Duterte will stay in power, by hook or by crook

Reading the news item “Duterte on 2022 VP race: ‘If there’s space for me there, then maybe’” (6/29/21) left us feeling like puking over the sheer hypocrisy of it all. Doesn’t President Duterte ever tire of speaking with a forked tongue? Sobrang pa-cute! Kunyari ayaw, pero sige na nga!

He’s recycling the same gimmick he used in 2016: Pakipot. Sir, tama na po, kumita na po yan! He really has no choice but to stay in power. Despite all his “bravado” about taking full responsibility and bluster about going to jail himself for the alleged EJKs committed by his minions, he now seems more like desperately seeking a continuum of his “immunity” as president, by hook or by crook, to escape criminal prosecution. A win by the opposition in 2022 is for him not an option.

Mr. Duterte badly needs an absolutely reliable “president” who will have no problem stepping aside for his immediate succession. Only his daughter, Sara, fits the bill; or alternatively, his gofer, Bong Go—both already seen to be positioning for the greatest hoax this country has ever known.

Only Vice President Leni Robredo can beat Sara, if only she could stop being so wish-washy about her intentions. She’s said to be just thinking of running for governor in her hometown instead. Seriously? Now is the time for her to show what stuff she’s made of.

Sara has already been brazenly “campaigning.” So what the heck, shouldn’t Leni be? The stark contrast between the decency a Robredo brand of governance offers and the unbridled vulgarity the Duterte brand has demonstrated should now open the eyes of the more than 16 million Filipinos who put their trust in a “macho” candidate in 2016 who turned out to be more “Manchurian”—more beholden to a foreign country than to his own.

GRACE PO-QUICHO
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