Tandems

If President Rodrigo “Digong” Duterte is “sold” on the idea of running for vice president, then he’s more likely to choose Sen. Lawrence Christopher “Bong” Go, his long-time aide-de-camp, over his daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara “Inday” Duterte-Carpio.
Bong Go would take a bullet for him anytime.

Sara? I doubt it. She and her father have bad blood between them; she’s siding with her mother, Elizabeth Zimmerman, Digong’s estranged wife.

When Digong was vice mayor to Inday Sara, father and daughter were always in conflict.

The first thing that Sara did when she became mayor in 2010 was to fire all of Digong’s men.

Sara also confiscated all of Digong’s big motorcycles when he became president.

“Gikumpiska man ni Inday ang akong mga bike (Inday confiscated all of my bikes) that’s why I had to buy new ones,” Digong told me three years ago when I visited him at the Presidential Security Command (PSG) camp in Pandacan.

A speed “maniac” until recently, Digong is fond of riding big bikes.

I heard from reliable sources that Sara didn’t consult her father when he was her vice mayor.

If that’s not disrespecting the father, I don’t know what is.

So, if Sara Duterte-Carpio wins and Digong also wins, I doubt if she would give her father power.

Besides, a Duterte-Duterte tandem in the 2022 election may look like an example of hubris, and the electorate might repudiate daughter and father.

So, if the President will finally decide to run for vice president, it’s going to be a Bong Go-Digong Duterte tandem.

I could be wrong, but my opinion is based on my closeness to Digong, whose mind I seem to read well.

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Heard through the grapevine:

The Makati business groups are supporting the possible tandem of Manila Mayor Isko Moreno and Sen. Grace Poe.

Big business thinks Moreno is pro-business.

A Moreno-Poe tandem is in the works.

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The electorate would have a difficult time deciding which tandem to select should the following tandems – that I think will coalesce – happen:

• Bong Go-Digong Duterte

• Manny Pacquiao-Tito Sotto

• Isko Moreno-Grace Poe

• Ping Lacson-Sonny Trillanes

• Bongbong Marcos-Sara Duterte or Sara Duterte-Bongbong Marcos

• Frank Drilon-Kris Aquino

All possible partnerships above are dream tickets.

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The late senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago was known for hurling insults against her enemies or detractors.

“Fungus face,” said the Dragon Lady of Asia of former Laguna Rep. Nereo Joaquin.

Only President Digong could match or even surpass Miriam in hurling insults to his detractors.

In Tagalog, Digong is an alaskador or one who irritates.

Consider:

“Parang kapatid sila ni Mao Tse Tung (He and Mao Tse Tung look like brothers),” Digong said of former Supreme Court Justice Antonio Carpio.

He was referring to Carpio’s eyes.

“You know, you are neo-Filipino. You don’t even look like Filipino. Shut up!” the President told former Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Cuisia.

Digong was referring to Cuisia being an albino, or anak-araw in Tagalog.

Former Inquirer columnist Larry Henares described Cuisia as “son of the sun.”

“Huwag kang magalit. Alam mo kung bakit ka hindi nanalo? Kasi kalaki ng ngipin mo. Kung magsalita ka kalahati ng panga lumalabas (Don’t get mad. You know why you didn’t win? Because you have big teeth. When you talk, most of your jaw juts out),” Digong, addressing defeated opposition senatorial candidate Chel Diokno.

Chel is the son of the late senator Jose W. Diokno, a martial law critic of President Ferdinand Marcos and defender of human rights.

Well, if Digong can dish out insults, he should be able to accept a roasting repartee.

Here’s one from one of his detractors: “Mukha siyang nahulugan ng durian (He looks like a durian has fallen on his face),” referring to the tropical fruit found in Southern Philippines which has sharp spikes.

Do you know why Digong clicks with the masses? Because he talks their language.

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Labor Secretary Silvestre “Bebot” Bello’s proposal to study the scrapping of the licensure examinations for nursing is a sound one.

Nursing graduates have gone through years of quizzes, examinations and many hours of on-the-job training in hospitals. Their rigorous scrutiny and training are more than enough.

But I beg to disagree with the proposal of  Bello – former  justice secretary, former labor secretary, and former solicitor-general – that the Bar examinations should be dispensed with for law graduates.

Many law graduates could hardly speak English, which is the language of the courts.

I’ve been to many court hearings as a respondent of libel suits, and I cringe at the way lawyers mangle the English language.

Law schools which are diploma mills should be closed down.

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Michael Dalumpines, president and chairperson of the government-owned Asian Productivity Organization (APO), was featured in this space for alleged irregularities in the agency’s printing of electronic passports.

Greco Belgica, chairperson of the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC), was the source of my story.

Belgica said he would charge Dalumpines with grave misconduct and gross neglect of duty for hiring private companies to print the electronic passports when APO was supposedly the lone printer of the P38-billion contract.

Dalumpines, who was my boyhood playmate in Davao City in 1960, sent me the following text message:

“It is not true that APO subcontracted the e-passport to a private printer because that is not allowed by law. Mon, PACC’s accusations of grave misconduct and gross neglect of duty against me are baseless. Chairman Greco has since apologized to me. I told him that he has practically destroyed my character with one sweeping statement.”

Dalumpines also said that APO’s board of trustees elected him chairperson and president contrary to my allegations in this space.