Navotas City lone district Rep. Toby Tiangco downplayed whatever negative effect that the arrest and turnover of former president Rodrigo Duterte to The Hague may have had on the Alansya para sa Bagong Pilipinas senatorial slate in the May 12 polls.
This, as the Alansya campaign manager doubled down on his assertion that it's the House of Representatives' decision to impeach ex-president Duterte's daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte that doomed the administration tickets election chances, particularly in Mindanao.
Vice President Duterte was impeached by the House last Feb. 5, while ex-president Duterte was arrested by the International Police (Interpol) and flown to the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague in the Netherlands last March 11.
"So anong nangyari dun sa isip ng tao? Ang nangyari dun sa isip ng tao, masyado nating pinupuntirya, di ba. Masyado nilang pinupuntirya. Ibig sabihin, una yung anak, inimpeach mo. Tapos yung tatay, napadala sa Hague," Tiangco said in a television interview Saturday morning, May 17.
(So what happened in the minds of the people? What they thought was that we were targeting too much, right? That’s how they saw it. First, the daughter, she was impeached. Then the father, sent to The Hague.)
But he quickly differentiated these two proverbial blackeyes to the Duterte family, which hails from Mindanao.
"Pero yung pagpadala sa Hague, there are circumstances external to us; beyond our control, di ba? So hindi mo pwedeng sabihin na yan ang reason. Ang talagang pinagsimulan niyan ay yung impeachment na pinipigilan ko silang gawin," he said.
(But the former president's sending to The Hague, there were external circumstances beyond our control, right? So you can't say that was the reason. The real starting point was the impeachment that I tried to stop them from doing.)
On the defensive
Tiangco has been on the defensive ever since it was clear that only six out of the 11 Alyansa senatorial candidates was going to make it to the Top 12 or winner's circle in the Senate race. He was no different in Saturday's interview.
"Yun talagang nagsimula yung problema namin noong nag-file ng impeachment case ang House of Representatives against kay VP Sara (Our problem began when the House of Representatives filed an impeachment case against VP Sara)," he said.
"Because yung October surveys namin, siyam na Alyansa ang pasok [sa top 12] sa buong Mindanao. Pagdating nung survey namin after the impeachment--before the incident of bringing the former president [Duterte] to Hague--apat na lang," recounted the congressman from Navotas.
(Because in our October surveys, nine Alyansa candidates were in the top 12 across Mindanao. But when the survey was conducted after the impeachment--before the incident of bringing the former president [Duterte] to The Hague—only four remained.)
After that, the Alyansa campaign chief was rather defeatist about campaigning in Mindanao. It should be noted that the 90-day campaign period began on Feb. 11--sandwiched between the impeachment and the elder Duterte's arrest. Alyansa's one and only big gathering in Mindanao took place in Carmen, Davao del Norte on Feb. 15--fifth day of the campaign period. At that point, Alyansa intended to carry out 21 rallies before the 90-day period was over; only 16 were held.
"Kaya kung mapapansin niyo, early on, binawasan ko yung rallies doon sa Mindanao. Kasi wala rin mangyayari sa amin dun eh, pupunta kami dun, hindi rin naman namin makukumbinsi yung mga tao. Why would we spend time there?"
(That's why, if you noticed, early on, I reduced our rallies in Mindanao. There was no point in going there; if we did, we wouldn’t be able to convince the people anyway. Why would we spend time there?)
Vice President Duterte is facing trial before the Senate acting as an impeachment court on charges of misuse of confidential funds, falsification of documents, and culpable violation of the Constitution. Specific allegations include the misuse of P612.5 million in confidential funds and threatening to kill President Marcos, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and Speaker Martin Romualdez.
On the other hand, former president Duterte is being held and tried by the ICC for crimes against humanity in connection with past administration's bloody war on drugs, wherein thousands of Filipinos perished.