Unhinged
Ferdinand Marcos Jr., already showered with an impressive amount of blessings in life, has another blessing of sorts in his presidency: his vice president.
Sara Duterte and her relatives are galvanizing public support, even if grudging, for Marcos.
We saw a similar phenomenon during the presidency of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, when people including former president Corazon Aquino staged mass protests and urged GMA to resign amid the “Hello, Garci” cheating scandal in the 2004 presidential race.
The thought that GMA’s vice president Noli de Castro would automatically replace her in case she resigned spooked several key sectors. This fear partly helped GMA hold on to the presidency, keeping her in power for all of nine years – the longest in Philippine history after Ferdinand Marcos the elder’s 20-year rule.
It must be emphasized that De Castro openly rejected the calls for him to take over as president.
GMA was not always hounded by poll cheating and corruption scandals. When she was the vice president under Joseph Estrada, she was seen as the more competent and credible leader. This perception helped fuel people power II in 2001, which kicked out Erap midway through his presidency.
Pinoys, of course, soon learned the meaning of being careful what you wish for, as corruption scandal after corruption scandal hounded destiny’s child (GMA, not Beyonce) almost from Day One of her presidency.
These days, who remembers the anniversary of EDSA Dos, or worse, the tragicomedy that was EDSA Tres?
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Today, Vice President Sara Duterte is publicly regretting her support for the presidential bid of Bongbong Marcos in 2022. The VP has apologized to the dwindling ranks of Duterte supporters for asking them to vote for BBM.
The UniTeam’s landslide win, however, was a two-way street, the result of the alliance of convenience between the Solid North and the Dutertes’ southern stronghold.
Perhaps someone in the Marcos camp should also come out openly to express regret over BBM’s selection of Inday Sara as his running mate.
If the Marites grapevine is correct, the erstwhile BFFs of the UniTeam are trying to kick each other out of government to change the power structure.
