CLARENCE PEN: Following the Ramos-Mitra Rivalry

When Vice President Sara Duterte detached herself as among the leaders of LAKAS-CMD, and Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was ousted as Deputy House Speaker, my frame of mind and opinion was very simple — there was a rivalry and possibly a political rift in the party or in between the members or among the officers.

On the other way around, I am also thinking about the emergence of the coup attempt in the house leadership under House Speaker Martin Romualdez.

True to my insinuation and conviction, I gathered the confirmation from National Unity Party Stalwart and Cavite Representative Elpedio Braganza first hand reports over the rift between Duterte and Romualdez but no further details were discussed. Along this line, there was a rumor that there was somebody interested in the position but no further information was explained.

Anyway, for the rift to exist in the political party was very normal in all likelihood. This happened also during the incumbency of the late President Cory Aquino when she expressed her support to the late President Fidel Ramos to be her successor in the presidency against LDP stalwart and House Speaker Ramon Mitra . The rift between Ramos and Mitra was severely ripened into political jealousy that split a party leadership.

When Ramos detached himself from the dominant administration party Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino or LDP, he formed and joined in the LAKAS-CMD the ruling party of former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo until today.

With the circumstances happening before, I have my assumption and reservation that the two top leaders now, Vice President Sara Duterte and House Speaker Martin Romualdez will follow the footsteps of Ramos and Mitra in the party political circus. The only difference between the two political citations are, the latter split up months before the 1992 Presidential race, whereas between Sara and Martin, the rift between them was early detected and tagged as purely pre-political positioning already, no matter what Romualdez had said that he is busy in the job bestowed upon him as House Speaker.

As the saying goess: “If there is Smoke, there is also a Fire”.* (Clarence Locsin)