‘… the Grand Coalition ticket I propose will be led by former Senator Leila de Lima for President, with Speaker Martin Romualdez as running mate.’
SOMETIME in 2009, I was invited to a small group meeting to discuss the presidential prospects of a talented politician: Mar Roxas. It was the year before the next presidential elections, and Sen. Mar was one of the leading candidates being named in surveys.
He had the name, he had the academic and professional qualifications, he was representative of the next generation of politicians, and he was not without money. I was happy and honored to be invited to sit in and listen, and so I didn’t pass up the opportunity.
During the discussions, a thought crossed my mind. And me being me I couldn’t keep my mouth shut. So I raised my hand and shared what was on my mind to the group assembled.
Sen. Mar, I said, reminded me of the young Sen. John F. Kennedy when he first wanted to run for president. Young, educated, monied, emblematic of a new generation of political leaders.
Except that Kennedy first wanted to run for president in 1956, when the Republicans had the war hero, Gen. Dwight Eisenhower, as their candidate. Kennedy was just 39, the Democrats had lost to the Republicans in 1952, but they seemed poised to nominate the same man, Adlai Stevenson, to run again.
Many party leaders thought Kennedy too young for the presidency, so they asked him if he wanted to try for the vice presidency. But even for that he wasn’t chosen, which may have been a blessing in disguise. Eisenhower won a second term by a landslide. Four years later, it was the 42-year-old John F. Kennedy who was te president of the United States.
In 2010, I said, I was thinking of a wild idea: a Grand Coalition of the two oldest parties in the country: the Nacionalista and the Liberal. They would jointly field a Villar-Roxas ticket which I said was a good mix of generations, and would be a ticket that big business would love. It would need to be sold to the “masa,” but that’s what PR was for. The Grand Coalition would be both a continuation as well as a break from the past; it would represent the oldest parties learning from past mistakes while painting a bright future for the people.
I was not invited back to the next meeting.
Anyway, fate intervened — in the form of the passing of former President Cory — and so in 2010 the people elected PNoy as our 14th President.
I was reminded of this the other day when friends were discussing 2028. And I began thinking again: is this the time again to flirt with the idea of a Grand Coalition?
The Grand Coalition, of course, will be the non-Duterte political aggrupation. I can imagine that it will campaign the way the Democrats in the US are campaigning, arguing that democracy (and our national sovereignty) is under threat, and that if we didn’t choose wisely, we may see an end to both by 2028.
It’s not going to be an easy sell to the loyalists of the parties, because each has its interest in going it alone. But there too are risks of this happening – a splintered electorate in a one-man, one-vote setup can see the election of a minority president. And whoever that be may not be healthy for our democracy — although arguably Fidel V. Ramos acquitted himself well despite being a “minority president.”
But here’s the kicker: who do you imagine making up the tandem for the Grand Coalition?
And my answer is sure to find very little support initially, with even the persons I will name surely dismissing my proposal outright as the weekend musings of someone with nothing better to do.
But here’s my answer for whatever its worth: the Grand Coalition ticket I propose will be led by former Senator Leila de Lima for President, with Speaker Martin Romualdez as running mate.
Crazy, yes?
