Inday Sara & GMA versus BBM and Speaker Martin

The die is cast and the lines are drawn. Two big political titans have crossed the Rubicon. The presidential derby for 2028 has started. No matter how they all deny it, the evidence is palpable and the thing speaks for itself. The lawyers call it “Res Ipsa Loquitur.’’ The Filipinos are smart enough. They may be silly or even crazy at times when it comes to choosing presidents, but they are not stupid. They are discerning enough to read the handwriting on the wall.

It is very clear that BBM is preparing his favorite first cousin, Speaker Martin Ferdinand Romualdez to succeed him in 2028. As usual, the political mantra is to assure continuity, to make sure that what BBM shall have started will be continued. And that the next president should not undo what shall have been done. Or that the next occupant in the Palace shall not expose what should not have been done. All presidents want their legacies nurtured by their successors. Thus, they use the term continuity as a political line to justify anointing a trusted heir to the throne. That is to refute any criticism against the perpetuation of a political dynasty. The anointing of the Speaker is shown by the high and recurrent visibility of the Speaker in all important presidential travels and events. Romualdez follows BBM in the UK, US, Singapore, Japan, Indonesia, Switzerland and France.

Speaker Martin has the looks of a president, the blood of a political leader, and a wife who is very pretty, tall and very charming. He is being exposed by BBM to the international community as if being mentored, coached and trained as an apprentice to the presidency. All the political pundits who are worth their salt are one in concluding that Martin Ferdinand is the crown prince like Prince William of the Kingdom of Great Britain. That is why when the Palace saw that GMA was bringing her close allies to Korea for a political rendezvous preparatory to a coup in the House, King Ferdinand and Crown Prince Martin moved swiftly by removing GMA as the Senior Deputy Speaker. And since Inday Sara, the lady in waiting is a very close ally of GMA, her quick response was to resign from the party that supported BBM. That was a fast movement in the political chessboard.  And the people are not stupid enough not to discern that there is tempest in the teapot.

GMA, if we know her political scheming ways, would deny to death that she was plotting a coup in the House. She is what we call “the boy who cried wolf” for she did the same thing to the former Speaker Bebot Alvarez, a very close friend of former president Manong Digong. GMA is so scheming that she drove a wedge between Inday Sara and Bebot Alvarez. She used Machiavelli’s tactic of “divide, conquer and rule.” By using Inday Sara to oust Alvarez, GMA was hitting three birds with one stone. She succeeded to divide the Mindanao bloc, isolated the rag tag group of Bebot (which by the way, included then Deputy Speaker Gwen) and consolidated her forces in Luzon with her allies in Mindanao and the Visayas. The rest is history. Now she is plotting to make history repeat itself. GMA does not want to sit in the gallery because she is a former president. If she could oust Erap and Bebot, why not Martin?

Martin is now ahead in mileage because he has the King himself as the navigator of his political journey. Inday Sara will have two former presidents behind her, GMA and Manong Digong. Erap may even join if Inday Sara would agree to Jinggoy as vice president. But it seems Inday likes Win Gatchalian more.  Inday should partner with the Villars and the Gatchalians because those are where the money, logistics, resources are. And GMA would be the main architect of Sara’s campaign. GMA is far more adept, more astute and more politically shrewd than Digong and Erap combined. She is the daughter of the late Cong. Dadong Macapagal who was a bar topnotcher and was defeated by Ferdinand Marcos Sr. in 1961. GMA will have her revenge against the Marcoses by using Sara in defeating Martin.

But Martin has all the money, and if his vice president is Migz Zubiri, he will be breaking the Mindanao vote.  The Marcoses and the Romualdezes combined with the Zubiri clan and the sugar bloc will really have the great advantage plus the premium points of the incumbent King in the Palace, controlling all the funds, the appointments and the powers of the presidency, the control over the military and the local governments. Inday Sara will be the underdog but using the Digong style of blitzkrieg attack from behind, 2028 will be a heated clash of the titans. What will happen if Leni is coming back with Koko as her vice president? That will be my column tomorrow.