Isko Moreno Domagoso. Sara Duterte. IsSa. The split ticket is being promoted by the so-called DDS, the rabid Duterte supporters who have been orphaned by the absence of an Duterte-anointed Presidential candidate.
We were witness to to the sequence of events in October and November when the Duterte family dysfunction played before a national audience. Daughterte did not want to Bong Go as her running mate. She publicly rebuked the President and the Senator by issuing a statement that there will only be one Duterte who will be running for a national post. That can be either or her or her father. The President eventually backed down. Bong Go withdrew his Presidential candidacy and so did the President who filed his COC for Senator.
The orphans are primarily the Davao Origs who would like to stay in power, primarily the Palace faction led by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, Senator Bong Go, PCOO Secretary Martin Andanar and their factotums. Also with this group is Congressman Alan Peter Cayetano who has been marginalized after going head-to-head with the President and Daughterte over the House Speakership. The leadership of the PDP-Laban Cusi Wing is also part of this group. They have endorsed Sara for Vice-President but not her running mate. It remains to be seen if the President will anoint any of the candidates as his successor but what this group wants to project is it is Isko even without a categorical statement from the President.
Daughterte has made it clear that she is not open to a split ticket when it was floated before. She has declared her loyalty to Bongbong Marcos as her running mate and has made an appeal to the public to protect Marcos. Even if Duterte thinks that Marcos is weak and is not qualified for the Presidency, his daughter does not share his opinion. Sara has also openly appealed for the Presidential endorsement for Marcos but Duterte pere’ has remained tight-lipped. What is important is he has not made any derogatory statement about Marcos after the weak leader and drug user comment.
Why are the Davao Origs bent on staying in power? The simple answer is they have tasted it and find it difficult to let go. This is in stark contrast to the President who said that he has begun packing and should be out of the Palace and his residence come March. The group would also want to have control over Duterte’s successor. This is not possible with Marcos who will have his own team in place if he wins. Daughterte has also steered clear of this group because she wants nothing to have to do with her father’s men. She also prefers to have her own team. Sara has charted her own political destiny but carries the family brand. It is clear there is a rift because her siblings have declared their categorical support for her and Marcos.
The IsSa tandem is the result of the ties between Lito Banayo, Isko’s campaign manager, and the Davao Origs who formed the core of Duterte’s 2016 campaign. It would appear that this is a desperate move to shore up Isko’s flagging candidacy given Banayo has been unable to establish political alliances for Isko on the ground. Even the group of Mar Roxas has pulled their support. Egay Erice’s group was notably absent during Isko’s proclamation rally. Erice is not supporting Isko and the same is true with Leni Robredo even if Roxas has declared he is for Robredo but has not been seen publicly campaigning for her in his Capiz bailiwick.
All of the other Presidential candidates have a common problem that is Marcos’ commanding lead in the surveys and the endorsements he has obtained at the local level. One Cebu is the only regional party which has not made an announcement about which Presidential candidate it is supporting. Pablo John Garcia has made public his support for Isko but it is his sister’s decision which counts. Cebu Governor Gwen Garcia has been quiet. She is waiting for the right moment because she does not want to make the same mistake in 2016 when they declared early for Binay and had to switch to Duterte at the last minute. Isko has been to Cebu several times to court Gwen and it remains to be seen if she will take the risk. The problem is the Garcia family does not have any history of being pro-Marcos. This may be the reason why Gwen has been silent.
Isko has not been able to gain traction with the ABC demographic. It has been mostly D and E which is logical given the narrative he has been spinning based on his provenance as a “basurero” who made good. But as it has been obvious in several fora he has appeared in, Isko is still raw when it comes to policy. He also tries very hard to express himself in English even if he does not have a good command of it. His track record in Manila is mixed and most of his “reforms” are beautification and there is still the lack of institutional reforms in the local government unit.
The CNN Presidential Debate on February 27 is landmark event because this will be the first time that all the candidates, with the exception of Marcos, will be in one fora where the public will be witness to how they stack up against each other. Isko will find it hard to stand out in this debate. So will Leni Robredo and Manny Pacquiao.
What is possible is Isko will overtake Leni for the number two spot in the surveys but will still find it almost impossible to overcome Marcos’ lead. In an interview with Christian Esguerra on ANC, Chavit Singson bared that he has advised Marcos against complacency. The mindset is to pull out all the stops to win and think that their tandem is always playing catch-up to their rivals. This is the reason why Marcos has been focusing on the ground instead of the debates and interviews, specially the ones that tend to highlight the claims of corruption and theft of public funds during Apo Lakay’s administration.
Thus the operative question is, would identifying as DDS swing D and E voters to Isko? Can he overcome Marcos’ lead by May? Abangan.
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