Speaker Martin Romualdez (Manila Standard photo courtesy)

“The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come
to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned;
but time and chance happen to them all.”
– Ecclesiastes 9:11

WHEN FERDINAND ROMUALDEZ MARCOS JR. was elected as the 17th President of the Republic, despite all the toxic bashings and mud thrown at him during the campaign, many of us have realized that the Presidency is indeed a matter of destiny.

BBM – as he is fondly called – made history as the first majority elected President in a multiparty presidential race.

I believe it must be his destiny.

Just like Benigno Aquino III who unexpectedly dislodged the popular “rags-to-riches” Manny Villar in the 2010 presidential race due to the massive sympathy votes following the death of Noynoy’s mother former President Cory Aquino.

The same thing also happened to former Makati Mayor Jojo Binay when out of the blue, foul-mouthed Davao City mayor Digong Duterte snatched his presidential dream in 2016.

It can be noted that both Villar and Binay had been leading all the surveys prior to the presidential slugfest in 2010 and 2016 respectively.

Both Villar and Binay had been preparing for their Big Fight and they looked like Muhammad Ali whose jaw was broken with the lucky punch of an unknown pugilist Ken Norton.

Needless to say, if presidential elections were held today Inday Sara will surely win.

But a lot of things can still happen in the succeeding five years.

The Visayans may want to see their own compatriot in Malacanang in 2028.

It’s been a while since the Philippines had a President from the Visayas.

Sergio Osmeña Sr, of Cebu was already 65 years old and the country’s vice president when he succeeded as Chief Executive upon Manuel L. Quezon’s sudden death in 1944.

Osmeña served as the fourth president of the Philippines from 1944 to 1946.

The second Visayan politician who became President was Manuel A. Roxas of Capiz.

Roxas served briefly as the third and last president of the Commonwealth of the Philippines from May 28, 1946, to July 4, 1946, and became the first president of the independent Third Philippine Republic after the United States ceded its sovereignty over the Philippines.

Carlos Polistico Garcia of Talibon, Bohol was the eighth president of the Philippines.

After the death of President Ramon Magsaysay in March 1957, Garcia succeeded to the presidency.

However, he won a full term in the 1957 presidential election.

Of all the possible presidential contenders in 2028, only Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez hails from the Visayas.

At the House of Representatives, Romualdez is representing the first district of Leyte, an island in the Visayas group of islands and the eighth-largest and sixth-most populous island in the Philippines

A successful businessman and lawyer, Romualdez – who is also BBM’s cousin – is also serving as the Speaker of the House of Representatives since July 25, 2022.

Last April, the Tugon ng Masa (TNM) Q1 2023 survey of Octa Research bared that among the officials covered by the poll, Romualdez scored the biggest increase in trust rating, gaining 17 percentage points compared to the TNM October 2022 survey.

Results of the TNM Q1 2023 survey disclosed that 55 percent of Filipino adults trust Romualdez.

According to the same survey, 59 percent of Filipino adults are satisfied with the performance of Romualdez. president of the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD) party.

Is Martin destined to succeed his cousin BBM?

Abangan ang susunod na kabanata.

(ai/mnm)