IN HER speech during the proclamation of the twelve winners in last Monday’s mid-term elections for senators, tail-ender Ms. Imee Marcos failed to mention the name of her brother, President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. When asked about this, she casually said that she forgot.
How old is Senator Imee? Not old enough so as to easily forget names, especially those of a very close relation – a younger brother in fact. Or, is the Ilocana Senator showing symptoms of fast-advancing age?
Meanwhile, we are starting to entertain the idea that Ms. Marcos is more than willing to sacrifice family relations and instead give way to friendship. Yes, it is apparent that she’d rather be friends with the former President and members of his family, especially Vice President Sara.
But what is she really up to? Our hunch is that the Ilocana Senator has a much deeper agenda in her closely rubbing elbows with the former President and the VP. And it is none other than political. To our mind, Ms. Marcos is eyeing the 2028 national election.
Yes, we have this feeling that Imee is “doing a Sara.” Remember that Sara’s name was strongly touted around as the one to run for the Presidency after the end of her father’s term? And yes, for a time, she let that idea float. All the while, however, she knew that had she run for President in 2022, she could have faced a major issue of perpetuating a Duterte in Malacañang.
And perhaps to “mislead” the all too hopeful followers and backers of her candidacy, she instead filed her certificate of candidacy as mayor of Davao City. But towards the dying days of the substitution process, Sara surprised everyone by agreeing to run as the Vice President of then-presidential candidate Bongbong Marcos, Jr.
It was a well-planned strategic move as by having Marcos, Jr. as her presidential standard bearer, she was assured of the Central and Northern Luzon votes, knowing that the areas are traditionally Marcos bailiwicks.
Now that the 2028 election is barely three years away and the name of VP Sara is written all over the political wall as the presumptive Presidential candidate, Senator Imee could be hoping to reverse the scenario. That is, Sara has to take her as her Vice Presidential bet if she hopes to win in the bailiwick of the Marcoses.
And she? Like her brother Bongbong, she hopes to get carried by the Mindanao votes that surely will be for a Mindanaoan candidate for President – VP Sara.
Now the question is, what if VP Sara takes as her tandem another political personality from Luzon, say Isko Moreno, Mark Villar, or some other aspirants? Will Senator Imee remain friends with VP Sara or the Duterte family?
Our take is that Imee will immediately sever her friendship with VP Sara, citing differences in their stances on certain issues. It will be as simple as that. Yes, if the lady Senator casually took issues with her younger brother, President Marcos, what will prevent her from breaking ties with the Dutertes?
In other words, Senator Marcos could only be using her supposed close friendship with the VP to establish her own political base for the 2029 polls. And if she fails to get what she wants, she can conveniently do away with such friendship.
For now, we are certain that VP Sara is well aware of such a possibility, and her being shrewd is what makes the VP take advantage to the fullest the Ilocana Senator’s friendliness. And who knows, both the VP and the lawmaker know that their friendship “will only be good as it lasts.”
And we have our own timetable for the friendship of the two – the months the aspirants for President and Vice President will be finalizing their tandem for the 2028 Presidential elections.
By then, we will know if indeed, “blood is thicker than water.” Or, is it the other way around for Imee and VP Sara?
