By Herbert Vego
WHILE I am not voting for re-electionist Senator Francis Tolentino on May 12, I agree with his view that the Chinese Embassy in Manila has contracted a PR firm, Infinitus Marketing Solutions, to hire “keyboard warriors” to advance pro-China interest in the Philippines.
Tolentino’s first “Chinese interference” evidence (there could be more today) is a machine-copy of a ₱930,000 check paid to Infinitus by the Chinese Embassy, dated September 11, 2023 yet. But why is Tol crying only now?
I guess the senator was sour-graping because he is not included in the mind-conditioning surveys forecasting the 12 senatorial candidates likely to win. Ironically, he had always defended China’s “friendship” with former President Rodrigo Duterte until he joined the administration’s Alyansa Para sa Bagong Pilipinas.
He is not one of the nine Alyansa senatorial bets in the “magic 12” of SWS, Pulse Asia, Octa Research and all other commercial pollsters.
The nine “luckier” Alyansa bets are Rep. Erwin Tulfo, Sen. Lito Lapid, Sen. Pia Cayetano, former senator Tito Sotto, Sen. Bong Revilla, Makati City Mayor Abby Binay, Las Piñas Rep. Camille Villar, former senator Panfilo Lacson, and former senator Manny Pacquiao.
In fairness, Tolentino did not say that the nine are China-favored. After all, it’s only Duterte’s PDP-Laban re-electionist senators, Bong Go and Bato dela Rosa, who are highly identified as “friends” of China.
Bong Go is now unbelievably No. 1 in the surveys while Bato hovers between 5th and 6th despite their alleged involvement in extrajudicial killings.
If he had stuck it out with PDP-Laban, Tol might have also starred in the surveys.
Like the two, Tolentino had many times in the past supported China’s intrusions in the West Phiippine Sea. For example, as a neophyte senator in 2019, he defended the “validity” of the so-called fishing deal between President Duterte and Chinese President Xi Jinping on live television.
As quoted by GMA News Online on July 30, 2019, he said, “It is binding, and I believe that the President will not do something against the national interest of this country.”
Tolentino vaguely referred to “keyboard warriors” or “trolls” as among the beneficiaries of payments made by the Chinese Embassy to Infinitus. He never referred to the survey firms as among them. But what if they are? Why are most of the Marcos-backed Alyansa candidates included? Could it be that some of them are as “Manchurian” as Bong Go and Bato?
A Manchurian candidate, in this context, is a politician being used as a puppet by a foreign country for whatever purpose it may serve.
What if the purpose is to acquit Vice-President Sara Duterte – reputedly a China ally like her dad — in the impeachment trial tentatively set to start on July 30?
My take is that China would prefer Sara Duterte to run and be elected Philippine president in 2028. But first, she needs to win acquittal in the impeachment trial.
Two-thirds or 16 of the senators sitting as judges in the impeachment court are needed to convict the House-impeached vice-president.
This is not to say that all the Alyansa bets are sympathetic to China. Even if they are not but are sympathetic to Sara, they could help constitute the two-thirds of the senator judges who would acquit her.
So, who are China’s favored senatorial candidates? I would not name names here. But if you want my two-cent’s worth, please don’t vote in accordance with the “magic 12” in the surveys. No one can ever be sure that the survey firms that reach out to more audiences than online trolls do not get checks from the Chinese Embassy.
-oOo-
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