MALAYBALAY CITY (MindaNews / 21 February) – Despite being perceived as the Marcos administration’s likely bet in the 2028 presidential elections, this column thinks House Speaker Martin Romualdez, the President’s first cousin, would be ditched at the last minute.
Aside from lacking in charisma, he has driven a long nail into his political coffin with the dubious “people’s initiative” to change the 1987 Constitution. It didn’t help his cause that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. declared that he, too, wanted to amend the “economic provisions” of the fundamental law. Any attempt at Charter change by people in power will always be met with suspicion and distrust.
In fact, because of the Cha-Cha campaign that blew in his face, I believe the Speaker would lose to the Vice President if elections were held now. The bottom line is, Romualdez is damaged goods. It needs a miracle to shore up his image and make him a viable contender in 2028.
The Marcos camp is not naive not to read the writing on the wall. So, who will be their candidate in lieu of Romualdez that could give Sara Duterte a scare?
Now that they have taken back the Palace, the Marcoses would use all means to make it remain in their hands. Their dilemma is that while they may have limitless resources to run a campaign, they have a shallow political bench within the family. The only option is Senator Imee Marcos, the President’s elder sister.
Compared to her cousin, Imee is more astute – cunning if you may. Notice how she has been presenting herself as someone who acts independently of her brother. She openly criticized the “people’s initiative” for Cha-Cha and attended the “Hakbang ng Maisug” event in Davao City organized by the Dutertes, where thousands of their supporters rallied behind the city’s dynastic family’s call to reject another dynastic family’s perceived move to perpetuate themselves in power.
At least up to this point, Imee and her President-brother have managed to play their cards well. Both have remained civil toward the Vice President, aware that she and her father [still] command considerable mass support even if most of their former allies have, as expected, moved over to the Marcos-Romualdez camp.
Sara Duterte herself isn’t openly vocal against the President, opting instead for indirect attacks. For now, her guns are trained at Romualdez, who is trying to defang her by removing her House allies from key positions in the chamber and deleting her confidential funds from this year’s national budget. She and Imee have remained on talking terms.
Or, it could just be a case of “keeping your friends close and your enemies closer.”
(MindaViews is the opinion section of MindaNews. H. Marcos C. Mordeno can be reached at hmcmordeno@gmail.com.)
