A season on intrigues, too

There was a funny placement of headlines in the Manila Bulletin yesterday. On top of the page, it said "Binay dares Lapid to debate". And right below it, the next title was: "Lapid claims harassment".

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Actually, Lapid was complaining about something overheard by his men who told him some supporters of his opponent were planning to harass his campaign. We know that Mayor Jejomar Binay has been the leader of Makati City for several years now, having completed the three-term limit before. In the interim, it was his wife, Dr. Elenita Binay who served as mayor, until he could legally make a comeback.

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So Binay knows the territory like the back of his hand, and the people as if most of them were his kin. And here comes Lito Lapid, reportedly on the proddings of Malacañang, declaring his candidacy for mayor of the country's most sophisticated and progressive city. In fact, Binay claims, Lapid had only bought a lot in Makati recently so he could claim to be a landowner and resident of the city.

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Perhaps those who urged Lapid to sally into the turf of Binay felt that as a former popular action star, his fans could carry him to victory. But they did not reckon with the charisma and street-smartness of Binay. Remember, not even the Ombudsman nor the Local Government Department could push him out of the multi-million 22 (or 23?)-storey city hall he had built for Makati. And Binay is a lawyer, so he knows that Lapid's knowledge of martial arts, or whatever else he shows in his movies, will not be enough to save him in an exchange of arguments. For that reason, Lapid has reason to complain about harassment.

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More incredulous stories are coming out about politicians who had protested after the 2004 election whose cases are being decided only now. One of the worst is that of Raymond Espidol of the town of Ramon, Isabela. The decision declaring that he had won the election with 1,731 votes over Wilfredo Tabig, who is now sitting as mayor, came out only this week. Espidol's supporters are rejoicing, but they've been told to hold it: Tabig is still filing a petition for reconsideration. With election only about two weeks away, poor Espidol may find himself still waiting beyond the month of May. I wonder if he is running in this election. Perhaps the resolution of the case will bring him sympathy votes so he can finally claim his post.

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It's not only a season of name-calling, it is also a season of intrigues. On the national level, two senatorial candidates on the Team Unity are now at odds because of reports - or gossip - that somebody is being replaced on the ticket because of poor ratings. This is said to have come from GMA's chief of staff, Mike Defensor and the one supposed to be replaced is Ilocos Sur Governor Chavit Singson. So the latter is fuming and is now campaigning on his own. I even heard chismis that Defensor will be boycotted in Singson's province. By the way, has Defensor made peace with the people of Boracay?

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What should be further hurting to Singson is that the talks are that he is going to be replaced with Gringo Honasan. Sobra naman. I don't personally know Chavit, I only know that he is a cousin of Nene Rojas whose late father, Don Paco was an uncle of Chavit. Defensor et al should not underestimate him because he is a seasoned and consummate campaigner who has strings to pull everywhere. And if Defensor and the other TU bets are not afraid of Chavit Singson, they should be careful not to go near his pets that include tigers and pythons.

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Yesterday a barangay captain and the head of the Comelec in Iloilo were interviewed by Tony Velasquez on TV and I noticed that the barangay official was trying his best to make it appear that Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez was only joking when he made that P10,000 offer to them for a 12-0 win for Team Unity. The head of the Comelec appeared to be also taking pains to support the "joking" nature of the offer. Even when confronted by the interviewer with the videotape of Gonzalez admitting that he did make the offer from his own funds, they still hemmed and hawed over the issue. I guess Gonzalez has reason to believe that he does exercise great control in Iloilo.*

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