To endorse or not to endorse

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‘This means that the President cannot make a mistake in his endorsement; back an untrustworthy candidate and they just might throw you to the wolves after, despite a commitment to let you ride off into the sunset; back a wrong one and the closest opponent might win.’

WITH barely three months to go before the end of his term, President Rodrigo Duterte must already be feeling a mixture of excitement and loneliness–something every outgoing president goes through in varying degrees. Certainly, the President must be looking forward to going home to Davao–he can finally wake up without the burden of the country on his shoulders.

Sure, he’s been largely absent from public view since the pandemic started (and left the task of running the country to his minions), so chances are his post-presidency days won’t be markedly different, so let’s just say that it will be a relief that people won’t actually look for him at the first instance when something needs to be resolved.

Like PNoy before him, it seems that President Duterte is actually looking forward to the end of his term. The latter said recently that he has started moving out (again, not unusual) and has begun the long process of transitioning into life outside the Palace. Whether the past occupants of Malacañan Palace will admit it or not, life after the presidency will also be lonely–there will be less people clamoring for your attention, seeking your advice–as the pool of factotums will inevitably move on to the next principal to serve.

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Which brings us to the question: will President Duterte endorse any of the presidential candidates? As chairman of the ruling party, he has been giving mixed signals on this matter. It is also quite a unique situation: it is the first time in recent history that an incumbent president’s party does not have a standard bearer for the presidential race.

The fact of the ICC proceedings must be weighing on the President’s mind, and will likely be one of the foremost considerations when it comes to the quid pro quo for an endorsement. Even if Mayor Sarah Duterte wins the vice-presidential race, she won’t be able to do much in case the sitting president decides to cooperate with the ICC proceedings. The president’s men are acutely aware of this, especially the ones who are impleaded in the complaints with him; their fates are closely tied to his.

This means that the President cannot make a mistake in his endorsement; back an untrustworthy candidate and they just might throw you to the wolves after, despite a commitment to let you ride off into the sunset; back a wrong one and the closest opponent might win. Perhaps best not to endorse and just have a “cleaner” slate with the winner, with no baggage of having picked one over another. What a pickle to be in–and it could explain the deafening silence from the Palace.

But just like a religious organization that boasts about their endorsement power, President Duterte just might wait a little further down the road until a clear winner is apparent before making his move. Will he, or won’t he?

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