The emerging successors of Duterte

A mounting number of people can’t wait for his rule to end. But his solid supporters want more of his style of leadership.

Whichever side we are on, it’s important to observe early those who are emerging, aspiring or being groomed to succeed President Duterte.

Vice President Leni Robredo. She occupies the post that’s a heartbeat away from the presidency at a time when machismo, autocracy and swear words characterize our political culture. If the people install her as the next president, it will be because they want a full swing to the opposite side of the pendulum, since Robredo is the antithesis of Mr. Duterte.

Among those who stand a chance at the presidency, Robredo is the only one who does not appear to salivate at the post, giving us reminiscences of Cory Aquino. She goes about her programs for the poor and disaster-stricken families with little fanfare. The more Mr. Duterte disappoints the citizenry, the better the chances for Robredo to ascend to the presidency.

Ex-senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Marcos son has gained popularity because his family has succeeded in foisting the propaganda that the years of the Marcos regime were our country’s better times. The terrible sins of the Marcos dictatorship will all be relegated to fake news status if the son reclaims his father’s throne. While many of the Marcos cronies have surrendered their ill-gotten wealth, the Marcos family has never voluntarily surrendered any of its ill-gotten wealth.

If Mr. Duterte succeeds in bettering people’s lives with his high-handed brand of leadership, the chances of a Marcos ascent to the presidency will increase, because people will pine for a dictatorial kind of governance.

Mayor Sara Duterte. She is her father’s logical choice for a successor, because she will naturally protect him after his term. She is her father, minus the cursing and the blasphemy.

She has flexed her political muscle by causing the unceremonious ouster of House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez—if it’s true that she called congressmen to install Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Politicians are scurrying to join her new political party. But the daughter’s political fortunes will rise or fall depending on the success of her father in satisfying the people’s aspirations.

Sen. Panfilo Lacson. He is the dark horse among the potential candidates. He has succeeded in reinventing himself from a police officer saddled with an unsavory history to a sensible-talking politician who espouses adherence to the rule of law. The combination of his police background and his verbal espousal of rule-of-law principles will appeal to voters who will still prefer firm and authoritative leadership minus the spitefulness of the current administration.

Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. She is unpopular to voters, but she has emphatically demonstrated, yet again, that she can ascend to power notwithstanding people’s sentiments to the contrary. She has shown dexterity in herding politicians into her corral. We have been given a preview of how things will run and the kind of leaders we will have if Congress crafts a federal-parliamentary hybrid of a constitution that provides for a prime minister who is elected by politicians instead of the people.

Communist Party of the Philippines. The Left is currently experiencing a growth spurt just like in the days of the Marcos dictatorship. This is fueled by a number of factors: the extrajudicial killings, economic hardship, political warlordism, and the gains generated by leftist leaders who occupied key positions in the Duterte administration.

The people had their hopes for a better life dashed by a succession of neoliberal democracy leaders for 30 years after the 1986 revolution. This gave rise to a leader predisposed to authoritarian rule like President Duterte. If Mr. Duterte fails, people may become even more desperate for alternatives. The communist movement has been patiently waiting in the wings, ready to be propelled to power by the people’s ever-worsening
disenchantment with the status quo.

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