The Philippine Online Chronicles

He sat there, an imposing figure, with an authoritative air around him. He commands respect. He imposes albeit, silently, trying to convince you of his vision without, nary, using his booming, angelic voice.

Am I referring to Barack Obama? No. I just met administration party bet Gilbert Teodoro, the man whom many say is fit for the presidency but no chance of winning it.

Blogwatch.ph invited me to cover their meeting with Gibo and being a journalist, I felt obliged. All I know about Gibo is what I read as his “platform” in his site. For me though, that platform did not do justice to the man.

The presidency, for me, is not just an Office, nor something of a power trip. No. It is the center of all political gravity. Lives are lost and fortunes gained in this office. For many years, this Office was the cause of misery for some and salvation to many. Malacanang lies at the center of what we call “transactional politics”, the despicable reality we all love to hate and write against.

Yet, in all his three years of being there, hob-nobbing with pseudo-leaders, corrupters and power-hungry individuals, Gibo Teodoro remained a true-blue democrat, someone who believes in the capabilities of the Individual rather than exercising the power of just One.

Teodoro stayed true to his belief of structural functionalism, reforming the system from within and using the enormous powers of the Office of the President to effect substantive changes. Speaking from experience, Gilbert Teodoro’s ideas on change are original and doable, devoid of those motherhood statements that we normally hear from Richard Gordon’s pseudo-transformative politics nor of Manny Villar’s hopeless preach against poverty.

Teodoro wants to prioritize education. He wants nothing more than make Fr. Bienvenido Nebres’s dream of “making that generational leap” possible by adding two years more into our education system. Never mind if a year in pre-school would just be spent by kids roaming around, playing and socializing with fellow 3-years old, and cost parents thousands of pesos more, Teodoro believes that Filipinos need two years extra just to be competitive with the rest of the world.

Teodoro has a prescription---enable the poorest of the poor to finish college by encouraging them to loan from government. Never mind if this will worsen the 47,000 pesos debt every Pinoy has, Teodoro believes that every Filipino has the right to finish college, regardless of costs.

Teodoro wants to increase farm productivity through modernizing our agricultural and agri-industrial sectors. He wants foreign investment to come in. He wants government to subsidize those safety nets against globalization. Never mind if this will surely bloat the trillion peso budget deficit, fact is, Teodoro wants this implemented immediately to enhance our food security and spur more development.

Teodoro is a consensus-builder and he wants all political groups to gravitate to the Office of the President. Teodoro is speaking from experience. He was instrumental in allowing local government officials keep their private armies and use these as fodder against insurgent and secessionist groups. Never mind if they commit massacres like what happened in Maguindanao, fact is, for as long as there is peace and stability, Teodoro will use every means possible to effect peace and development, not just in Mindanao but in the rest of the country.

Fact is, Teodoro will talk and make compromises with those who will oppose him, a mark of a true compromiser and democrat. Teodoro will use his enormous charm that even a Nikki Prieto was not able to resist, and will try to hammer out a compromise with counter-elites. Never mind if this will eventually make him break his promises to the electorate who voted for him, and never mind if compromise would surely muddle his platform of government, for Gilbert Teodoro, achieving political stability in his first 100 days in office is a must and should be effected immediately.

Teodoro is a democrat, that’s a certainty. He is different from his ardent supporter, Mrs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo who loves power so much, she is running as Congressman in her district. For Teodoro, that is a right of Arroyo, which he will never trample with. So much so that Teodoro will not use his Office and try to deter or prevent people from filing cases against his corrupt predecessor. No. to each his own, says Teodoro.

People say Teodoro is the best man for the job, except, perhaps, that he is a certified surrogate of Mrs. Arroyo. It is rather unfair for people to judge and tag Gilbert Teodoro as a Mrs. Arroyo lapdog since his ideas are rather dissimilar with the incumbent president’s ideas. Teodoro perceives power as a tool for change; Mrs. Arroyo salivates for power for her ego. Teodoro wants real change; Mrs. Arroyo wants nothing more than get more than loose change. Teodoro has enormous faith in people; Mrs. Arroyo uses people.

People say Teodoro must break free from Arroyo to have a Chinaman’s chance in the elections. I think that it is too late. We have a competent and able person for the presidency except that he is too blind to see that, more than anything else, Teodoro owe the Filipino People his job and stature as a national leader, and definitely not with Gloria.

Patricio Mangubat is a pseudonym . It means "country fight". Yet, the one behind this name is real. He can be briefly described as a long-time activist as well as a communication strategist. He once taught at the University of the Philippines and at Dela Salle University. He blogs at The New Philippine Revolution. Aside from writing, he recently opened a roast chicken business, Manok King. He blogs at filipinovoices.com and New Philippine Revolution.

Photos by Noemi Lardizabal-Dado. Some Rights Reserved.

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