“Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time;
Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o’er life’s solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.”
– A Psalm of Life by Henry
Wadsworth Longfellow
President Ferdinand Edralin Marcos will always remain controversial in this country – the Marcos loyalists not only idolize him, they worship him; the Aquinistas damn him and spit on his name wherever it maybe found; the Left or specifically the Communists condemn him to Hell though they do not believe in it; the activists and human rights advocates lump his name with dictators throughout the world; the objective historical observers will be kind to Marcos, and there is reason for it.
The junior: After having lost the vice-presidency by the skin of his teeth, he wants to run for President in 2022 – so media, partisans and observers speculate. In his last television and radio interviews, he was pressed to declare he was running for President. He did not succumb to the pressure. He just said – it depends. That is very Marcosian, I’d say.
Former Senator and Governor Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. , if he runs for President, would not be a joking matter – he would be a serious candidate for several reasons. First, he has the name of his father who was no joke as President – possibly the best from Diosdado Macapagal to Rodrigo Roa Duterte.. Second, he has a band of fanatical Marcos loyalists throughout the country – boisterous and unashamed. Third, he has the best political coach in town in the person of his mother, Former First Lady Imelda Romualdez Marcos. Fourth, the roots of the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan are very much alive. Fifth, he looks and sounds like his father bringing to memory many wondrous years for the masses and the Filipino elite – farm to market roads, deep and shallow wells, public school buildings, highways unseen in many places before, hospitals in many places where previously did not exist, improving the railway system, valid and viable experience for a federal and parliamentary system, a relatively independent foreign policy, development of arts and letter; establishment of Heart Center, Lung Center, Children’s Hospital, Philippine International Convention Center, Film Center, Cultural Center of the Philippines, Folk Arts Theater, Coconut Palace, Makiling Cultural Center For Learning, , Development Academy of the Philippines, Masagana 99, green revolution, kadiwa stores, International Rice Research Institute, transfer of the control of major industries to Filipinos., establishing and improving airports and piers throughout the Philippines, establishment of the Southern Philippines Development Authority and the re-orientation and echo seminars on Filipinism and responsible citizenship. .Sixth, the Ilocano vote dubbed as the Solid North. Seventh, a good team composed of members of his family with political savvy and charm of sister, Imee Marcos. And eighth, he is the first provincial governor to successfully use windmills as alternative source of power.
The disadvantages: Like any other presidential candidate, he has also liabilities. First, his name reminds people in this country of the evils of dictatorship resulting to unlimited abuse of power, unpunished graft and corruption and tolerated abuse of human rights. Second, the Marcos era brings to mind the control and monopoly by the Marcos cronies, of certain industries and other economic activities. Third, he and his family failed to give the Marcos wealth to the government which was the known desire and intention of President Marcos. Fourth, President Marcos failed to do the following – fully excavate the Yamashita treasures worth trillions of dollars of; failed to fully exploit our natural resources like uranium, titanium, deuterium, oil, copper, iron, gold and other ores. As President Marcos failed to do them, how can a much lesser person do them? Fifth, his academic and non-academic resume pales into insignificance compared to that of his father. Sixth, like President Duterte, he projects the impression that he loves himself more than anybody or anything else. And seventh, in my one single occasion I met with him together with a general, he impressed me as a man who does not mean what he says and say what he means.
2022: Will Bongbong run for President in 2022 – nobody knows but him. What do I think? I believe he is really gunning for the Vice-president with City Mayor Sara Duterte as his candidate for President. Why? With Mayor Sara and Bongbong running for President – that’s a doom day scenario for Bongbong. With Sara running for President, Bongbong as her Vice-President – that’s a terrific tandem for winning, based on traditional parameters. Imagine the Solid North and the Solid South combining – with the support of the whole facilities of government. That’s formidable but not impregnable.
It’s a long wait till the second week of October 2021.
Footnote: Since I started this series – some people say I am for Mayor Sara Duterte, others say I am for Vice-President Leni Robredo, still some others insist I am for me –Bono A. Nothing is farther from the truth. The series is intended to inform and for people to judge on who should be their choice in May 2022. Sara and Leni are perceived to be eventual candidates. Me? I am just a writer and a revolutionary visionary thinker. I also dream dreams though. I had flirtations with the presidency as written in my book – Ideas, Principles and Opportunities.
The flirtation and temptation continue up to this day. You may have noticed that one of my usual punch lines is – You can never be sure about the seasons. Sometimes, it comes, other times it doesn’t. Nobody really knows – except God. But in the remote possibility it comes my way, with the greatest degree of humility or immodesty, I will be ready for the job more than anybody else.
Don’t get disturbed – it’s only a dream – the caveat, however, is sometimes dreams come true because victory or defeat is determined at the edge of the graveyard. And the graveyard, I pray, is still a stellar parallax away.