DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 21 July) — Former Bayan Muna Representative Neri Colmenares said Davao City will be the “political epicenter” of the clash between the allies of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte, following the breakup of the UniTeam Alliance.
Colmenares said at the pre-SONA forum “Unsay Mapalit sa imong 20 pesos?” (What can your 20 pesos buy?) at the Ateneo de Davao University (ADDU) on Saturday, that Dabawenyos must get involved in the national situation so that they will know how to respond to various political issues.
“It’s very good that Davao is interested in the national situation. Why? Because you are actually the epicenter here of political conditions in the country, hindi Metro Manila. Ang political epicenter kumbaga ang labanan sa Pilipinas dito yun (not metro Manila. The political epicenter or the battle in the Philippines will take place here),” he said at the forum organized by Konsyensya Dabaw (KD) and the ADDU’s University Community Engagement and Advocacy (UCEAC).
Colmenares said the removal of appointees of former President Rodrigo Duterte from government posts, including the mass turnovers of police officials here, was the consequence of Davao being at the epicenter of the clash between two former allies.
He noted that the recent statement of the vice president that she will not attend the 3rd State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday was a major attack against the Marcos Jr. administration.
“You’re like saying that she no longer believes in his SONA. That was a strong statement. For a long time, VP Sara never frontally attacked the President unlike her siblings (Rep. Paolo “Pulong” Duterte and Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte) and her father (former President Rodrigo Duterte),” he said.
The decision of the vice president to break away from the Marcos Jr.’s cabinet and the clash between their families indicates that the alliance that won them the 2022 National Elections by a landslide is over.
“Do you still ask if there was a break or not? It’s really a break. It is no longer complicated. It’s a surefire break. That’s why, you can move on,” he added.
Colmenares said that even the vice president mentioned that the UniTeam only lasted during elections in 2022.
In his pre-taped welcome remarks, ADDU president Fr. Karel San Juan acknowledged the need to discuss and take action on various issues in the country such as the breakup of the UniTeam Allaince, the implications of the crisis in the West Philippine Sea, actions or inactions of the current administration on the plight of the poor, political alignments for next year’s elections, and the Bangsamoro elections, sustained peace in Mindanao, Pastor Apollo Quiboloy, the future of the democratic world under another possible Donald Trump Presidency in the United States, and the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine, Palestine and other places where thousands of children have been killed.
“All this and many more have tremendous impact on the country as a whole, and in Davao in particular,” he said.
Colmenares said the breakup of the Marcos-Duterte alliance presents an opportunity for the “real opposition” to reconsolidate its forces in time for the 2025 Midterm Polls and 2028 National Elections.
“Both of them will attack each other and definitely their popularity will go down. That is the opportunity for the opposition to come in to provide the alternative since yung dalawang yun ay nagbibirahan na (the two are attacking each other),” he said.
He said the Makabayan Bloc will field its own candidates in the House of Representatives and a full slate of senatorial candidates to provide the voters alternative choices for a “genuine opposition” who will keep the “checks and balances,” a mechanism necessary for democracy.
He said they need to have more opposition members in the House of Representatives and the Senate because next year’s election is critical because it will be the “jump off point” for the presidential elections in 2028.
“We just keep on preparing for what we consider as candidates for the people for 2028. Who will they be? We do not know yet. We need to have more people, say, congress and senate in time for preparing for 2028. It will not be easy to have a presidential candidate from the real opposition win the election if we don’t win in the 2025 election,” Colmenares added.
He said voters will realize that the left is the real and principled opposition in next year’s elections because it is consistent with its positions on various issues, particularly in criticizing the policies of any administration “because that’s the function of a genuine opposition and that’s a function of the legislator.”
“The function of a congressman or senator is checks and balances. A congressman cannot switch to the party of the President because you are abandoning the constitutional duty of check and balance. For me, that’s the trademark of an opposition. If the President is wrong, then you should make a stand. That’s why, we claim we are the genuine opposition and not the Dutertes,” he said.
He said their members in various regions are “rebuilding” after being stifled during the Duterte presidency.
Colmenares said that to come up with a stronger opposition, it is important to win over supporters of Marcos and Duterte by discussing and making them understand several pressing issues including, among others, the effect of inflation and contractualization.
“The first thing that I would always say is we need to convince others who are supporting Marcos at Duterte to join our side. That’s the first basic framework. They are also laborers and farmers and they also suffer from the rising cost of rice… deep inside their issues are the same,” he said. (Antonio L. Colina IV / MindaNews)
