{"id":8805,"date":"2021-09-18T06:16:28","date_gmt":"2021-09-18T16:16:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/?p=8805"},"modified":"2021-09-18T06:17:45","modified_gmt":"2021-09-18T16:17:45","slug":"quo-vadis-bongbong-marcos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/2021\/09\/18\/quo-vadis-bongbong-marcos\/","title":{"rendered":"Quo Vadis, Bongbong Marcos?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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by Perry Diaz

<\/em>With the election only nine months away, the Philippines\u2019 political merry-go-round is spinning in circles.\u00a0You don\u2019t know who\u2019s with whom or who is running against. Honestly, it\u2019s too soon to speculate who would be pairing as presidential and vice-presidential running mates.

But the strange thing is that in Philippine elections, the presidential and vice-presidential teammates don\u2019t have to win as a team.\u00a0The presidential candidate can win while his or her vice-presidential teammate could lose.\u00a0In other words, it\u2019s free for all or \u201cmatira ang matibay<\/em>\u201d \u2013 survival of the fittest \u2013 which is the case with so many candidates running for the same position.\u00a0Looking at the presidential wannabes, the most prominent president is Ferdinand \u201cBongbong\u201d Marcos Jr.\u00a0But Bongbong has been non-committal with his \u201cI\u2019m keeping my options open\u201d remark when asked the question.\u00a0But everybody seems to agree that he will eventually declare his candidacy by October 8, 2021, the last day for filing a certificate of candidacy.\u00a0The question is: What would he be running for \u2013 president or vice president?

Two things that would determine what he\u2019s going to run for are his age and his mother\u2019s age.\u00a0Bongbong will be 64 on September 13 and his mother Imelda Marcos is already 92. It\u2019s always been her wish to see Bongbong follow in the footsteps of his father. He\u2019ll be 70 years old by then and Imelda would be 98.\u00a0She\u2019d be too old to enjoy her dream of seeing Bongbong become president; that is, if she\u2019s still alive by then. Bongbong can\u2019t wait for 2028.\u00a0He must run and win in 2022. And it will be for president. No ifs or buts.But what about Sara Duterte-Carpio?\u00a0Is she running for president?\u00a0Bongbong\u2019s sister Imee Marcos has been lobbying for her brother to run as Sara\u2019s vice president.\u00a0She describes it as a political marriage \u201cmade in heaven,\u201d between the Solid South and the Solid North.

But why would Bongbong settle for vice president when he can be the president? Hasn\u2019t Bongbong thought that he\u2019s expendable to the Duterte family\u2019s quest for dynastic political power?\u00a0If Sara had to run it would be for president. And to add more power to her candidacy, she\u2019d pick her dad over Bongbong as her running mate. That\u2019s where the calculus is:\u00a0Duterte-Duterte tandem.\u00a0The old man Duterte believes that he\u2019d win the vice presidency hands down.\u00a0But Sara had made it known that if her dad will run for vice president; she doesn\u2019t want to be president. So, there you go: there would be no Duterte-Duterte tandem.

Where does Bongbong fit in this jigsaw puzzle?\u00a0Just leave him to wither in retirement? Unthinkable.\u00a0Mama Imelda would die of a heart attack if he gets out of the presidential derby. Heck, he\u2019s got tons of moolah to buy the presidency.

Perhaps, the question should be: Does Sara need Bongbong to win? Would it be fair to speculate that she can win the presidency with or without Bongbong?

At 43 years of age, she has the mental and physical capacity to run a rigorous campaign.\u00a0She\u2019s been preparing for it. She can pick Sen. Bong Go as her vice-presidential running mate, who\u2019s been dying to get a shot at the vice presidency or even the presidency.\u00a0But like everybody else, he\u2019s keeping his cards close to his chest.\u00a0But everybody knows he\u2019s positioning himself close to the top.\u00a0He\u2019s always standing behind President Duterte, ready at his beck and call.

Last August 24, President Duterte announced at his weekly TV show his intention to run for vice president with Bong Go as presidential standard-bearer.\u00a0However, he later said that if his daughter Sara runs for president, he would drop the idea of running for vice president.\u00a0That doesn\u2019t seem right.

The only reason why Duterte would run for vice president is to enjoy immunity from the International Criminal Court (ICC) that has been going after him for allegations of crimes against humanity.\u00a0He strongly believes that the vice presidency would shield him from prosecution by the ICC.

According to Sara, her father gave her two options: one asking her to endorse the Go-Sara Duterte tandem and the other is to take in Go as her VP if she runs for president.

Now, if this is going to happen, there would be a problem with the pairing of Bongbong and Sara, who said she\u2019s willing to run as Bongbong\u2019s running mate. And if Duterte insists on running as vice president, Sara will not run. She\u2019ll give way to her dad. That would leave a Bongbong-Duterte (the father) tandem. Go will be out of the equation.\u00a0But that would be okay with him.\u00a0He doesn\u2019t have any ambition anyway.\u00a0He\u2019s running because Duterte wants him to.

Lately, rumor has it that Imee Marcos wanted to run for vice president. That\u2019s according to President Duterte who revealed that Imee is courting Sara to form a possible tandem in 2022.

Duterte said Imee is going to Davao City to persuade Sara to seek the presidency and be her vice-presidential running mate.\u00a0However, President Duterte claimed that Marcos\u2019s plan to team up with Sara in the 2022 national elections would not thrive because his daughter is not interested in joining the presidential race, which nobody believes.

Now if Sara is going to run for president, what would President Duterte do, who earlier said that he\u2019s not running for vice president if Sara runs for president?\u00a0If that would be the case, it would pave the way for Bongbong to run for vice president.\u00a0Now, the question is: Would Bongbong settle to be Sara\u2019s vice-presidential running mate?

We\u2019re back to square one again: the question of Bongbong\u2019s age.\u00a0At 64, six more years and he\u2019d be a septuagenarian, an age that would force him to look beyond the horizon and see what\u2019s in store for him as he approaches the sunset of his golden years.

Is it time to retire and enjoy watching his grandchildren reach adulthood and follow his footsteps into politics? Not bad for someone who came back from a life in exile to climb the tortuous mountain of politics.

And now, he\u2019s close to the apex of his political life. And just one more step closer to the top.\u00a0Does he have the will and stamina to face the last challenge of his political struggle presumably against vice president Leni Robredo? We\u2019ll see.

Quo vadis, Bongbong Marcos?

PERRY DIAZ<\/strong>\u00a0is a writer, columnist and journalist who has been published in more than a dozen Filipino newspapers in five countries.<\/em>

Read more PerryScope:<\/em><\/strong>
Can 1Sambayan unite the opposition?<\/a>
Why Duterte Wants To Run For Vice President?<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Perry Diaz With the election only nine months away, the Philippines\u2019 political merry-go-round is…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8769,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[20,30],"tags":[],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/PS_BBM-color_09182021.jpeg?fit=409%2C534",409,534,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/PS_BBM-color_09182021.jpeg?resize=150%2C150",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/PS_BBM-color_09182021.jpeg?fit=230%2C300",230,300,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/PS_BBM-color_09182021.jpeg?fit=409%2C534",409,534,true],"large":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/PS_BBM-color_09182021.jpeg?fit=409%2C534",409,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/PS_BBM-color_09182021.jpeg?fit=409%2C534",409,534,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/PS_BBM-color_09182021.jpeg?fit=409%2C534",409,534,true],"ultp_layout_landscape_large":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/PS_BBM-color_09182021.jpeg?resize=409%2C534",409,534,true],"ultp_layout_landscape":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/PS_BBM-color_09182021.jpeg?resize=409%2C534",409,534,true],"ultp_layout_portrait":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/PS_BBM-color_09182021.jpeg?resize=409%2C534",409,534,true],"ultp_layout_square":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/PS_BBM-color_09182021.jpeg?resize=409%2C534",409,534,true],"covernews-slider-full":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/PS_BBM-color_09182021.jpeg?resize=409%2C534",409,534,true],"covernews-slider-center":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/PS_BBM-color_09182021.jpeg?resize=409%2C500",409,500,true],"covernews-featured":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/PS_BBM-color_09182021.jpeg?fit=409%2C534",409,534,true],"covernews-medium":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/PS_BBM-color_09182021.jpeg?resize=366%2C340",366,340,true],"covernews-medium-square":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/PS_BBM-color_09182021.jpeg?resize=227%2C250",227,250,true]},"author_info":{"info":["admin"]},"category_info":"Featured<\/a> Opinion<\/a>","tag_info":"Opinion","comment_count":"0","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/PS_BBM-color_09182021.jpeg?fit=409%2C534","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8805"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8805"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8805\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8806,"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8805\/revisions\/8806"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}