Much ado has been made over Gibo’s being the standard bearer of Lakas-CMD, which happens to be the party of outgoing president GMA (Gloria Macapagal Arroyo). GMA was also responsible for placing Gibo in a position of power as secretary of the DND (Department of National Defense). There is also talk about his reticence to prosecute Arroyo after her term expires and his “defense” (I put quotation marks because this article was very misleading in its headline) of Mikey Arroyo’s bid to run as representative of security guards. Pundits are right in questioning whether or not Gibo will have “Utang ng loob” to people who helped him in his rise to power, and in this video I must admit that Gibo gives a pretty weak defense of himself. He talks about protecting his family name and ultimately ends with “kung magpapakatuta lang ako di na ko tatakbo ng presidente” essentially saying it’s not worth the effort of running for president only to be a lapdog. He does say that he has “Utang ng loob” but that this is repaid not by being a lapdog but by living up to the expectations that come with the plum of being head of the DND.
In another video, a man questions whether or not Gibo will help the outgoing president if ever there are cases filed against her. Gibo redeems himself some in his answer, saying that in the first place if he ever did become president everyone’s eyes would be on him, so it would be difficult for him to even try to help her even if he wanted to. And the second and most important point is that he asks the people present whether or not it was right that he meddles in any cases against the president or any person in the country for that matter? Again the point he’s making here is about allowing institutions (the judiciary) to do their jobs. This is an important and recurring theme in all of Gibo’s answers to his questions, and something to keep in mind while watching his videos.
But the bottom line is that he never goes out and speaks against Arroyo, and that rubs some people the wrong way. Sure it’s a little frustrating, and one is tempted to tell him to “go big or go home”, just take aim at Arroyo and let the chips fall where they may. But Gibo has never shown any tendency to use bad PR against people. He’s just classy that way. You’ll notice that most of the mudslinging is coming from the two “leading” party candidates, NoyNoy and Villar (some would argue because they have the most to lose) with nary a peep from Gibo or his party. So I’m going to go ahead and make the assumption that this is just not the way Gibo plays; he sees no point in pointing fingers.
I also find it difficult to understand why people cannot grasp the idea of working with or for someone you hate. We’ve all experienced that at one point or another right? Government administration is a job like any other, and some would argue that it comes with more than its fair share of douchebags. Now say you were a government executive given the chance to do some good, but you had a boss that was “evil”, would you say no based on principle and simply let people rot whom you could have helped? or would you suck it up and do what you could despite having said evil boss (while waiting for a promotion)? Which is the greater good is up to each individual to decide, but it’s obvious what Gibo chose.
What follows is baseless speculation and rumormongering, so please take it with a grain of salt or three. There’s the rumors of Villarroyo, and of Arroyo instructing Lakas party members to abandon ship. There’s also news that Speaker Prospero Nograles is planning to switch to the NP as well, and the furious and contradictory statements he was giving to the media. My suspicion is that Gibo is organizing his people the way he wants to and leaving the old guard (like Nograles) out of the loop. Whether or not the Villaroyo scheme is true he must have had information that Nograles was planning to jump ship and simply worked around him. When Nograles threw his little hissy fit Gibo calmly said that he’d never been supportive of Gibo’s campaign anyway, and if he wanted to leave the party he was free to do so.
In the end I will admit that there is no way to prove that Gibo won’t be swayed by Arroyo or that he is compromised somehow. But ask yourselves this: Do you really believe that your candidates aren’t compromised? That they won’t have to pay back favors? Huge amounts of money are being channeled through the two leading parties, and that money has to be made back somehow. At the very least Gibo has never had any allegations of corruption leveled against him, which isn’t something many people in public service can say.
Thank you very much for your posts! Not only were you able to present Gibo’s platforms and views in such an orderly manner, you were also able to expound on your insights about the manner and content of his answers, making your readers think deeper into these videos and into what they mean.
I think it’s a shame that his perceived-as-reluctance to give straight-out answers to the questions regarding GMA is what makes other people think twice about him. In my case, his answers to this issue are what convinced me to support him.
(1) The President is the SUPERVISOR of all government agencies, and not the controller. (He has said this in a previous video.) S/he should respect the roles of each institution in the country. In addition, our government has three branches; and our Constitution dictates the autonomy of these branches. Criminal and civil cases are handled by the judiciary. While the President holds the highest position in the government, his/her main concern is the Executive branch.
These premise imply that it is NOT the job of the President to file cases against certain people, nor should s/he meddle with them. I think that one of the causes of corruption and padrino-system in our country is the lack of respect for the institutions. Lahat ng tao gustong makialam. Yes, there should be check-and-balance between the agencies. But first, let them do their job.
(2) I admire him for not slinging mud on other people (i.e. his fellow candidates, GMA) just to satisfy the people’s thirst for a good show/fight. I agree that he can give more concrete answers regarding the issues surrounding GMA, but I respect him for not making this personal and sticking with his platforms. Kahit ano namang sabihin nya tungkol sa issue, talo sya eh. If he categorically says that he will not support cases filed against GMA or that GMA has done nothing wrong, then people will shun him for being blind and being GMA’s lapdog. If he says that he will support the case, he will be perceived as ungrateful and disloyal.
I agree with your last sentiment: we cannot be assured that Gibo, or ANY of these candidates, will not be easily influenced by his party. But at the moment, at least we can take a look at how the candidates have already SERVED the country, and what their platforms are for the FUTURE. And based from these, I can say that Gibo proves to be the most competent among the candidates.
Thanks for commenting celine! I’m happy to know that people are finding what I wrote useful.
To be fair there is at least one other candidate that has a track record of excellent public service; Dick Gordon. However my issues with Gordon stem from the fact that he and running mate Bayani Fernando exhibit a very authoritarian vibe. He also has a bad tendency to put down the other candidates in the race and “magbuhat ng sariling bangko”, so to speak. This is a personality trait that I personally find annoying, and feels to me not very conducive to getting people to work with you, which is something that is necessary as a president in a democratic country.
First of all, I just want to say, you write very well.
I’ve always been bothered by Gibo’s acceptance of GMA’s appointment as standard bearer for Lakas-CMD; after all, Bunye couldn’t lie for the President anymore and eventually resigned. But of course, Bunye and Gibo are two different people, doing different work. Gibo didn’t have to “lie” to the press, and Bunye isn’t running for president. But I didn’t know where to look to find a solid discussion on whether or not he will help GMA “get off,” so to speak, if he wins, so I was very happy to read this page. Seriously, I jumped from your homepage to this link.
I agree with Gibo’s concept of “the greater good.” I think it’s great that you put it that way, because it jives with what I’ve always believed to be his desire to help the country, and not indicative of “Well, I just want to be president by any means possible.” And while many people found it admirable of Villar, after riding on Erap’s coattails on his way up the political ladder, to impeach him as soon as he got enough power to, I always thought that a person capable of that is capable of many scary things.