Suffer the President

THE MAKING OF A PRESIDENT The search for the next top man in Philippine politics is a lot more difficult than it had ever been 

THE LACK OF A VISIBLE and viable candidate for the next presidential election is quite an aberration. Sen. Panfilo Lacson recently encapsulated the idea of running for the position with, “Apply now, suffer later,” as if to say that the presidency itself is a ready-made poison waiting for its next victim.

If you consider the fate of the sitting president, that has to have some truth in it. The downsides of politics, despite years of political experience, may have taken a toll on Duterte that he has just pointed out his disappointed when the government’s efforts of containing the pandemic came with some constant criticisms. Talk about suffering later after what started out on a promising note.

Perhaps the next suffering may have to do obviously with the pandemic itself, although recent reports are already claiming of a decline on its trend. The next president, nonetheless, still has to manage the post-pandemic measures of handling the mess.

The president is often defined with the times. That alone entails a string of sufferings. Every thinking president knows that too well, unless he has dictatorial leanings, easily subscribing to some hastily-conceived revisionism or inciting an upheaval for him to redirect the times, and sometimes history, in his favor. So, if someone applies for the presidency, it is well-worth mentioning that suffering, in any shape or form, ultimately comes with the territory. 

The lack of presidential prospects probably has something to do with that concealed unwillingness of some politicians to get on board the attempt of containing the virus. It has since so far divided the country on the protocols of administering the vaccines. And this might continue on even after declaring the next president.

Needless to say, there’s a lot of work to be done in the coming days. It is as if the Duterte administration simply served as a mere transitional government in preparation to a more bigger task of maintaining the new normal, which has stalled most of what his administration tried to champion at the start.

It seemed no one is at par yet to the challenge of embodying the next chief executive. Most of these hopefuls are still in the periphery of coming up with a viable solution to the fiscal and oftentimes societal quandary in the country, like the fight against COVID-19, which is now becoming a rallying cry for would-be candidates, despite talks of vaccines and cure in the air.

Perhaps that candidate is aggressive enough to face that suffering, and of course, with some giddy optimism at the side. The risk is more pronounced now that things are steadily beginning to take shape, regardless if the numbers, the casualties to be specific, keep on coming.

But it is quite crucial to see the next president from a pandemic standpoint. That has to be on the peripheral vision of every electorate from now on, until such time they again visit the polls, assuming most of them still value their rights to suffrage which, incidentally, has its phonetic overtures with suffering.

The president can only do so much, and admittedly there are mandates that extend far beyond his 6-years term limit. Some of the government’s efforts, in fact, are still in the works, and might even have its undue extension onto the next administration. And with the pandemic as its continuing backdrop, one has to wonder, how far will we all have to go through it, now that we’re about to suffer another president?