The Third Force

In the past week, the news was dominated by events that were linked to politics.

- ELFREN S. CRUZ

Although viewed separately, these events could all be viewed as connected.

The first one was the result of a Social Weather Stations survey for the coming senatorial elections. The results had several important findings. There were 13 candidates named for the top 12 positions. The last three were all tied for the 11th, 12th, 13th positions. Out of the 13, eight belonged to the alliance identified with President Marcos. Three belonged to the Duterte camp. One was running as an independent and one from the traditional opposition, previously identified with Leni Robredo. This last one was former senator Kiko Pangilinan of the Liberal Party.

It has been pointed out by several political observers that the two candidates who have spent the largest amount for advertising did not make it to the Top 13. There is also much speculation as to why Sen. Imee Marcos, sister of the President, did not make it to the Top 13. This had led to the speculation that the reason is that although she is part of the Marcos ticket, she has publicly expressed her sympathy and support for Sara Duterte and does not join any of the Marcos-sponsored events. She has, however, continued to remain in the Marcos ticket. This has led to accusations that she is trying to run simultaneously in both camps, which may have led to her being junked by some politicians in both the Marcos and Duterte camps.