“Association with 1Sambayan may even be considered a kiss of political death.”
Daily Tribune Editorial
A cursory review of the convenors of the so-called 1Sambayan coalition indicates another attempt at an unwieldy alliance among left-wing affiliates of the Communist Party of the Philippines, the elite and the discredited yellow mob.
Even the attempt at a new coating by having retired Associate Justice Antonio Carpio to lead the group fails to make the lineup impressive. It’s in the same mold of the disastrous Otso Diretso campaign that bombed in the 2019 polls.
1Sambayan billed itself as being made up of “democratic forces” from the progressive Bayan Muna on the left and the Magdalo party of putschist Antonio Trillanes IV on the right.
Carpio is joined by former Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales and President Noynoy Aquino’s Foreign secretary Albert del Rosario as co-founders.
Other convenors include La Sallian Brother Armin Luistro, retired Rear Admiral Rommel Jude Ong, lawyer Howie Calleja, former Negros Occidental governor Lito Coscolluela, former Commission on Audit commissioner Heidi Mendoza, Partido Manggagawa chair Renato Magtubo and Rickie Xavier.
Just glancing at the disparate groups within it indicate a pathetic desperation to resurrect the long dead EDSA magic, which installed two Aquinos to the presidency.
Mendoza, for one, has been the partner of former Commission on Audit chairperson Grace Pulido-Tan in cobbling up the partisan 2007-2009 Special Report on the Priority Development Assistance Fund that gave Noynoy Aquino his political trophies to justify his Daang Matuwid mantra.
She has since gone to more loftier pursuits in the United Nations as an official of the oversight unit.
There were indications that she will gun for the Senate in 2022.
Among those 1Sambayan is considering to endorse for the two highest posts are Vice President Leni Robredo of the Liberal Party; Senator Nancy Binay of the United Nationalist Alliance; Aquino’s secret 2016 candidate Senator Grace Poe; Manila Mayor Isko Moreno Domagoso of the National Unity Party; and former senator Antonio “Sonny” Trillanes IV of Magdalo.
While the choices were a clear hint, the personalities listed have not indicated their ambitions for 2022, and many even can’t entertain dumb luck to win a government post.
The odd group, nonetheless, only reinforces the public’s gravitation to the current strong-willed governance since the personalities associated with 1Sambayan were those who evoked vindictiveness and hypocrisy of the past.
Selective justice was also a prominent feature of the previous regime, which is well represented in the coalition.
Despite their poor image with the public, the group, however, is very capable of whipping up tumult, because it is well connected with international groups that have long considered President Rodrigo Duterte as an aberration to the world of liberal democracy.
Since 2016 when he assumed the presidency after an undisputed victory, Mr. Duterte had been the target of an ouster movement from the groups that have now surfaced in 1Sambayan.
Through the ballot, none of the individuals identified with the emerging challenge to the current administration has a chance of getting public approval.
Association with 1Sambayan may even be considered a kiss of political death.
Members of the aggrupation are not expected to win votes, but they can certainly create the most vicious noises to stir up another mob rule.
Source： Daily Tribune 20-03-2021