THE sudden death of Benigno Aquino 3rd (BSA3), 15th president of the country, comes as a shock, considering not much was made public. That is why people stayed on to listen and hear the medical certificate announcement, the confirmation of the sisters, the interview of the longtime driver and yaya, the very revealing talk by former Energy and Cabinet secretary Rene Almendras about "flatline" not being revealed to the sisters and seemingly pieces of the puzzle that do not fit in the narrative being made. Then the 15th was cremated, but he was not Covid-positive.

POLITICS is said to be a game of addition, not subtraction. You go to bed with the enemy and you forget about previous opposition research that caused one's political fate to unravel - is addition for some. The recent 1Sambayan launch pretends to be capturing the rainbow in the spectrum of ideas when it does not really do so. It merely created a sandbox.

RARELY would a president leave office without reforms done, whether pervasive or just a drop in the bucket; whether it is acknowledged by all or just a few. A six-year term allows a leader to decide where he wants to go, how to do it and how to make the reform rooted for sustainability.

ANY candidate that looks only at the peripheries misses out on a huge swath of territory in campaigns, and those are voters in the middle of an array. In the case of the country, there are fringes occupied by the Yellows together with progressives who have formed an alliance for purposes of increasing the shrillness against President Rodrigo Roa Duterte (PRRD), and directly at the opposite end are so-called diehard supporters of Duterte, predominantly class D and E from Mindanao and who are veteran voters.

THE vice president (VP) has traditionally been seen as the spare tire to the president. We have never seen the vice president as being on par with the president; not even as a primus inter pares when, in fact, she or he succeeds the president in case of death or incapacity. The VP is critical not just for succession purposes, but more so for governance.

PRRD is also a veritable troll in the way he goes off the cuff in his addresses to often remind people of certain individuals. His presidential speech is full of metaphors and hyperbole some would often ridicule it as unpresidential.

For a 98 percent predominantly Catholic country, we seem to be at odds with the current leadership just because some do not like him physically, detest his presidential style and speech, wardrobe, demeanor and what have you. Some would pray to high heavens that he passes away on the whiff of a story, rumor, innuendo about his temporary inability to face the public for a nationwide address that is ill-prepared and badly edited. Or that he fails in handling a once-in-a-lifetime curve ball which is Covid-19.

Can potential candidates for the presidency measure up to the following traits: brave, love for the Philippines, concern for Filipinos, responsible/fulfills sworn duties and sincere? If so, then voters are looking for someone like the incumbent who has a 65 percent approval rating and 55 percent trust in this quarter. 

From Day 1 in dealing with Covid-19, everything boils down to risks. Risk management is the process of minimizing or mitigating the risk. 

In this era of coronavirus pandemic, national governments will have to give way to the principle of subsidiarity more and more or they cannot solve the problems attendant to Covid-19.

If the presidential candidate does not value numbers, scenarios and horizon planning, the future will not be good. But if the candidate is conscious of the role as captain of the ship, moving everyone in one direction using a clear road map, the future of the country will be bright.

The mayor of Manila is being egged on by several people to run in May 2022 for the top position. Why would Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso jump into the fire? When a second mayoral term is his for the taking with what he has accomplished in his first term, why would he leave the capital? When the reforms have not taken root and sustainability is a real concern, why would Domagoso leave Manileños? Is it because as president, he can do more?