APPARENTLY, President Duterte hasn’t really made up his mind on whether to be a vice presidential bet or not. He has reached the crossroads, and he’s not taking the advice of baseball legend Yogi Berra that when one meets a fork on the road, one must take it. It’s both a humor and wisdom, although they can very well be one and the same.
Duterte’s indecision is not baseless. Whence he came bragging his way to run for the second best thing, there emerged some Constitutional reminder, both from the two sides of the political fence, that there’s no way to enter the presidency again by way of the backdoor. If push comes to shove, those who confront the Duterte on the issue are raring to go to the Comelec or the Supreme Court. There is, at least, a real, valid ground to doubt Duterte’s legal premise. No less than two former framers of the 1987 Constitution take Duterte’s hype seriously.
Of course, Duterte was just trying to be a scarecrow to those who wanted him out as the International Criminal Court would want him to be: tried for alleged crime against humanity for drug-war related human rights issues and punished for it, the better. Make his day: Duterte would rather go down fighting rather than simply fold up and be devoured by enemies.
Duterte’s dilly dallying isn’t lost to one half-hearted fan: Senate President Tito Sotto. He probably thinks the vice presidential moonshot from Pasig was just one of those jokes of a lameduck. He might as well enjoy it while the fun lasts. Besides, hasn’t Duterte endorsed Sotto with all his heart in the former’s last SONA? Thank you, but Sotto has announced a similar plan not as an opposition nor as a Duterte choir member. It’s neither he said, and it can’t be called democratically inspired because a democracy is supposed to have an opposition. That neither—here-nor–there motivation may have already defined the future for the Lacson-Sotto tandem in the 2022 elections.
At least two things obviously bug Duterte as the period of lameduckness painfully sinks in: his own mortality and YORME. Somehow, they can possibly be conflated. The existential threat of the pandemic has become real to him, especially at his age, that being careful if one cannot be good should be the mindset. His nocturnal musings are oftentimes interspersed with some nihilist ponderings. Hamlet at one time wished that the flesh should just melt or thaw or resolve into a dew. But Duterte had a better option; he had himself jabbed with a Sinopharm vaccine. Better be safe than sorry.
But this Isko Moreno, that good-looking SOB of a Manila mayor, must be robbing Duterte of some sleep. He raked him over the coals one day over his alleged poor training, especially for somebody casting a moist eye on the presidency. Never should a presidential potential be someone caught peeping through his bikini for his manhood. The backlash came back swifter than a tsunami. The outraged cacophony was uniform: look who’s talking.
The morning after, the President’s threat that the ayudas for a certain mayor, whom he identified more sensationally by resorting to the gossip’s path of a blind item, will be processed through the national government, vanished into thin air like an unfortunate blow by. Isko, the mayor, can only expressed his profound gratitude to the unsuspecting Malacanang p.r. man who had made him more popular and an even more potential bet for president in 2022. The night after, Moreno’s generic ad with a teasing slogan “BILISKILOS” showed up or showed off on TV. Call that political surfing. Fun is great when the waves are high.
Malacanang must have remembered the old folksy tale about the smart-alecky monkey and the dull and slow turtle. Don’t throw me into the water, the turtle pleaded to the monkey, or I will drown. The monkey’s instinct kicked in and threw the turtle into the water. Of course, it was a ruse. The turtle didn’t drown but lived happily after.
The moral: be nice to everyone, especially someone who ranks well in the survey, on your way out. He or she could be your successor. Please pull the door behind you, gently, too.
To his credit, Duterte seems to be trying to revise his legacy in a pleasant way. He has acknowledged Vice President Leni Robredo’s contributions. (Leni, the one with beautiful legs, was long the apple of his eyes for various reasons other than political). He has reaffirmed the Philippines’ military ties with the US by approving, not abrogating as he threatened it many times, in renewed terms. He has toned down his pro-China policy over the South China Sea. But he is still leveraging his renewed Visiting Forces Agreement with the Americans against possible investigation over his human rights records. The US must stop talking about human rights issues or the VFA is gone.
The US foreign policy people know when it’s a bluff or a boast. Did Duterte say what he said from a position of weakness or strength? Even Isko Moreno knows the answer. Just say thank you and move on. Imperial Manila covers such a vast political, historical ground it would be a mistake to simply view it as the locus of power is at: Malacanang by the Pasig. It is also where another Hamlet is mulling about his future while making the best or worse of the waning days of power, or what passes for it.
