Cornered between BBM's Solid North and PRRD's Roaring South

Next year's midterm elections in the Philippines shall be an opening salvo for the great presidential confrontasi in 2028. The Palace, which is consolidating power by entering into coalitions with strange bedfellows, is girding up to meet the forces of former president Duterte who comes roaring from the south. The next presidential elections will be one of the most hotly-contested in all our history and, hopefully, not the bloodiest and the dirtiest.

The breakup between the Marcoses and the Dutertes was inevitable because BBM and Inday Sara were never united by common values They were like a reluctant groom and an indifferent bride who were forced into marriage by old matchmakers in the likes of GMA, the godmother of all trapos, as well as presidential sister Imee, who is the queen of zarzuela a la Atang de la Rama, skilled in masquerades and Korean teledramas. BBM and Inday never had true love for each other. They were forced into a shotgun political marriage driven by a phobia against Leni Robredo. The UniTeam was not a strategic alliance based on ideology and principles. It was a marriage of convenience with a short-term objective of winning the elections against Leni Robredo who was far superior morally and in terms of competence, character, and conscientiousness.

Next year's midterm elections will see BBM's senatorial slate led by his best actress sister Imee who is, by the way, more articulate, more knowledgeable about law (having actually studied in the UP Law School but dropped out). The BBM team was also able to "steal" Tol Tolentino, another great lawyer, from the Duterte Team. And that was expected because the Tolentinos of Tagaytay came back a long, long way in the past till the seventies and the early eighties when Tol became a godson of Apo Lakay, BBM's late dad. During those years, the father of President Duterte was a member of the first Marcos Cabinet but Tatay Digong's late mom, Manang Soledad, was a rabid Ninoy and Cory Aquino supporter. Manong Digong, having lost Tolentino will have only Bong and Bato.

Duterte's team for the Senate shall include his forever loyal assistant, and now co-accused (in the latest Trillanes' plunder charges) Bong Go. It shall also probably carry three Dutertes (one for the Guinness Book of World Records) the father, Digong and the two sons, Polong and Baste, to complete the transformation of the Philippine Senate as a purely closed family corporation, with Mark and Camille Villar, Pia and Alan, and Jinggoy and JV. I hope and pray that Jojo Binay will not join Abigail because Nancy is graduating due to term limitations. She will run for city mayor because Junjun has been allegedly disqualified by the Ombudsman. If all of them shall win, I think Lani Revilla should also join Bong Revilla so that it shall be more fun in the Philippine Senate, with Lito Lapid, Herbert Bautista, Philip Salvador and of course, Robinhood Padilla, the only Muslim in the Upper House.

The problem is that the latest Publicus survey shows that the top eight most likely to win are Dr. Willy Ong (an independent), Erwin Tulfo, Rodrigo Duterte, Panfilo Lacson, Tito Sotto, Bong Go, Isko Moreno, and Leni Robredo. The ninth to twelfth placers are Imee Marcos, Kiko Pangilinan, Pia Cayetano, and Gibo Teodoro. You will notice that Tol Tolentino, Bato de la Rosa, and Camille Villar are not in the winning circle. I think that all these people, with the exceptions of Ping Lacson, Kiko Pangilinan, and Pia Cayetano, and perhaps Dr. Willy Ong, should not be in the Senate. They are definitely not senatoriables. They should pity the nation and decide not to run. The danger arises if they win.

And so, caught between the not-too-good and the not-too-bad, I am considering a third force composed of Chel Diokno, Leila de Lima, Leni Robredo, Kiko Pangilinan, and like-minded, progressive bets with no political dynasty. I refuse to make the Senate a family corporation of elites who shall only stay there to protect their business empires. Much less would I want the Senate to become a movie or TV studio with too many jesters and non-performing budots dancers. I pray that we save our nation from the corrupt, the incompetent, and the lazybones. Walang Bagong Pilipinas kung hindi magbago ang mga Pilipino.