Bayani Fernando: The Next President?

To borrow Prof. Alex Magno’s words, ‘everyone and his cousin’ is running for the 2010 presidential election.

First to announce their candidacies, were the three billionaire candidates namely Senate president Manny Villar, Sen. Mar Roxas and former Pres. Joseph ‘Erap’ Estrada – elephants, Miriam calls them, in reference to their enormous wealth as compared to the relatively ‘poorer’ candidates, which she calls as the ants.

Roxas proclaimed his candidacy in a grand style immediately after the LP’s national executive council elected him as president of the Liberal Party (LP) more than six weeks ago, in a meeting at the Club Filipino in Greenhills, San Juan. Later developments however showed that Sen. Francis ‘Kiko’ Pangilinan might challenge Roxas’ nomination.

Nacionalista Party (NP) president Manny Villar was the logical choice as his party’s standard-bearer due to his stature in the Senate and in the party; although his party mate Sen. Richard ‘Dick’ Gordon could still pose a challenge to his candidacy.

The heated rivalry between the two heavyweights have subsided during the holiday season, but the other heavyweight (no pun intended), Erap continued with his campaign offensive without any let-up, even with the legality of his running again still in question. Erap is everywhere nowadays – in the slums of Metro Manila or in the rice fields of Nueva Ecija, on the front page of the Philippine Daily Inquirer or in the studios of ANC.

Then the ‘ants’ came.

Sen. Panfilo Lacson, branded as the ‘spoiler’ of a sure victory for the opposition in the 2004 presidential election, had no qualms in expressing his intention to run again. He never admitted in playing the spoiler’s role by taking away votes from the late Fernando Poe, Jr.

Sen. Loren Legarda meanwhile has not yet categorically stated her intentions to run, but her body language says otherwise. According to the grapevine, Legarda got irritated and sulked in a corner when the upstart Sen. Francis ‘Chiz’ Escudero, asked her who would be president between the two of them, if ever they decide to run together.

The opposition says Vice President Noli de Castro may be the best bet for the administration to go against its crop of strong presidential contenders, but is still confident that de Castro will be no match to any of them.

Some sectors are floating the name of Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro, who certainly is a fine young man and appears to be competent enough. He handled himself very well under pressure against antagonistic anchors in an ANC interview during the Manila Peninsula Siege-Press Freedom brouhaha. His biggest asset, though others say liability, would be his uncle, Eduardo ‘Danding’ Cojuangco, Jr.

One man considers himself as a ‘dark horse’ – Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay, who is popular in the metro, but is unknown in the provinces. A joke is circulating in the emails lately. It says, “If America is ready for a Black president, then why not the Philippines? Vote for Binay!"

And then there is BF – Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Bayani Fernando. In an ABS-CBN interview, a reporter referred to Fernando as the ‘future president’, to which he quickly replied, “not future president, but the next president”.

Fernando may be unpopular among Metro Manila’s working class, but he is gaining reputation throughout the country as a no-nonsense and firm leader. Marikina and Metro Manila as a whole had tasted a BF leadership for so long now. Maybe the proper time has come for the whole country to experience the same. With proper support and organization, he could well be the true dark horse of the 2010 presidential derby.

Next: Bayani Fernando: Our Own Lee Kuan Yew