THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) reports that "18,100 positions will be contested for the May 9, 2022 elections from president down to the local municipal councilors. Of these, 48,000 candidates and party-lists have filed their certificates of candidacy (COCs)." But what has captured voter interest is the presidential and vice-presidential tickets. Much has been written and posted in the mass and social media about the five serious presidential aspirants (out of 97). No doubt the most important is speculating on the Deegong's successor.

But this column will devote space instead to the Senate, particularly on the 12 senators (out of 176) who will join the 12 others elected in 2019. (Please refer to an excellent piece by Malou Tiquia, The Manila Times, Sept. 27, 2021.) The senators' terms total 12 years each (with one reelection). But their importance goes beyond their tenure, doubling that of the president's. Borrowed from the old Roman concept of the senatus, the occupants were considered the wisest, most experienced and respected senior members of society, particularly the elite.

In America, two senators are voted by each federal state to compose a 100-member Senate, unlike that which the Philippines adopted in 1946. Our 24 Philippine senators, like our president, are "elected at large," thus arrogating upon themselves self-proclaimed status as heirs apparent to the presidency, acquiring over time a certain demeanor underscored by developing egos equating them with the president they eventually seek to replace. Of the 16 Philippine presidents, 10 came from the Senate. These senators have created for themselves their own political enclaves with prestige and influence a little lesser than that of the president's.

Senate post-Marcos

Since the expulsion of Marcos and the abrogation of the 1935 and 1973 Constitutions, the Cory Constitution of 1987 was designed to be principally anchored on anti-martial law doctrines. Philippine concepts of governance have not adapted to the realities of a dynamic and evolving Philippine society and the exigencies of modern society. Thus, our laws, based on the now flawed constitution have proven to be the main hindrance to our total development — cultural, economic and political. The two last criteria are glaring when our country is compared to our neighbors that have left us behind — Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, South Korea, Vietnam, et al. Comparatively, our economy has virtually stagnated, if not deteriorated. Poverty is widespread and barely mitigated. Our political development is stunted with political power and authority concentrated at the center causing disparities in the periphery, a weak rule of law, ongoing impunity, and corruption in all levels of governance. These all need to change.

The Senate holds the key to these changes. Principally a deliberative body of a chosen few from whence the laws of the land spring forth, they are the conservative keepers of the familiar, more concerned with preserving the status quo through the old, tried and tested formulas than trying out the modern, the dynamic and the unconventional. From the 9th to the 13th Senate, Presidents Ramos' 1997 Pirma, Estrada's 1999 Concord, and Arroyo's 2005 ConCom, moves to revise the 1987 Constitutions were met by the Senate's intransigence.

The 15th/16th Congress during the presidency of PNoy never did consider any alteration to the 1987 Constitution. "Not even a comma," he once declared, holding the document as a sacrosanct legacy of his mother. The subsequent Senate during President Duterte did not seriously consider the proposals of the 2018 Charter Change Consultative Committee seeking political restructuring.

Thus, the ingenuities for changes to the laws of the land that will impact Philippine society for generations to come are stuck at the obstructionist Senate. The need therefore to shift our attention this election to the upper chamber becomes imperative, hopefully evoking the ancient concept of Senatus Populusque Romanus (SPQR), peopling it with "persons of wisdom."

What changes are needed

I am presenting proposed constitutional revisions of the 1987 Constitution centered on the Centrist Democrats' (CD) core value of human dignity, guided by principles of Christian and Muslim social teachings. "Political, economic and social order must be so logically designed that the dignity of each person is protected and promoted. An atmosphere of freedom is a prerequisite upon which human dignity is enhanced. Self-determination by everyone, an essential component, is the impetus for collective expression toward the development of a just society." ("Call for change: PH constitutional revisions," TMT, Aug 19, 2020.)

To be more specific the guiding principles are simple: 1) a strict adherence to democracy and the rule of law; 2) a parliamentary government based on program-oriented political parties; 3) a decentralized state structure with regional autonomy and local self-government, leading towards federalism; and 4) a "social market economy" with a well-functioning open market, protected by a strong state.

What these all amount to is the Senate's role in providing the impetus for fundamental change. The Duterte administration never did push through any long-lasting political reforms except perhaps for passing the BARMM law, which, in the first place, propelled his presidency in 2016 on his campaign commitment "to a set of political reforms, including establishing a federal system of government. It was assumed that the President would keep his word, ushering all these under his promise of pagbabago (change)."

Current Senate profile

One third of the present 12 senators are members of the PDP-Laban whose platform includes political reforms and government restructuring from a presidential to parliamentary form of government and is unitary to a federal system. These are congruent with the CD demands, too. Joining the four (Go, Bato, Tolentino and Pimentel) are two who may go for federalism (Imee Marcos and Angara). This block going for Charter revision comprises one half of the rest (Poe, Binay, Lapid, Villar, Cayetano and Revilla). This means that at least the incoming seven out of 12 senators could go for Charter revisions, and for the 19th Congress to pass a law calling for a constitutional convention for the revision of the 1987 Constitution.

Possible incoming senators

Six reelectionists are running to regain their seats — de Lima, Gatchalian, Hontiveros, Gordon, Villanueva and Zubiri — plus the usual "branded names" who at some point in the past won as senators or possess an excellent name recall for a shot at a slot: Alan Cayetano, Chiz Escudero, Loren Legarda, Jojo Binay, Bam Aquino, Gibo Teodoro, Jinggoy Estrada, JV Ejercito, Greg Honasan, Antonio Trillanes 4th and Raffy Tulfo, et al. Their views on political reforms and shift to a parliamentary/federal government structure are vague and for some, belied by their belonging to political dynasties. It is therefore incumbent on the advocates for structural change to scrutinize these senatorial hopefuls.

There are, however, some uncut gems on the side who may emerge in the course of the campaign with good chances at winning. As a service to those advocating for political party reforms, a shift to federal parliamentary government, underpinned by the social market economy (SOME) and allowing foreign direct investments (FDI), this column will from time to time highlight senatorial candidates with their own advocacies congruent with this column's Centrist ideological profile.

Meantime, be discriminating for the lies peddled as truth! This is their stock in trade.

INDAY Sara's defiance spells the death of a father's hopes for a continuing legacy through her, narrowing down the field to five serious wannabes who, no doubt, will fashion their own — Bongbong, Manny, Leni, Ping and Isko. The rest of the pack can be dismissed as nuisance candidates. The Cusi PDP-Laban's last-minute move installing Senator Bato as presidentiable, admitting that if Sara substitutes for him — "di mas mabuti!" — belies a serious intent.

Bongbong and Manny have no vice presidents (VPs) in tow — an indication of weakness, an ongoing surreptitious negotiation or simply waiting for whatever opportunities appear in the political horizon. Only Leni/Kiko, Ping/Tito and Isko/Willie are decisively committed — although historically, voters split their votes for president and VP.

Trolls are propagating the idea that this election is a "rebancen" of sorts of the internecine political combat between two families — Marcos vs Aquino and by inference Duterte vs the Dilawan. Partly true but the overarching fight is in reality, We, the people, against the generations of traditional political practices permeating and undermining our system of governance that resulted in the ills of our society: stark poverty, impunity, corruption, inequality and social injustice. All these predated the Marcos-Aquino rivalry and were already at play when Duterte came into power.

Current political forces

What is shaping up is a Marcos/Duterte alliance fusing shared legacies. The former, a devoted son palpably working for a reversal of family fortunes, employing historical distortions that those years could have been the best years had they not been cut short by "external extenuating circumstances." The latter, a Marcos acolyte bent on propagating a legacy of political travesty, nourishing a fiction that his bloody drug war and escalating bureaucratic corruption are a success, and that human rights abuses are nothing but a figment of the "dilawan imagination." A consolation is that he will leave behind the fruits of his Build, Build, Build, which are the visible and tangible signs of an administration poised to take off but thwarted by the pandemic and marred by his profligacy.

Arrayed against this pair is a ragtag army of the reconstituted "parliament of the streets" modified by social media echoing those movements during the martial law years that toppled a dictatorship. But this time, the opposing forces are not led by the old Cory Aquino Yellows allied with the "PNoy Dilawan" (see "Revisiting old forces," The Manila Times, Oct 6, 2021) but those of the disenchanted multitude — the youth, the growing mass of the poverty-stricken victims of economic dislocation caused by the insufferable pandemic quarantine harebrained schemes, disillusioned by the "Pharmallys" of this regime. They don't necessarily agree with each other and are not ideologically interwoven but they have several commonalities, foremost among which is, anger. Rage at what's happening to them — to the Filipino. This could be an intense emotional tinderbox that could be triggered by irrational behavior but if harnessed and disciplined, can start a conflagration that may consume this unholy alliance. But who will lead them against this formidable tandem? These are the valid questions for the wannabes arrayed against the Marcos/Duterte coalition.

Leni, who has been thoroughly demonized by the DDS, redefined by the Marcos/Duterte trolls, and weighed down by her own naivete, has a track record of being an ideological oppositionist. Ping Lacson was part of the Senate majority coalition allied with the President but possessed with an independent streak, untainted by corruption and the congressional pork barrel scandals and, more importantly, has a killer disposition, a critical ingredient that could pass for a semblance of "political will" — a trait endearing to the DDS. Ping is the Deegong with good manners.

Manny Pacquiao of humble pedigree and an authentic national hero won as senator under Duterte's slate and a loyalist until his own presidential ambition was waylaid by the rift within the ruling PDP-Laban party. And the new kid in the block Isko Moreno was a Duterte-appointed DSWD undersecretary — before winning election as Manila mayor. He declared making Duterte a cabinet member when elected. But what is egregious is his historical ignorance in simply defining the Marcos-Aquino family feud as just that. His approach to winning over the Marcos partisans is to underplay the decades of martial law, the conjugal dictatorship's profligacy, plunder, atrocities and oppression of the Filipino. The last three wannabees are perceived to be either pro-Duterte or "Duterte-neutral."

Exit the Deegong?

At the twilight of his regime the Deegong should be comforted that he has done some good by his own lights, although people may be ambivalent as to his methods. He replicated into the national stage the well-worn approaches that met with a modicum of success as a local mayor. His "tokhang" against suspected drug users resulted in thousands of dead addicts and criminals, earning for him serious attention from the International Criminal Court (ICC) for "extrajudicial killings" (EJK) and human rights violations.

To his credit, PRRD understood the systemic character of society's ills and vowed to provide comprehensive solutions improving basic good governance, among which were structural political reforms, devolving centralized authority to the periphery, redefining political power, diffusing the same through concepts of subsidiarity in an eventual federalized system of government. He rounded off his agenda with his fight against corruption with his now famous Duterte Doctrine — eliminating from the bureaucracy all manner of corruption even on a mere "whiff of it." Unfortunately, he abandoned all these in midstream.

Earlier in his regime, he projected a sincerity coupled with his daunted "political will" to meet these concerns head-on to defeat them. Alas, sincerity has never been an effective and relevant political strategy. And now, we come to this final episode of his regime. Although the Deegong has tried hard to employ every gimmick to brand this 2021-2022 presidential election with his imprimatur and a continuance of his legacy, he is failing. This election will witness the dying throes of a presidency and will pass on to history for final judgment.

His last stab at relevance using his daughter was stillborn. His subsequent haphazardly executed alternative was even more bizarre; putting up Sen. Bong Go as presidential bet with him as VP. This arrangement was so obviously inane and could not gain traction. His subsequent scheme was to declare retirement from politics, abandon his VP post and put in Bong Go in his stead. And to portray a semblance of normalcy, a buffoon was elevated as presidential bet in his PDP-Laban faction. At this late date, there could still be a penultimate act. A VP post under Marcos! But what will this cunning political strategist do with the tandem of Bato and Go?

There was a time many of us were convinced Duterte, backed by his strong government, could precipitate a revolution from the top and the middle-class changing society for the better. We were wrong! Now he needs to let go. He can improve on his legacy by perhaps accepting the inevitable. Being a lame duck is a time for introspection and rise above himself. He still has a few months to bring us all together and perhaps, as his last act, heal the wounds.

THIS 2021 to 2022 election season is no different from past Philippine elections except in the degree of insanity where vicious mudslinging and engaging in dirty practices are par for the course. Framed by a circus-like atmosphere toxic to the citizenry's political lives, paradoxically they are egged on by partisanship, not unlike the gladiatorial combats of old. What heightens the frenzy is the looming reenactment of a clash of incompatible forces from an era that has been so politically contentious. The slow burn started as far back as the 1986 eviction of Marcos — a regime that has taken deep root in all facets of Filipino life; upending the civilized concept of governance with the single-minded lust for power and dominance of the body politic; an insatiable appetite for loot and plunder; and creating in its wake a parasitical class, the cronies, replacing the old oligarchy; and a perpetuation of political power through designated political dynasties.

Liberals' capture of Cory's Yellow

Its main adversary was the short-lived government, headed by a pious woman whose piety did not extend to her descendants. Cory's regime had established roots not as deep, but extended its residual brand of governance through surrogates who were themselves offspring and inheritors of the EDSA People Power upheaval. FVR's and GMA's regimes were an extension (Erap's was a brief anomaly) culminating in PNoy's regime where the Yellow color, pervasive over two-and-a-half decades was esteemed as a symbol of that very same upheaval. The color was hijacked for PNoy's presidential run in 2010, foisting exclusivity. It is worthwhile recalling that the original Yellow forces then allied with Cory were a hodgepodge assemblage of civil society then known as the "parliament of the streets" that included Cardinal Sin's religious-based communities, Gen. Fidel Ramos uniformed faction and those of Enrile and the RAM (Reform the Armed Forces Movement), who tied yellow ribbons on their weapons during the EDSA People Power Revolution — the same yellow ribbon worn by demonstrators protesting Ninoy Aquino's assassination in 1983.

Poured into this cauldron were the disinherited oligarchy and political dynasties that had the primary handle on Philippine traditional politics even prior to the Marcos ascendancy. What bound these original Yellow Forces together were their anti-martial law stand and anger against the repressive and corrupt Marcos regime. They were not ideologically assimilated with each group insinuating its own agenda coming from a wide political spectrum. It was at best an amorphous army impelled by the euphoria of expelling Marcos and the conjugal dictatorship ending his regime. The clueless PNoy, deluded by a contrived sense of destiny and impelled by a mother's timely passing, manipulated this universal residual love for Cory to propel his own ascendancy, totally ignorant of the character and nuances of the original Yellow army. But in 2010 allied with the revived oligarchy, the political dynasties, the rogue cabinet members of the "Hello Garci scandal" that precipitated GMA's downfall, the traditions, colors and symbolisms of the original Yellow army were co-opted and made into PNoy's own. Thus, the perversion of Yellow was complete.

Yellow mutates to 'Dilawan'

The six years of PNoy's regime dismantled Cory's old coalition and replaced it with a totally new belligerent, politically exclusive, personal group under the Liberal Party banner, and called the Yellow army — "Dilawan." Shunted aside, the remnants of the original Yellow forces were left in disarray in search of a more competent leadership. Nene Pimentel, Cory's trusted loyalist, EDSA warrior, Fidel Ramos along with Cory's old guards — Bert Romulo, Rene Saguisag, Heherson Alvarez — were now advancing in age, leaving the likes of Makati Mayor Jojo Binay of the PDP-Laban at the top of the original Yellow coalition. Binay could have consolidated the support of the old Yellow forces had he stayed the course. His abandoning the PDP-Laban and joining Erap's forces coupled with the relentless attacks by PNoy's "Dilawan," now under the command of Mar Roxas and the newly minted Liberal Party, derailed him permanently.

The coalition — a full circle

The last major remnants of Cory's original old Yellow coalition was the PDP-Laban under Nene Pimentel. The venerable party founder executed perhaps the greatest coup since the party's 1982 founding and his sacrificing the VP post to Doy Laurel in 1986 to preserve the original Cory Yellow coalition, which ultimately won the snap presidential election.

In an analogous move, Nene in 2016 offered the PDP- Laban to this maverick from Davao, the Deegong. His mother, Nanay Soling, a staunch anti-martial law NGO leader, headed the "Yellow Friday Movement" and his father, Vicente, was a former governor of the then unified province of Davao, subsequently appointed to the Marcos Cabinet. The Deegong was a Cory-appointed officer in charge vice mayor to the PDP-Laban Davao City Mayor Zafiro Respicio.

Nene Pimentel's singular act in 2016 was meant perhaps to reconcile the Marcos and Cory forces — "the yellow and the red." Duterte, the Yellow's prodigal son, could have engineered the ultimate reconciliation, ending the enmity that began with Ninoy Aquino's assassination. Things proved otherwise. The man failed to discern destiny's path.

An ongoing storyline

This 2022 presidential election marks a twist in this narrative. The once formidable ideologically driven PDP-Laban from Mindanao, forged in the anvil of the dark martial law years, and championing the ascendancy of the Yellow forces of Cory in 1986, in hindsight may have drawn a "compact with the devil" in 2016.

It is a given that PDP-Laban benefited, imbibing the fruits of their investment in Duterte — cabinet posts, undersecretary/assistant secretary posts in the bureaucracy, sinecures, government corporate seats and pelf. In return, they needed to surrender something — their ideological soul.

The PDP-Laban has split and now competes for the same political space that Cory's Yellow forces and Nene Pimentel sacrificed for. The rest of this narrative has yet to produce an appropriate ending.

Current political scenario

President Duterte's idea of running for VP under Sen. Bong Go was a ludicrous impulse. Now he's putting the senator in his stead leaving the presidential post vacant. And his spineless PDP-Laban faction is compliant. His motives were largely seen as mundane and pedestrian. For one, it was perceived as a desperate move by a despot longing for continued relevance, avoiding being a lame duck. Perhaps this International Criminal Court (ICC) "crimes against humanity" hanging over his head unravels the fiction that the illegal drug problem in the Philippines has been solved. The long arm of justice could still catch up with him.

I wrote before that the daughter will have to run as president, and she could win. She could protect the father in many ways, particularly from the long arm of international law — the ICC. But then again, she could lose. But more deadly, this election could also see the replay of an old conflict, between the Marcos forces, buttressed by the DDS, on the one hand, versus the old anti-martial law coalition given fresh motivation by the break-up of the PDP-Laban.

Or the Marcos and DDS may even go their separate ways now that a different Duterte could be in the driver's seat.

The permutations are endless. We live in interesting times!

AMERICA holds the world's worst record on Covid-19. To date, 706,000 Americans are dead, 14.8 percent of 4.75 million deaths worldwide, while 333 million Americans comprise only 4.3 percent of the world's 7.8 billion population. Go figure!

Donald Trump is no longer president. But his incompetence and criminal disdain for American lives make him among the worst American presidents ever. This is his legacy. But Trump is hardly alone in this. He had the American fringe as accomplices; the Trumpers, his fanatical cohorts whose ideological precepts may be labeled as Trumpism — a compendium of conservative social and political beliefs lodged within the right-wing spectrum of the Republican Party never seen before in US presidential politics.

Trumpers/Trumpists/Trumpism

American political sociologist Seymour Martin Lipset, who died before Trump's ascendancy, demarcated a class of Americans, generally white male, less likely to have a college degree, making $50,000 annually or less, describing themselves as "conservatives." Fusing this self-avowal with the lower class from whence they sprung, places them in the category of the "working-class authoritarians." Lipset further postulates their "authoritarian predispositions and ethnic prejudice flow more naturally from the situation of the lower classes than from that of middle and upper classes." Donald Trump appealed to this type becoming the "staunchest champion of the white working class that American politics has seen in decades...[these] working-class groups have proven to be the most nationalistic and jingoistic sector of the population." (Jordan Smith, National Journal)

A symbiosis ripened between Trump and this class. He was attracted to them as he inspired the mob. He was not born to this class but imbibed its intellectual proclivities and embraced its language. Political sociologists suggest that these Americans in the lower strata are drawn to extremist movements and "once recruited, they will not be alienated by its lack of democracy, while more educated or sophisticated supporters will tend to drop away." (Jordan Smith, National Journal) Hillary Clinton in 2016 described them as a "basket of deplorables"; racist, sexist, homophobic, Islamophobic — and Trump lifted them up. Their politics lean heavily toward the Republican Party. These Trumpers, white supremacists, the dregs of the Republicans, fight for dominance of the party's mainstream. Their sentiments regenerate the Republican agenda, their politics seeping into their political conversation, parroted in the US Congress and in red state legislatures; their syntax artlessly arranged to sway the least common denominator of the inarticulate during political rallies. Their grievances are insanely eclectic, from a delusional stolen election demanding Trump's reinstatement as president; to voter suppression targeting black democrats; to banning abortion; to imposing racial standards on immigrants, particularly from Islamic countries. But the more dangerous pronouncements are pandemic related.

A terrible scenario

A grim development is unfolding in America's fight against Covid-19. Thanks to Trump's Operation Warp Speed, the big pharmaceuticals — driven by profit motive, capitalism's leitmotif, particularly at a time of a global catastrophe — responded with alacrity. What could have taken years of vaccine development was accomplished in just two. China, Germany and India were well into vaccinating their citizens, with China extending its sphere of influence in Asia. America has a different story to tell. Even with available vaccines that can potentially cover their population twice over, the Americans did not react fast and well enough. Consequently, a surging new Delta variant overtook their communities.

Well into the US vaccine rollout, statistics show that a third of Americans have refused inoculation. The Trumpers are in the forefront preaching anti-vaccine, anti-masking and anti-social distancing, woven into all sorts of conspiracy theories and reinforced by Fox News and right-wing media. All these vehement objections are coated with a patina of cherished concepts of liberty and freedom. They will not be dictated upon. Their individual rights to choose must prevail over the mandates of government. This is the American way! The paradox is that Trump has had his two vaccine jabs, and 90 percent of Fox News personnel have already been inoculated.

This incessant hammering by the Trumpers has distorted the pandemic narrative. In the 2020 presidential elections, 17 of the 18 states that voted for Trump have the lowest vaccination rates. And they have a higher morbidity ratio particularly among the Trumpers' demographics of 65 years old and above. These data show Covid deaths affect white Republican families disproportionately, with the possible exception of black Democrats where healthcare disparities exist. In this case, race comes into the picture as black Americans are more likely to die from Covid than white Americans — whether Republicans or Democrats.

CNN's gruesome figures reveal that "86 percent of Democrats have received at least one dose of a Covid-19 inoculation compared to just 45 percent of Republicans. And 38 percent of Republicans say they will definitely not get any doses of vaccine. Of 10 states where Covid-19 cases rose more than 10 percent in the last week, eight have Republican governors. More than 99 percent of deaths from Covid-19 in June were in unvaccinated people...states with low vaccine rates have almost triple the rate of new Covid-19 cases, according to Johns Hopkins University. Unvaccinated people were five times more likely to get Covid-19 than vaccinated peers and 29 times more likely to be hospitalized for their infections." This evidence shows that there are more unvaccinated Republicans than Democrats. And more of the former die of Covid-19.

Now America is in the midst of the 2022 campaign for the med-term elections. Trump has of late roused his fanatical base to push for the state, local legislative districts and in the congressional elections. Their political rallies are classic Delta variant super-spreaders. Killing off the Trumpers, the most dependable of GOP voters may not be the best political strategy — except for the Democrats.

Trumpist influencers

Backstopping the Trumpers are personalities who rule the airwaves – radio-TV. A sampling of these right-wing radio hosts was all over the place rousing the mob against the vaccines.

Dick Farrel, the anchor of Newsmax TV of NBC affiliate WPTV of West Palm Beach, was known as the other Rush Limbaugh. He was a staunch advocate against the vaccines and called Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and chief medical adviser to the US president, a "lying freak." He died on Aug. 4, 2021. He was 65.

Marc Bernier is known as "Mr. Anti-Vax" on his weekday WNDB radio show from Daytona Beach. He was a respected conservative radio host for over 30 years. He was 65 years old when he died of Covid-19 in late August.

Phil Valentine of Nashville, Tennessee, talk show host of SuperTalk 99.7 WTN was skeptical of coronavirus vaccines. A radio personality for some 40 years, he had a wide following with his program syndicated in 100 stations in the US. Moved into a critical care facility, he regretted "he wasn't a more vocal advocate of the vaccination...I wish I had gotten it!" He died last August at 61 years old.

These influencers refused to be vaccinated while they had the chance. In their intensive-care deathbeds, they regretted forgoing vaccination. Too late!

The pandemic is still raging worldwide killing millions. In America, vaccines are widely available. Covid-19 should be non-political. Unless unthinking humans force the virus to choose sides.

THIS classic phrase illustrates what is happening in the highest institutions of our country today, the legislative and the executive. These two democratic institutions - in theory co-equal and durable (including the judiciary) - are meant to be interdependent branches of government with powers defined by our Constitution. But in reality, man-made as they are, the presidency can be "more equal"; nonetheless, both are fickle. Institutional dynamics are significantly prejudiced by the people presiding over them. We refer specifically to the constructs within these separate institutions: the blue ribbon committee of chairman Richard Gordon and the office of the presidency. The two central characters, I fear, have of late gone mad! Not mad as in "angry, infuriated or livid," but mad as in "insane"! The public has never witnessed such vicious hostility between two protagonists in a combat by proxy in a separate arena; one in the Senate's hallowed halls, the other at the nightly Malacañang Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases press briefings with social media stoking the carnage. The fight, nonetheless, is as gory as a gladiatorial mano a mano: personal, lethal and dirty. None will win. But the losers are our institutions.

Genesis of a corruption

What started as a moro-moro traditionally presaging an election circus season turned nasty when the blue ribbon, a legitimate subsidiary to the Senate's constitutionally mandated oversight functions over the executive departments, was convened to look into what the Commission on Audit flagged as irregularities in the procurement of personal protective equipment (PPE) during this pandemic. President Duterte's knee-jerk response to castigate the harbinger of bad news, not the bad news itself, prompted the convening of the blue ribbon to dig further. True enough, the Department of Health (DoH)-Procurement Service-Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) funds transfer in itself was proscribed.

It should be noted that there was no love lost between the ambitious senator and the President now perceived to be an easy adversary entering lame-duck status.

The Deegong was clearly at a disadvantage as the Senate was performing its mandate. But the wily and overzealous senator has eroded the high ground by a performance that is less than stellar. Although his bamboozling of witnesses, unable to put a word in edgewise before the senator's machinegun-like spittle-scattering questions, ferreted out some ugly facts amidst panic and confusion.

What has been learned so far

The blue ribbon hearings have shown that a scam is being perpetrated in the procurement of PPE, with the culpable bureaucracy appallingly exploiting a world crisis brought on by the pandemic. The details have by now been digested by the public; that the DoH illegally transferred P42 billion of its funds to the procurement service of the PS-DBM to outsource the bidding and purchase of PPE and other related, pandemic supplies; that the PS-DBM bought overpriced surgical masks from various suppliers but favoring the under-capitalized Chinese subsidiary Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp., topping more than P8.7 billion. The stink has diffused to high heavens and will not dissipate on Duterte's simple say-so, demanding that he be taken on faith.


The Chinese connection and the involvement of close colleagues of the President was perfunctorily established by the blue ribbon. Although not directly accused of corruption himself, the President's subsequent vehement defense of his Chinese colleagues, particularly of his erstwhile "economic adviser," Michael Yang, in a diatribe is reminiscent of a line in Hamlet's - "the lady doth protest too much, methink."

The next moves

To halt the hemorrhage of possible incriminating evidence and an attempt to cover for his men, Duterte recently ordered government officials to clear with him before appearing at Senate hearings. This has been done by past presidents through declaration of executive privilege. The Supreme Court didn't agree. Admittedly, senior executives and hundreds of "resource persons" time-wasting appearances under pain of "Senate contempt" have more to do with the Senate's vanity-driven measures asserting its oversight functions than anything else. Only a handful are called with the rest twiddling their thumbs over hearings that last for four to seven hours. But this presidential injunction could also derail the 2022 national budget deliberations, exacerbating the economic collapse which has already caused massive unemployment and Covid-driven business closures.

At this point, the public has had its fill of the sordid facts, innuendo and chismis surrounding the month-long moro-moro. Perhaps the blue ribbon has enough goods on the massive corruption of this government to ensnare the miscreants and prove them all to be criminally liable and pass these on to the appropriate courts. And revert back to the more important concerns of the country - resolving the pandemic and its resultant economic depredations.

Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, the more restrained among the President's men, has this to say: "Just file the necessary cases and leave it to the experts tasked to investigate them while you (Senate) do your jobs to legislate or conduct investigation properly in aid of legislation. By doing so, you can preserve your energy for the coming elections."

The blue ribbon may have squeezed out the last extracts from government corruption leaving only the residue relevant to the election season; and allowing further alibi for the President to regain his strong-man repute disputing a lame-duck status. The President, piqued by Senator Gordon and intolerant of criticism, has vowed to campaign against the senator - which may instead guarantee Gordon's reelection.

What are the stakes

In retrospect, all these contribute to what ails the Philippines today. Our concept of governance is defective and bankrupt, among other things. On one level, traditional political practices are pervasive resulting in personality-centered electoral politics, the motivating factors driving the rivalry between power centers – the legislative and the executive branches - each using its constitutionally sanctioned prerogatives as weapons. On the one hand is the Senate's oversight function over the executive branch, and on the other is the executive branch's prerogatives and license over the regulatory agencies. Both have potential for abuse. And in these hearings, both have shamelessly transgressed the parameters of their discretion.

On another level, our inherently defective system has a paucity of transparency and accountability. The blue ribbon has uncovered fraud in the use of public money. The appropriate response would have been for the executive branch to investigate anomalies and prosecute the same. The Duterte doctrine of dismissing on a mere "whiff of corruption" would have been a deterrent if applied promptly. Instead, Duterte's knee-jerk reaction was to deny the presence of corruption, initiate ad hominem assaults on the investigators and a personal aggressive defense of the rent-seekers and perpetrators.

All these occurring during the country's highest regime of pain and trauma, the continued harvest of dead souls through mismanagement of the pandemic and its resultant economic devastation. The repercussions are wide and long-term, and the aftermath is grim. The leadership of today's branches of government will be answerable to the generations to come.

Enough is enough! We need our leadership in all branches of government to hunker down and prioritize their next moves. Politics must be deleted from the equation. The hearings could stop now, and the President must prosecute the corrupt. He has eight months more to rule. Until then, he is accountable for Filipino lives yet to be wasted.

Or they can continue this madness. And the gods deliver us from them.

MISDIRECTION is a magician's art, making the audience believe what it sees while the reality is something else. It is an elegant deception when the trick is executed to perfection. The magician refocuses the audience's attention to where he directs it while achieving what he sets out to do in the first place. His tools of trade - optical illusions, smoke and mirrors, sleight of hand, hypnosis - may be applied all at once or in phases for the spectators' benefit, conjuring up different realities. He does not act alone. His accomplices and minions are privy to the misdirection's design. Overwhelmed by the magician's sheer dominance and control of the performance, the timing and the unfolding phases, the eyewitnesses' disbelief is momentarily suspended with their acquiescence. He is the main actor. His subordinates merely assume lesser roles.

All audiences love to be entertained; the Filipino audience is no exception. Before the movies, the internet, YouTube and Facebook, our amusements revolved around the entablado (stage) - zarzuelas and moro-moro (passion play), performed during town fiestas. The former" is a play with songs and dances, usually written in prose, depicting the vagaries of romantic love among idealized Filipino characters and often incorporating contemporary social, political, economic or cultural issues for relevance and interest." (Wikipedia)

Moro-moro on the other hand is a form of theater depicting epic battles between Christians and Moros (Filipino Muslims) from the Spanish colonial period. Also called comedia, it was created principally by Spanish priests to spread Christianity, where the Moros were portrayed as the anti-heroes, the villains. Now, its popularity has faded but what remains is the pejorative underpinning of a scripted scenario whose outcome is predictably a forgone conclusion. In contemporary parlance, moro-moro is akin to a subterfuge.

The combination of two themes, magician's misdirection and moro-moro sham amidst the current environment of political circus and electoral campaign is what could explain the garish entertainment value of the following subject matter circulated to the public lately, segueing to the second part of this column:

Duterte vs Duterte

Headlines in the dailies and social media refer to President Rodrigo Duterte's two families being at loggerheads. To those disposed to chismis (gossip), the Aug. 25, 2021, offering of Politiko (echoed by The Manila Times) describing what many political cognoscenti have been whispering all along could be juicy tidbits:

"All gloves off! Sara v Bong Go/Honeylet is a proxy fight between Duterte's first and second families. For over five years, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte and her siblings have toed the line by staying in the background while showing a united front behind their father, President Rodrigo Duterte.

"A Politiko source said Sara, Paolo and Baste kept their cool despite being boxed out of their father's life in Malacañang by his longtime aide, Sen. Bong Go, who is allied with the President's partner, Honeylet Avanceña.

"With the end of the President's term looming and Sara's stock soaring in presidential surveys, the source said the time of Duterte's first family to rise in power was imminent.

"By making the President run for vice president or for Go to run for either president or vice president in the 2022 elections, the source said the Bong-Honeylet camp would ensure they would extend their power over the next term by riding on the President's enduring popularity.

"The source said Sara saw through all of the Bong-Honeylet machinations of using her to further their stay in power, with the President as leverage.

"'I was left with two letters endorsed to me by the President for consideration – one note explained why I should endorse the Go-Duterte tandem and the other suggested that I take in Senator Go as my vice president, said Sara in a Facebook post." (All of the persons named have denied these allegations.)

This item implies that President Duterte is not in control of his two families and that they are in disarray; and that senility may have set in requiring the need for a surrogate son, Go, as cordon sanitaire.

The current political landscape

Taking all these in with a grain of salt, I take a contrarian view; the reason why I predicated this column with misdirection and moro-moro. I don't think this family conflict is entirely accurate, and even if true, its outcome could be in Duterte's favor.

The pandemic for one has taken a turn for the worse with his subalterns clueless in mitigating much less resolving with finality these disasters. The "urong-sulong" lockdown policy is dangerously inducing a "whac-a-mole" random appearances of Covid virus variants in the country. The resultant effect of a crippled economy driven to its knees has thrown thousands of unemployed to desperation.

But deadlier is a pattern of corruption appearing in the bureaucracy with the President admonishing the Commission on Audit, dismissing their findings of anomalies as "insufficient and deficient," contradicting his Duterte Doctrine of dismissing bureaucrats on a mere "whiff of corruption."

A different scenario emerges from the current Senate inquiry into the DoH/DBM - a kutsaba (conspiracy) involving the anomalous transfer and disbursement of P42 billion to a syndicate which presumably includes Health Secretary Francisco Duque 3rd, Undersecretary Christopher Lao and a certain Michael Yang, the president's former economic adviser. The implication, still murky at best, is that Go stands at Malacañang's gates preventing the muck from spilling over to the presidency. Unless this stops short at Duque as a scapegoat! The senator, changing his tune, is now persuading Duque to make the supreme sacrifice - effectively falling on his sword. Thus, the need for this Duterte family chismis diverting our attention from all these problems confronting the country at the twilight of his reign that could precipitate his Götterdämmerung.

By a magician's misdirection, the speculation for the next presidency is a convenient substitute reality; Lacson-Sotto, Isko Moreno, Robredo, Trillanes, etc. - all bit players in this moro-moro. Even the unfolding tragedy of the Pambansang Kamao, booted out from the presidency of his party with the tacit consent of Duterte, party chairman on the eve of what to his adulating fans was to have been a triumphal valedictory of a pugilist career, an overture to his presidential craving that turned into a swansong for a debacle. He is now impelled into negotiating with the opposition.

So, for the next few media cycles, on the internet, in the airwaves and on social media, the dominant theme fascinating to the chismis-(gossip)-prone-soap-opera-Korean-melodrama-loving masa (masses) will be the internecine conflict of Las Familias de Duterte, the perfect misdirection and a grand moro-moro production. Will he run for vice president (VP) under his surrogate son as proposed by his PDP-Laban faction? Will the daughter allow herself to be "pursuaded" to run for president with tatay (father) as VP? Will the two sides of the family compromise with the daughter for president and the surrogate son as VP? There are countless permutations extending this telenovela with the opposition condemned to binge-watching. Unless the Senate enquiry produces more salivating morsels derailing this diversion and moro-moro.

My take for now. Sara will run for president. And she could win! The vice president doesn't really matter - Gibo, Bongbong, Sotto and even Pacquiao. In the end, Las Familias de Duterte wins!