Is Duterte paving the way for President Marcos?
Under the headline “Duterte: I may not finish my term”, a December 15 front-page story in the Inquirer quotes President Rodrigo Duterte as saying he “suffers from back pains, migraines and Buerger’s disease” and serving notice that he might call it quits sooner than we think.
I doubt that Duterte uttered those words with Vice President Leni Robredo, of the opposition Liberal Party, in mind to take his place.
Could he be preparing people for a mid-term succession by Bongbong Marcos?
Consider the following: The dead, unlamented dictator Ferdinand Marcos has just been granted a “hero’s burial” by Duterte and a Supreme Court majority.
After losing to Robredo in the vice-presidential election, Bongbong has lodged a protest with the Presidential Electoral Tribunal, which is composed wholly of Supreme Court justices.
After their shameless decision to view the elder Marcos as a great man who simply “erred”, those same judges could now declare the younger Marcos vice president – making him eligible to succeed Duterte as soon as the latter steps down.
It seems happy days are here again for the Marcoses! Shouldn’t ordinary Filipinos now be feeling shame before the eyes of the world, which once cheered us when we kicked out the corrupt family in 1986? Are Filipinos really a bunch of losers who always elect the wrong leaders?
Melissa Sy-Quiatan
(Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN)
