TURNING POINT: The Political Backlash

NAAWAN, Misamis Oriental (MindaNews / 19 March) — The arrest of former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte by the International Criminal Court is going to impact the 2025 senatorial elections. It could polarize the electorate into pro and anti-Duterte camps—the Digong sympathizers and his detractors. The size of the camps is generally presumed to determine the outcomes of elections.

But, while the detractors of the fallen idol might be bigger than his sympathizers, the latter, however, are solid block voters, which might make a difference in the end.

It is easy to determine the colors of the most prominent candidates, except perhaps for Miss Imee Marcos, a diehard politician, whose critics say “namamangka sa dalawang ilog,” that is, one who is navigating in two rivers at the same time. She was, until recently, in the senatorial slate of her brother, PBBM, but abandoned it to surf with the waves of the Duterte arrest.

Miss Marcos, fully aware of the huge Duterte following, never moved away from the side of Sara Duterte even when the vociferous Miss Duterte threatened to exhume and throw the body of the Marcos patriarch into the West Philippines Sea. Her response was all smile.

In the conflict between PBBM and Sara, Imee knew where to side.

She would rather give up his brother than lose the Duterte hug.

She doesn’t care about family legacy; she is dying to make her own.

If Inday Sara survived the impeachment trial, Imee might even run as her vice president. That would be another Unity Team with reversed billings—from former Marcos-Duterte to a Duterte- Marcos team.

If Sara came out an impeachment goner, Imee is likely to assert herself and dominate the political landscape.

Imee is a true Marcos, no more doubt about it.

Marcos pa rin!

(MindaViews is the opinion section of MindaNews. William R. Adan, Ph.D., is retired professor and former chancellor of Mindanao State University at Naawan, Misamis Oriental.)