How to win against Duterte? It’s a mystery that STILL persists amongst the Opposition’s best and brightest!

God and Philippine politics. Strange bedfellows but always intertwined because of the 300 years under Madre España. Most people think Rodrigo Duterte is an atheist but a closer look at his character reveals that he has both mommy and daddy issues, which is why he also has a convoluted relationship with the supreme being. The opposition has always painted him to be a sinner which is hypocritical because all of us are. Truth is Duterte is a narcissist’s narcissist. He is actually an empath who had to suffer the dynamics of being the eldest child of two straight-laced parents whom much was expected but didn’t deliver because of the bad boy image he cultivated in order to survive the challenges he faced while hiding his true persona.

Witness how he always makes references to his mother but not his father. Rodrigo Duterte is a Mama’s boy. That is evident. It was Nanay Soling who put the fear of God in him. Lito Banayo’s column today is reminscent of the writing style of the late great Louie Beltran. His immenseness as another great, Larry Henares, referred to him. In “The beheading” published on the Manila Standard, Banayo writes about how “the transcendental question in everyone’s mind is whether Rodrigo Roa Duterte, by the grace of God and the will of the sovereign people, President of the Republic since noon of June 30, 2016, will agree to run as vice-president come May 2022 to his daughter or his favorite’s presidential quest.” Being transcendental question, Banayo defers to the words of the presidential spokesman Harry Roque for an answer, thus; “If the President thinks it is God’s will, he will make the proper announcement in due course”.

Banayo has been in government since the time of Cory. He’s like a Drilon who hides in the shadows but always manages to insert himself in the inner circle of the winning candidate except for the election of 2004 when he quarterbacked the candidacy of Ping Lacson. From his tone today, it is clear Banayo is making a mockery of the national council meeting of PDP-Laban held in Cebu where Manny “Pac-Man” Pacquiao got his legs cut off at the knees, ostensibly upon the instructions of the President who sanctioned the party event. This is a sign that a Ping Lacson – Vico Sotto tandem is in the making. Whether or not it comes to a fruition is another story altogether. But why not? Manila Mayor Isko Moreno is green under his gills and has a lot of skeletons in his closet which can be used to torpedo his candidacy the moment he declares. The same was done to Duterte but he nipped it in the bud by owning his skeletons particularly, the dissolution of his marriage to Elizabeth Zimmerman. In Isko’s case, there’s a huge difference between his image before and that which he has adopted since 2019. God first, he intones in each of his speeches.

I’ve said before that a new and credible opposition needs to rise from the ashes of the Yellowidiots who have been burned to a crisp. But Ping-ky is not exactly the ideal Presidential candidate as evidenced by his lackluster performance in 2004. Not even his capitalizing on former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (GMA) being the least popular post-Marcos President gave him more votes. Lacson can be backed by the same oligarchs as those who are funding Isko now because he will not bite their hands if he wins. But therein lies the problem. How to win against Duterte? An Inday Sara Duterte – Bongbong Marcos tandem is like Joseph “Erap” Estrada’s run in 1998. No contest. At this point, the only viable strategy for the opposition is a split in the administration power blocs. The problem is Pac-Man is bereft of political gravitas. The masses aren’t convinced that he’s ready for the Presidency. And so we have to wait until probably at the earliest September, or the latest until December 15, which is the deadline for substitution of candidacies. In the meantime, there is the 1Sambayan event on June 12 to look forward to.

Ramon Ortoll

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