The Bongbong specter

The foreboding that Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. may one day become our president seems to be coming true. Expectedly, opposing political forces are trying hard to prevent this.

Vice President Leni Robredo said that she ran for her present post to block Marcos Jr. from winning the vice presidency. This act of hers has been hailed as a noble gesture considering that she had other political plans.

But her victory, although under protest in the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET), did somehow serve its purpose. Still Marcos Jr. could replace her as vice president if he wins the protest, in which case the Marcos family’s dream of a “comeback” to Malacañang would come nearer to reality. We sit uptight, waiting for the verdict.

Blocking the Marcoses’ reentry into Philippine politics now is too late. The best time to do this was when the family was just about to come back to the country. The participants and leaders of Edsa 1 could have restaged People Power to prevent their return.

But the government then was nonchalant; it was confident that it had control of the situation. Now the specter of a Marcos comeback has become too real.

In our system of politics where wealth translates into political power, the Marcoses have a big advantage. Aside from the assets they never lost control of, they have recovered quite a lode of government-sequestered wealth.

The Marcoses have reacquired political hegemony in their usual bailiwicks and they have regained acceptance in the national political arena; they are again a power to contend with.

Even if Marcos Jr. loses in his protest, the general assumption is that the Marcoses have the enormous wealth and circle of influence sufficient and ready to sustain the family’s presidential ambition.

MARK E. PARAS JR. and RAMON DIÑO, [email protected]