4 MIN READ
By RUDY D. LIPORADA
www.nordis.net
To me, this scheme is so scary that I hate myself for scaring myself sometimes.
Consider this a very wild theory and I will deserve all the criticisms if I get this all wrong. Nonetheless, this idea has been fermenting in my mind for the last week or so that I just have to spill it out so the idea will stop crowding my brain. And whether I am wrong or not, I could just change the names of the real persons and have a germ of a novel that I could, perhaps, write sometime in the future.
So, what is the scheme?
I believe that Sara Duterte, daughter of President Rodrigo Duterte and Philippine vice-presidential candidate under the slate of presidential candidate Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. is hoodwinking Marcos and the Filipino people; and going to plunge the Philippines into a chaotic military rule.
Wild?
Not if one considers these dots.
One. When President Rodrigo Duterte was elected in 2016, the first thing he did was go around the country visiting military headquarters and promised that he will double the salaries of all personnel in the armed forces. He had often bragged, saying “pinapakain ko ng pera ang mga yan” (I feed them – the soldiers – with money). And he did with the generals taking in more than they deserve. Moreover, he said that military men could do even punitive acts and he will defend them. And he did, even promoting instead of firing current and retired military personnel who committed crimes as head of his ministries. There is no question that the armed forces, under him, should be loyal to him. Now, at the throes of the end of his term and a probable new administration coming up, these military men, especially those who had violated the uniforms, should be anxious about their future fate and wondering if their golden goose could be gone. In their mind, this should not be happening.
Two. Due to President Duterte’s alleged crimes against humanity in his failed drug war where thousands had been killed in an extrajudicial manner, the International Crime Court (ICC) is at his heels just waiting for the blanket of presidential immunity to be lifted up once his term is over. He, his family, and his other sympathizers would not allow this.
Three. In trying to escape the clutches of the ICC, he projected to still be with the government by contemplating to run as vice-president under the candidacy of his daughter, Sara Duterte. He even contemplated running as a senator just to be safe from the ICC. In the end, he endorsed Bong Go, his erstwhile sidekick to be his party’s presidential candidate. Even General Ronald ‘Bato’ Marapon dela Rosa, Duterte’s military strong man, filed his candidacy, saying that he could step down if Sara Duterte decides to run for president. Obviously, these sidekicks would protect Duterte from the ICC should any one of them win the elections.
Four. Before the filing for candidacies, Sara herself was being coy about running for the presidency. In the end, realizing that Marcos was running and even her to be faced by a formidable candidate in the person of Vice-President Leni Robredo, Sara realized that the votes between her and Marcos would be split and make Robredo’s win to be a surer outcome. Sara then subsumed her wish to be president and decides to be united with Marcos as his vice-running president running mate. By then Bong Go and ‘Bato’ have already withdrawn their candidacy.
Because then the scheme had already been hatched.
Five. It is so ironic that knowing that her daughter is running under Marcos, Duterte would be calling Marcos weak. He made pronouncements that Marcos is stupid and floats that Marcos has really not done anything. Of late, ‘Bato,’ instead of campaigning for Marcos and Sara tandem, endorsed presidential candidate Ping Lacson, presumably, Lacson is his senior at the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) and though Lacson criticizes Duterte, there is a bond between PMA graduates.
The scheme slowly reveals itself.
Six. In her pronouncements, Sara wants mandatory military training for all Filipinos who become 18 years of age. Moreover, Marcos himself announced that his vice-president candidate desires to be the defense secretary in his cabinet. Though surprised, Marcos said “It seems like it’s going to be a good idea dahil tama rin ‘yung kanyang sinasabi. Sabi niya ‘Yung problem of security, problem of terrorism, kami sa Davao biktima kami lahat diyan at marami na kaming mga programa na ginagawa na nakatulong,” Marcos Jr. said.
(What she’s saying is also correct that the problem of security and terrorism are experienced in Davao and they already have many programs that have helped.)
“Marcos described the Davao City mayor as a ‘very intelligent person,’ adding that her ideas ‘would be of value.’ ‘In the sense of defense, outsider siya. I’m sure marami siyang bagong ideas na naiba doon sa mga dati na dapat tingnan,’ he said.
(In the sense of defense, she’s an outsider. I’m sure she has many ideas different from those from before.)
And because Marcos is a dropout of Oxford, did not graduate from Wharton, and does not have the intelligence of his father, which is not his fault, Marcos could be failing to realize the scheme of the Dutertes. When Marcos described Sara as a “very intelligent person” and saying that “she has many ideas different from those from before,” Marcos could be failing to see that one of those ideas could be…
…coup-d’état.
In the history of the world, no coup-d’état could be undertaken without the control of the military or a more powerful segment of it. Marcos has no control of the current military. The Dutertes have molded the current military into their syndicate. Even if Marcos wins as president, there will still be forces angry with their dynasty and those who want their stolen wealth to be retrieved. With Sara as defense secretary, she could always use those anger as justification for launching that coup and stalling herself president. After all, she is the vice-president, assuming she is elected as such. She saves her father from the ICC and rules as a military dictator as the father had been ruling with a de facto martial law. And the Philippines would be on an extended rule of the Dutertes with all misgiving worse than the last six years.
Sorry but I must have read a lot of conspiratorial novels.
But isn’t this scary if this turns out to be true? Well, there is the only way to find out and that is if the tandem Marcos-Duterte wins in the coming May elections in the Philippines.
But do we really want to find out? If not, there is only one way to quash the probability. We have to make sure that the tandem Marcos-Duterte does not win at the coming elections.
Yes, po. Kakampink po ako. Let Leni lead for now. There could be issues with her but that would be, perhaps, for another novel. # nordis.net
