PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte is playing a guessing game. He loves to play with words. He makes use of his gift of tongue. He is also a master of figures of speech. He may say one thing but that means another thing. Since the president is a politician, I call it a political poker.
In poker, you may win by means of a bluff. The cardholder makes an opponent think that he has better cards. Deception plays an important role. Your action, facial expression, and body projection would surface very confusing. The other players can only guess if you have a straight, full house, straight flush, or royal flush cards. At the end of the poker game, all cards will be made known... and that is a showdown.
President Digong is still playing. His term of office is still far from the finish line. All the players around him can still increase the bet... and that is the raise. He mentioned (or his spokesperson Roque) that he is exasperated. He may step down from office and he wants Bongbong Marcos or Francisco Escudero to be his successor. He may be serious or bluffing. He wants the Filipinos to guess. This guessing game sometimes may derail our thought from our main concerns... the high price of prime commodities, corruption, drug addiction, smuggling, left and right killing, and unemployment.
Why Marcos or Escudero? President Digong simply wants to get sympathy from the Marcos group to counter the yellow army allegedly backed up by Uncle Sam. Does Bongbong deserve to become president? Is he willing to inherit the China loan of President Digong. Escudero is also his second choice. He could not be that serious. Escudero is qualified but many believe that he simply wants to test the IQ of the Filipinos. Could it be Bongbong of the Marcos clan or this Heart’s boy Escudero? We enjoy the political arena show and for a while, we forget our culture of poverty.
President Digong doesn’t want Vice President Leni to become president because she is not qualified. The Filipinos voted her vice president. Bongbong still swims with his electoral protest. That is still far from the finish line. If the president is tired (exasperated), he can make a three-month leave to rest. He can try the lady vice president to occupy his place in the Palace. By then, we will know if VP Leni is really not qualified.
President Digong cannot just daydream that anybody can be president without following the provision of the constitution. He is a lawyer and he should know that. Stepping down is not expected of him. When he was still running for president, he assured the Filipinos that if he wins, he will make a difference... (With that, many Filipinos tolerated his gutter language.) It was President Digong who allowed the Filipinos to push him to the Palace based on a promise.
However, if he really decides to step down... he will go down the lane of Philippine history with honor. He is the president who is honest enough to admit that he quit because of exasperation. By so doing, we can move on and stop also this guessing game. Political analysts can do their political post-mortem, autopsy, and necropsy. Thank you, Mr. President.