ advocacy of global health issues.