By Gonzalo Duque

 

LAND Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) Chairman Teofilo Guadiz III, I learned, has not been enticed by the Lim camp’s proposition that he run for mayor of Dagupan City next year against Mayor Belen Fernandez.

I can easily understand that.

If Guadiz files for candidacy, he will be required to resign from his appointive position, meaning he will lose his high-paying job as LTFRB chair.

If he accepts the seduction of Celia and her group, the implication would be that he has earned so much money from LTFRB because of the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program and other perks attached to his position.

I know that Atty. Guadiz is not that foolish so as to be easily seduced by the group of Celia.

So, in case they don’t find a contender for mayor, either Celia or Brian may be forced to run only as a token candidate.

Their only hope is for Vice President Sara Duterte to become President of the Philippines.

Or, if neither of them runs, they can again resort to the same arrangement they made before where Belen became a compromised candidate for mayor and then Councilor Brian Lim was also the compromised candidate for vice mayor.

But methinks that Belen will not allow that now.

But wait, who will be the candidate of PBBM and/or Speaker Martin Romualdez in Dagupan?

Your guess is as good as mine!

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In the national scene, will the revelation of Cathy Binag, an alleged former partner of PBBM’s close friend Tony Boy Floreindo, and the other exposés of Maharlika, a U.S. based Filipino vlogger, weaken the presidency of Bongbong Marcos? 

 I doubt it. Why?

 Bongbong’s pivots to Uncle Sam in the West Philippine Sea conflict has made him a pawn of the U.S. in the raging conflict between the U.S. and China.

 The U.S. does not like the idea that Vice President Sara will take over as President of the Philippines in case of an erosion of public trust on the administration of PBBM because of the various serious issues thrown against him. 

 It is also because the U.S. believes that the issues so far raised against PBBM will not be enough to dislodge him as President.

 This until they can find a way by which succession to the presidency will be determined in a bloodless coup that could lead to military take over and a new election called.

 After that, a new President other than VP Sara Duterte, could emerge.

 I remember the time when U.S. President Ronald Reagan was confronted with similar issues hurled against the father of PBBM, then President Ferdinand Marcos Sr.

 Some critics angrily said then that FM was a “son of a bitch,” to which President Reagan replied that FM may be a “son of a bitch” but he’s our “son of a bitch”!!

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The raging fracas between the camps of FP Rodrigo Duterte and President Bongbong Marcos has deep implications.

We can see this in the unusual enthusiasm of the House of Representatives in investigating alleged anomalies in POGOs — and connecting these to former President Digong Duterte.

Not to mention the former President’s war on drugs which is being looked into by the International Criminal Court or ICC and is being played up by the mainstream media almost every day.

The political rumble is getting thunderous.

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