EDITORIAL - Higher stakes

One of two expected political bombshells exploded yesterday with the announcement of Vice President Leni Robredo that she was running for the presidency next year.

“Buong-buo ang loob ko ngayon. Kailangan nating palayain ang ating sarili mula sa kasalukuyang sitwasyon. Lalaban ako, lalaban tayo, inihahain ko ang aking sarili bilang kandidato sa pagka-pangulo sa halalan ng 2022,” she said during a speech in her office announcing her decision.

For her running mate, she has chosen Senator Francisco “Kiko” Pangilinan.

Unless she changes her mind again, the die has been cast. The seeming delay in finalizing her decision to run, confirmed on the day before the last day of the filing of the certificate of candidacy for the 2022 polls, is like that part in the movies where the main lead wrestles with doubts before going through with final act leading to the end.

Others will attribute that delay to deep strategic planning. They will reason that she took this long because she gave it a lot of thought, and also because some negotiations had to be made.

But her delay can also be seen in a different way by others. Others will see it as being indecisive.

The fact that she entertained different political plans and alternatives before settling on the presidency was also seen by many as a trivializing of the positions she can choose from, including the highest office she could run for.

There may be even more interpretations of her delay, as people have different views.

Anyway, with that move the 2022 elections just got more interesting.

Long-touted as the opposition’s best bet against the current administration, it is not yet clear how Robredo’s announcement will affect some candidacies already filed by those who want to run for president.

Robredo’s decision to run also sets up a much-awaited rematch between her and former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., whom she narrowly defeated for vice president in 2016.

But because both are running for even higher office now, the stakes have become higher also.