Breaking Down The Latest

By Caloy Bueno

Let's break down the latest announcement that Sen. Bong Go has declined the PDP-Laban endorsement (originating from The Man himself) to be their standard-bearer for the 2022 national elections. As said earlier, this pairing (Go as President, The Man as Veep) wouldn't fly ~ although The Man will still push that nomination for the Veep position, if only to irk the opposition some more!

 

Bong Go knows he's just not presidential material. The Man pushed him for that candidacy mainly to drive home the point that even Go is better than anyone the opposition could put up as candidate for the presidency. Some people could accept that ~ after all, The Man himself would still be there to guide his most trusted protégé around the landmine-infested presidential position and job. But anyone who is president however will not be able to avoid for long making the hard decisions ~ the buck stops with the President, after all ~ and Go knows that very well.

 

But now that the cards are on the table, and the opposition are trying to consolidate all their assets (including those traitorous elements in the President's own party), the way is open for either Bongbong Marcos or Sara Duterte-Carpio to step into the breach created by Go's refusal to run for the coveted position. Politics at this very rarefied level is a pretty much a cat-and-mouse game ~ strategy is everything ~ and The Man is a past master at it.

 

Of course, even The Man could be mistaken, or developments could spiral out of control, or people can change suddenly, for no apparent reason. Politics is a no man's land where the art of war holds the upper hand to anything that man plans or aspires to. In our context, the Filipino culture can be very fickle, indeed ~ except that for most Filipinos, loyalty to a good leader is also a very compelling force to reckon with.

 

And The Man has that, too ~ in spades. It seems that at this point in time, he holds all the cards. It's just this Covid-19 pandemic that is fucking up everything. Well, it is fucking up everybody, anyhow, so that makes everybody equally constrained. But the one thing that the opposition can never do is to restrain the President ~ The Man ~ from thoroughly enjoying himself, at their expense.

 

And when The Man is happy, so are the Filipino people!

 

#PagMayTime