BAGUIO CITY, Philippines – All roads led to this city on Saturday, February 15, as hundreds of alumni of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) held their annual reunion at Fort del Pilar where, as cadets, they were taught to stay away from politics.
Their most high-profile guests, however, were two politicians very much identified with the worst disaster that has hit the Philippines and now rumored to be eyeing the presidency.
Rehabilitation Secretary Panfilo Lacson, a 1971 PMA graduate, was the alumni’s keynote speaker Saturday morning. He’s tasked to oversee the government’s massive rehabilitation program in areas devasted by Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan), which hit the Visayas nearly 100 days ago. (READ: Lacson hits PMA alumni with ‘misplaced values’)
Another guest was Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, who was the much-criticized ground commander in the aftermath of the typhoon. He’s an “adopted classmate” of PMA Class 1984.
So what are his plans for 2016? Lacson replied: “I’m not thinking about 2016. I’m color blind to politics.”
He added: “I’m so focused on Yolanda. I eat Yolanda for breakfast. I eat Yolanda for lunch. I eat Yolanda for dinner. I eat Yolanda for snacks. I dream of Yolanda when I go to sleep at night. I have nothing more in my mind except for Yolanda,” Lacson added.
But he didn’t mention Yolanda in his speech before the PMA graduates.
Roxas, on the other hand, dodged questions about the political significance of his presence here. “Happy Valentine’s. I wish you all a safe trip back,” he told reporters.
Pressed for the Liberal Party’s future plans, Roxas said: “The most important thing in our agenda is the passage of the Bangsamoro bill,” he said. Roxas was referring to a bill being crafted to create the Bangsamoro region as part of a peace deal with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
Roxas ran for vice president in 2010 but lost to Vice President Jejomar Binay. Lacson ran for president in 2004 but lost to Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Two years before the 2016 presidential race, various political parties are already searching for candidates to field or support. In politics, a lot of things can happen in 2 years. But if one wishes to run in 2016, campaign strategists say he or she should already have a plan in place by now. – Carmela Fonbuena/Rappler.com
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