ShareThisBy BEN CAL
July 2, 2010 MANILA – Here’s one for Ripley’s believe it or not stories.
For the first time in Philippine politics, the Filipino people elected a bachelor president in the person of Benigno Simeon “Noynoy” C. Aquino III who was sworn in Wednesday as the country’s 15th President. Noynoy or P-Noy, as he is fondly called, is the only son of assassinated opposition leader and former Senator Benigno S. Aquino Jr. And the late former President Corazon C. Aquino. He won overwhelmingly over his nine other rivals in the hotly contested May 10, 2010 automated elections.
Shortly after he was sworn in, the newly-installed President went straight to Malacanang where he presided over his first Cabinet meeting. Before becoming president, P-Noy was a senator and three-termer congressman from Tarlac.
Also for the first time in the country’s history, a former president, while still in office, ran and won in the May 10 elections, earning her a seat in the 15th Congress representing one of the districts in the province of Pampanga.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who ended her nine-year presidency Wednesday noon, handed the mantle of power to her successor, President Aquino, during a simple turnover ceremony at the Quirino Grandstand where tens of thousands of Filipinos from all walks of life chanted, “Noynoy!, Noynoy!” In another historic first, Filipino boxing icon Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao, the world’s reigning pound-forpound king, is the first Filipino pugilist, if not in the entire world, to be elected as congressman. He represents the province of Sarangani in southern Philippines.
Pacquiao took his oath of office before Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio last Monday. To prepare himself for the tough job as a lawmaker, Pacquiao took a crash course on governance, together with other neophyte members of the House of Representatives. It was the second attempt for Pacquiao to run for congressman. He lost in his first try in 2007.
After taking his oath, Pacquiao vowed to work harder as a politician more than in the squared arena where he knocked out most of his opponents. “I will be more effective in politics than in boxing,” the boxing champ said. Among his promises during the campaign period were to build more infrastructures, extend more medical services, especially to the marginalized ones and improve security for his province during the next three years.
Pacquiao said he sees no problem being a congressman and a boxer at the same time. The Filipino ring idol is expected to meet the big mouth American Floyd Mayweather in November for what maybe the world’s biggest fight in boxing history. Forbes Magazine listed Pacquiao as the world’s sixth-highest paid athlete last year.
Will the “Pacman” fulfill his election promises in the next three years? That is a 64- dollar question that can be answered by time. Perhaps, in another twist of fate, the once powerful Marcos family who ruled the country for 20 long years is slowly making a comeback in the game of politics when Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, the only son of the late strongman former President Ferdinand E. Marcos, was elected senator of the republic in the May 10 election. Bongbong was previously elected as governor of Ilocos Norte and later as congressman of the same province.
Not only that, former First Lady Imelda R. Marcos was also elected last May as member of the House of Representatives representing one of the districts in Ilocos Norte, the home province of her late husband, while Imee Marcos is the new governor of Ilocos Norte.
It may be recalled that the Marcos regime was booted out from power following a four-day military-backed civilian revolution dubbed as the “EDSA People Power” in February 1986. That’s Philippine politics in action – in and out and in again.