Is ''Hugpong'' the president's Plan B?

Those who persist in believing that President Rody Duterte did not know all along the plan for the formation of Inday Sarah Duterte-Carpio's latest uppercut, the "Hugpong ng Pagbabago" must be either too naive or are plain stupid, or they do not know the president that well. The president is not a freshman running a student council in a remote barangay high school. He is, in fact, a very sophisticated master political player. In the last elections, he outmaneuvered and outsmarted the then incumbent party in power, the well-oiled and well-funded Liberal Party of PNoy and Mar Roxas. He was a very smart strategist and tactician who knew the end from the beginning. He won with no less than almost fifteen million votes against opponents who were richer like Jojo Binay, more popular like Grace Poe, and with formidable machinery like Roxas.

Manoy Digong speaks like a simple man of the street but his mind is a combination of Machiavelli and Winston Churchill. His mastery of the political landscape was not unlike the mastery of General Douglas MacArthur of the Asia-Pacific war arena. His advanced knowledge of political and social culture of Filipino voters can be matched only by the brains of President Ferdinand Marcos. In fact, I dare say Duterte is both a clone of Marcos and Ninoy Aquino. He is a Marcos because he believes Filipinos need a strong, determined, and courageous disciplinarian. He is an Aquino because he leaves no turn unturned to seek peace with enemies as Ninoy used to deal with Luis Taruc of the Hukbalahap, Kumander Dante of the NPA, and Joma Sison of the CPP-NDF. Duterte attempted, and will most likely still attempt to negotiate peace with enemies of the state.

Going back to Hugpong, by all appearances, Sarah either sought the blessing of Duterte to form a rainbow coalition of Mindanao political leaders who do not like the seeming arrogance of Pantaleon Alvarez. Or, that the Hugpong was really the product of Duterte's own creative and proactive mind. And then the president tossed it to his daughter who has the guts, mind, and credibility to start this new spark of political genius. Duterte could not trust Polong who even resigned as vice mayor. By the looks of it, he is not made of the sterner stuff Sarah is known to be made of. Baste is just a lover who enjoys his youth dating gorgeous women. He has neither the time nor the inclination to waste his life in the volatile and complex world of politics. Only Sarah has inherited the political acumen of her father and her late paternal grandfather, Governor Vicente Duterte from Danao, Cebu.

So our thesis is that Hugpong is the president's Plan B, his reserve force. It is his safe haven if and when Alvarez becomes too unwieldy for comfort, or if Koko Pimentel's PDP-Laban self-destructs due to the infighting. Hugpong will provide Duterte a core group of close and loyal followers who shall encircle the forces of Alvarez and attract the PDP-Laban's excess forces. President Duterte is a master politician who is as brilliant as GMA but with the soft heart of Erap. He is a lawyer like Marcos but can also be a warrior like FVR. But he can never be like PNoy who is a complete antithesis. Hugpong can be likened to Marcos' KBL, but still in its infancy stage. Once it is well known this is the president's new Trojan Horse, then all the balimbing trapos are going to jump into the bandwagon. Let us wait if this political prognosis will hold water.

But, no matter what, I do believe Duterte knew about Hugpong even before it was born. After all, our president is not naive. He was not born yesterday. [email protected]