‘…even though she is most probably not going to even be considered by the BBM voters, VP Leni Robredo may end up the biggest beneficiary of what at first glance may be looking good for Isko.’
THE continuing deep divide in the DDS world, now split between the PRRD true believers and the BBM-SDC nextgen advocates, remains an interesting thing to follow.
After the presidential diatribe about an unnamed candidate who uses cocaine, speculation was rife about the identity of the individual. Most everyone assumed that PRRD was referring to Ferdinand Marcos Jr., running mate of his daughter Sara. No one else seemed to fit the bill to a T. But BBM had a response: “I don’t feel alluded to,” he said in a statement, adding that he had submitted himself to a drug test and wanted to make clear that he was against illegal drugs.
But things have not yet died down. A few days ago, just as Sara was endorsing the candidacy of BBM’s son, Sandro, for an Ilocos Norte seat in Congress, her father and Sen. Bong Go were endorsing the candidacy of the incumbent, Ria Fariñas. Ilocanos tell me that while this will not affect their vote for Bongbong for the presidency it does mean that neither Sandro nor Ria will find it a walk in the park in May 2022.
Surely PRRD knows this and is just creating headaches for BBM in the latter’s backyard.
But what’s the biggest headache that PRRD can create for BBM? Getting him disqualified by the Comelec, of course. But can PRRD do that? Does the sun rise in the east? Hehe. But will he do it?
Former senator Sonny Trillanes, who I bumped into recently, has an answer: “kayang-kaya nga nila magpapatay, ‘yan pa?”
So, if BBM does get disqualified, who benefits?
My thinking is that the candidate with most to gain is Manila Mayor Isko Moreno. With one qualification.
Think about it: those who intend to vote for BBM as of today are not from the “Dilawan” segment of Philippine politics. Most probably they were part of the 16M Duterte voters in 2016. So there’s no way they would go for VP Leni Robredo.
There’s no way they would go for Sen. Bong Go as well, whom they are sure to blame for a DQ ruling by the Comelec. Which leave us Isko, Ping and Manny Pacquiao (in that order I think) who can harvest the BBM voters rendered orphans by a Comelec DQ.
And I think Isko will get the biggest chunk.
But will it be enough to win? Maybe not — because Mayor Isko will not be able to get all of BBM’s voters. Especially those BBM voters who will notice that behind Isko are some of the men behind the Alan Cayetano attacks on BBM during the 2016 campaign.
So even if a considerable segment of BBM supporters go for the mayor of Manila I suspect it will still not be enough to tip the balance in his favor. Which means that even though she is most probably not going to even be considered by the BBM voters, VP Leni Robredo may end up the biggest beneficiary of what at first glance may be looking good for Isko.
