The Philippine mid-term election race has finally culminated
with the proclamation of the 12 winners for the Senate from among the more than
33 candidates who filed their candidacies for the national posts.
Nonetheless, the election campaign was still dominated by traditional politics
where dirty tactics are employed such as character assassination, voter’s
intimidation, religious sector intervention, vote buying and fraud.
Obviously, the dispute and junking of party-mates at the
provincial and local levels worsened from bad to worse where powerful
personalities and political clans dominated the local election. The national
alliance of the Liberal and NPC parties is definitely self-serving for the
Aquino administration. Consequently, the temporary coalition sowed confusion
among the national and local candidates that resulted in the defiance of local
LP parties to respect the partnership since most opponents for local positions
come from the NPC party.
It is without doubt that the 2013 mid-term election is not only
an acid test for the sustainability of the Aquino administration in its
economic achievements but most importantly serves as a prelude to the next
presidential derby in 2016. The formidable victories of the administration and
coalition candidates in the Senate definitively assures President Benigno
Aquino III of a majority in the legislature needed to pass legislation for his
programs legacy before he leaves office in 2016.
The domination of both the Senate and House of Representatives
by the President’s allies may serve as too strong a temptation for the
President to amend the Constitution in lifting the Presidential term limits in
order to extend his term of office to access to absolute power. While this is
only a food for thought, it is dreadful to even contemplate on the realization
of this event which is not impossible.