The acceptance speech delivered by Lakas-CMD-Kampi presidential candidate Gilbert “Gibo” Teodoro last Thursday at the PICC was perhaps the most novel of its kind in this country. The first part was a lofty declaration of his platform of government, anchoring it mainly on the basic tenets of Christian democracy—belief in God and the intrinsic value of each human being and his right to a decent life and livelihood—as well as his vision for overcoming the “poverty of the mind, of the pocket, of the environment and of relationships.” Listening to it, I teased new Lakas Secretary General Francis Manglapus that it sounded much like a fast-forward State of the Nation Address, quite presumptuous for the survey cellar-dweller. But I particularly liked Teodoro’s stress on excellence as a way for this nation to achieve First World status, since this was a rejection of the Filipino “pwede na” mentality. Teodoro has little timidity invoking excellence as he embodies it in his own academic record: 1989 bar topnotcher, UP College of Law dean’s award for excellence and a master of law from Harvard.
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Teodoro anchored his battle cry of excellence on the right of every Filipino to a good and sound education, specifically having a college diploma in every home. There is sound basis for this advocacy. Sometime back Cecile Alvarez and I had several interviews with Magsaysay awardee Aristotle Alip, often called the “Muhammad Yunus” of the Philippines for having established the first successful large-scale micro-finance organization here. Alip stressed how having even one member of a family attain a college education changes the standard of living of the entire family; oftentimes, one member eventually helps another one obtain an education, and so on.
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From his formal, SONA-like speech, Gibo descended two levels, where he began addressing party-mates from all over the country in Filipino, in a more relaxed and intimate manner, as though he were addressing 30 instead of 3,000 assembled. It was the town hall type of campaigning resorted to by Barack Obama and John McCain during the 2008 US presidential election campaign. This type of address looks easy but is actually more difficult than the formal speech, as it has to be extemporaneous and tends to be more revealing of the speaker’s self-worth. Obviously this type is Gibo’s métier and as he spoke, the cavernous hall was hushed. Everyone seemed to hang on to his every word as he sought to inspire his audience to join him in a political experiment to develop the Filipino’s full potential and push the country’s rightful place in the family of nations.
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But first and foremost he openly acknowledged his gratitude to the leader he had just replaced as party chair, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo who, he said, gave him the political break when she appointed him the youngest defense secretary at age 42. Addressing her directly, he opined that when the history of this era is written, Arroyo would be judged sympathetically for her legacy of successful economic and fiscal management during the world financial crisis, and her infrastructure program. Arroyo sat in the front row with Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, who has since been replaced as party president by Sarangani Gov. Miguel Dominguez. At that point it seemed that Gibo’s kind words reduced her to near tears. Then suddenly, the hall reverberated with a spontaneous and rousing ovation in tribute to Arroyo; they seemed to collectively remember that in an era of unabated Gloria-bashing they love her still.
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Even the most virulent Arroyo critic has to admire Gibo’s courage in heaping praise on her, especially since political pundits continually opine that association with her is a kiss of death. An admirer said it shows his deep sense of self-worth and character. But if GMA was moved to near tears, that town hall address produced an even more incredible effect on the Lakas party. For many of its members it was their first real contact with the low-profile candidate and his running-mate Edu Manzano. Given Gibo’s low survey ratings, high-profile desertions from the party, scandals that rocked the administration and leadership controversies, there has been demoralization and uncertainty among members. But what they saw and heard from Gibo at his political debut seemed to have inspired them. As a governor later told me, everyone felt they had found the candidate they could be proud of and campaign for. It was, as Manzano put it, game na for the party Teodoro called the “new Lakas.”
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Last Sunday evening Cecile Alvarez and I interviewed on our dzRH radio program Dominguez and Ben Evardone, the spokesman of the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines and secretary general of the League of Provinces. Both are young party leaders on their second term: Dominguez as governor of Sarangani, and Evardone as the sixth governor of Eastern Samar. They spoke of the new dynamism of the reinvigorated party. Dominguez noted that his being handpicked by Teodoro as party president signals the candidate’s intention to develop Mindanao’s full potential.
Evardone had an interesting anecdote about the little-known Lakas presidential bet. He recalled that in 2008, Eastern Samar was hit by a strong typhoon that completely isolated the province. Even Air Force pilots were hesitant to fly in. But he was able to contact and tell Teodoro, also the NDCC chair, about their desperate situation there. The next day Teodoro arrived with military crew aboard a C-130 plane of relief goods that he himself piloted. But what the Eastern Samareños cannot forget, said Evardone, was that Teodoro had momentarily left the wake of his late father, former SSS Administrator Gilberto Teodoro Sr., that day to come to their rescue.
