Friday, June 30, 2006

Interesting Manila Mayor's race in 2007

Balak ni Mike Arroyo na makuha ang Makati para sa administrasyon by getting Lito Lapid to run for mayor in Makati (dahil hawak ng opposition ang makati under Binay). Okay lang yan, because I don't think Lito Lapid will win anyway.

OTOH, maganda ang chance ng opposition na makuha ang Manila once na bumaba si Lito Atienza sa Mayor's office after serving 3 terms there. And WOULDN'T IT BE GREAT kung makuha ng opposition ang Manila? ;) Di mas maganda ang chance na rerespetuhin ni Lim ang karapatan ng mga anti-GMA groups na mag-rally sa Mendiola, unlike Arroyo's puppet Lito Atienza.

Anyway, I did my research and I found out na sa opposition, si Sen. Ping Lacson or Sen. Alfredo Lim might run for mayor in 2007.

On the Admin side naman, si Imelda Marcos raw gustong sumali. Pati rin si Mark Jimenez aka Mario Crespo (Wretchard's favorite candidate). LMAO.

More on Lacson March 7 2005, from MST:

Local elections are still two years away but a number of developments have set tongues wagging.

• A high-ranking official from City Hall says the senator from Cavite has already obtained his Manila residence certificate.

• Friends and neighbors of former councilor Alberto Domingo report that Lacson recently bought the house and lot owned by Domingo on Panday Pira Street in Tondo.

• Unconfirmed reports say Lacson has also bought a house and lot in San Rafael Village in Balut, Tondo, and a condominium unit in the Chinatown district of Binondo.

Pero chismis lang raw na tatakbo si Lacson, sabi niya a day after the MST article came out:

“It’s only a rumor. It’s not true,” he said. “I have not acquired any residence in Manila. I am not renting any house, nor do I have a mailing address in Manila.”

Mark Jimenez (jan. 25, 2006) says he's not running raw and will endorse candidate Joey Hizon (who?) instead. In that article, it sez that Mr. Jimenez is also the leader of a newly formed religious organization called Nagkakaisa sa Diyos, Nagkakaisang Pilipino. Wow. Bro. Jimenez!

Pro-Arroyo columnist Emil Jurado (jun. 13, 2006) on who's running in 2007:

The mayoral elections of the city of Manila may become a four-cornered fight in 2007 among Senators Ping Lacson and Fred Lim, Vice Mayor Danilo Lacuna and former jailbird and Rep. Mark Jimenez.

I don’t know if incumbent Mayor Lito Atienza will make his son Kim, run after his 3rd term. For Manilans, the more candidates there are, the merrier the whole thing gets. More money will be spread around in the process.

The more the merrier. Yeah right. Ulol!

Kim Atienza will not run raw. Gusto na niyang umalis sa pulitika (apr 03, 2006) dahil mas masarap raw maging media personality.

More from Kim atienza (june 2, 2006), who vowed never to run again for public office:

Lights? Yes. An audience? Yes. Television? Most definitely. So much so that he has turned his back on what many consider in this country the most attractive place on earth: Government. And, more surprisingly, he has vowed never to run for any position ever again or campaign for any relative in 2007 and thereafter, just to be TV Patrol World’s newest weatherman. For such are the rules of the ABS-CBN News and Public Affairs Code of Ethics, which has been strictly implemented by its chief, Maria Ressa, since November 2005.

From Ernie Maceda (6/28/06):

The campaign for the mayorship of Manila is heating up with Vice Mayor Danny Lacuna, Sen. Fred Lim, Rep. Joey Hizon, former Rep. Mark Jimenez and Ali Atienza, Lito’s younger son now organizing their leaders...

Notice na wala si Ping Lacson at Kim Atienza. Kung ito ang tatakbo, malamang na mananalo si Fred Lim. I don't care kung anak ni mayniLA si Ali Atienza (Ali who? - John Marzan)

I think this 2007 election is going to be dirty if Lim runs as the opposition candidate for Manila mayor, judging from the tactics used by Arroyo/Manapat/Fornier and the Atienza/Miles Roces group in the 2004 elections. GMA's National Archives director Ricardo Manapat, Fornier with their phony documents almost succeeded in having FPJ disqualified dahil hindi raw siya tunay na Pilipino. Remember, these were also the same people who tried to have Fred Lim disqualified in 1998.

And during the 2004 elections, people working for the Atienza/Roces group were behind the disqualification of Harry Angping (a previous two-term congressman from Manila) because he wasn't a natural born citizen, so the guy had to drop out 5 days before the elections. Hindi ba settled na ang citizenship niya dati, kaya siya pinayagang tumakbo noong 1998?

Anyway, kung tatakbo ulit si Fred Lim sa Manila, malamang buyahin ulit ang chinese citizenship issue laban sa kanya. Kung nagawa nila kay Angping yan, pwede rin nilang gawin ito kay Lim.

Sayang si Lacson kung hindi siya tatakbo as mayor of Manila. Malakas siya sa Chinese community and ordinary Manilenos, and he could have blown the competition out of the water.

His slogan for Manila could have been: "A safer and more progressive Manila".

Safer, dahil bumagsak ang crime and kidnapping sa panahon niya without resorting to controlling the media coverage. He managed to reduce corruption in the PNP to a minimal level and has managed to instill discipline in their ranks. Kaya the PNP under his watched received the highest approval rating of 69% percent (or a net rating of +58%). Before his stint, the organization received negative ratings. Kapag safe ang environment sa Maynila, mas magiging attractive ang Maynila sa foreign investors at local businesses.

A more "progressive" Manila because alam naman nating napaka-conservtive at backward si Atienza sa mga social issues, lalo na sa family planning. hehe... Progressive dahil hindi trapo ang approach ni Lacson, whether he's running a police organization into top professional shape, or possibly running and managing a city as big as manila. I think Lacson will be able to attract more businesses and investments into Manila than Atienza.

UPDATE: Atienza was okay as mayor, but I'm a little sick of seeing his name, his face, his MayniLA, and his son-in-law Cong. Miles Roces' name and face plastered and printed all over Manila. Para sa akin, magaling lang si Lito Atienza sa mga expensive beautification projects niya at magpatayo ng mga bagong gusali. So in a way, he's like our own Imelda Marcos, na mahilig ring magpatayo ng mga "beautification" projects.

But either Lacson or Lim is okay with me if both run for mayor of Manila.

At sabi ni Lord Dracula:

I agree. Pinaganda lang ni Atienza yung distrito nya. Better look and see District I, it's a forgotten land. And district II, well, di sya manalo-nalo run kaya pinabayaan din nya.

Lim and Lacson should stay in the Senate, although I know both prefer executive positions. Kasi, more than ever, we need an opposition Senate.

In any case I'd go for Lim.

1 comment:

john marzan said...

i'm okay with lim as mayor too.