Villar-Escudero Tandem in 2010?

Now, it can be told.

Supposed opposition Senator Cheez Escudero is being groomed by Mrs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as Noli's "heir apparent". Shocking, is'nt? But, this is true.

Escudero is reportedly being egged to run under the administration banner, with the blessing of his "big boss", the main man himself, Eduardo "Danding" Cojuangco. Sources say, Cojuangco and Arroyo both agreed to field Cheez as the common vice presidential candidate of both Lakas and NPC in the presidential elections in 2010.

Question 1--what happens to Loren, who, sources say, salivates to run as a presidentiable? Since Loren joined the NPC, she has been the sort of link between the Lakas bloc of FVR and Cojuangco. Reportedly, she is now being dropped as a candidate and being replaced by, surprise surprise, Mr. Manny Villar of the Nacionalista Party. A source said she's too busy resolving an alleged personal problem.

Question 2---will the real Cheez please stand up? Will you now reveal your true skin before the Filipino People?Will my good Facebook friend stand up and declare that, indeed, he's really Arroyo's boy thru and thru?

I have my doubts on Cheez since the opposition adopted him. And my doubts are starting to surface again.

Also...there are rumours that Mr. Manny Villar of the Nacionalista Party have agreed to be the administration's presidential bet. So, will it be a Villar-Escudero in 2010?

That will definitely mess up the political configuration in 2009 since both Villar and Escudero have created their niches as "oppositionists". Well, for Villar, I don't doubt his "secret" alliance with Gloria since, his businesses depend on how strong his government connections are.

But, woe to Cheez! Will he now assume the role as Gloria's golden haired boy, since her previous spokesperson, Mike Defensor, has now exhausted whatever goodwill he had with the people? By the way, Mike Defensor is allegedly campaigning against his friend Quezon City Vice Mayor Herbert Bautista for the top executive plum of QC. So, the fight will definitely be among Congresswoman Susano, Defensor and Bautista.

Going back to Cheez, he's a chameleon. I noticed that eversince he became the official spokesperson for the opposition. Is he really Gloria's man? I don't exactly know but definitely, he and his father, Congressman Escudero are all Cojuangco's friends. And friends always, always do what their friends advised them to do.

This confirms the uneasy tactical political alliance between Arroyo and the Cojuangco bloc, an extension of an earlier business partnership which started when their operators formed the Ashmore Group.

This group is reportedly made up of the Cojuangcos, the Arroyos and some Chinese taipans. This group is composed of new money. They are poised to defeat the old rich.

What we are seeing is a blossoming of a dictatorship, bigger than Macoy's and more lethal than what the former strongman from the Ilocos formed some twenty years ago.

What's dangerous about this Arroyo-Cojuangco partnership is its not latent; it's a hidden, shadowy alliance that tries to create a modern plutocratic regime controlled by a poster girl.

Question 3---what happens to the Ayalas, the Lopezes and the traditional rich? Truly, the prospect of a clash between the "new money" and the "old rich" is there and threatens to engulf the entire society with fire and chaos.

Right now, there are attempts at marginalizing the economic power of the traditional landed gentry who depend on old sources of wealth, thru the CARP. The reason why people, especially those who belong to the New Wealth group does'nt want to extend the CARP is simple--so that this will allow the marriage of the "new rich" with that of the "old ones" through the purchase or transformation of the land from agricultural to industrial uses.

This inevitable clash of the Modern Cacique (New Money) with that of the Old Caciques (landed gentry) will eventually plunge this country into greater political instability come 2009. The only way for the Old Caciques to maintain status quo is simple---create a revolution that aims to dislodge the patron of the Modern Cacique from power.

Will they succeed? Obviously, each group will not dare start the conflagration since both have firepower.

IN 2009, the battle in the boardrooms will definitely spill over the real battlefield once the Modern Caciques start lapping up properties left and right again thru the help of laundered public money and smuggling funds.

Creeping Authoritarianism, InterElite Wars

Now, let's discuss what's happening to our country now.

As it stands, there are three contending forces in Philippine society and politics right now. All these forces have backing from veritable plutocrats who grew big in the post-authoritarian regime. Let me cite them now:

1. The Cojuangco Bloc

After his exile in the United States shortly after EDSA One, Eduardo "Danding" Cojuangco was avoided by his friends like a plague. Yet, one persevered. His name--Ramon Ang. It was Ang's role in Cojuangco's life that put the former Marcos man back into the corporate limelight.

Ang is Cojuangco's right hand man. An intelligent and highly gifted visionary, Ang helped Cojuangco regained his San Miguel empire. It's an open secret how they managed to do it.

Cojuangco, according to friends, is a savvy businessman with a vicious gut. He plays by the rules yet dishes out decisions that are based on his gut feel. Almost always, he's right.

When the duo turned San Miguel Corporation into a regional beverage powerhouse, that turned Cojuangco's future from just a big man in the Philippines to the most powerful man in the entire region. Before Cojuangco went back as SMC chairman, the Philippine company was stripped of cash. A few years of pivoting the company from dangerous water made it one of the most powerful and the most influential Asian company nowadays.

Now awash with cash, San Miguel Corporation is now diversifying. It is now into energy, infrastructure, real estate, superhighways, mining and telecommunications. It will not be too far off to see it cornering all components of the Philippine state superstructure. Eventually, Danding will be the foremost kingmaker in this country even after Arroyo.

How did SMC do it? Their strategy is very simple--synthesize both the political and corporate world. Danding holds the Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC) like a fiefdom. He's the recognized power behind the throne. The NPC is just there to protect the interests of San Miguel Corporation from all contending powers. And that includes the Arroyo bloc.

2. The Arroyo Bloc

Rumours about this bloc are stuff of coffee shop talk. Yet, if you look at it, this bloc is the biggest syndicated operation ever to hit the Philippines. They control practically every government transaction, every department of government and even, some legitimate businesses. Now, they are trying to legitimize their setup by forming a huge off-shore investment firm. Based in Hongkong, this investment firm aims to attract foreign partners in their plan to buy Philippine lands. What this firm will do is just serve as conduit of foreign companies and earn from all sides. They will be the ones who'll represent these foreign firms in buying property and will also sell these properties to these foreigners using another dummy, a real estate firm owned reportedly by a close associate of the Arroyos.

Its a fact that this bloc is lapping up properties in Makati left and right. It is no secret that the new building along Ayala Avenue has been sold to this Chinese associate of Arroyo, who owns one of the 4-star hotels in Ortigas Center, Pasig City. There are plans, according to a source who's privy inside this bloc, to buy up more properties since the bloc anticipates the victory of lifting the economic provisions of the Constitution in 2009.

On my next entries...

3. The Ayala-Pangilinan Bloc

4. The Lopez etal bloc

My wife already called for me. We need to buy groceries.