By Al S. Mendoza

 

I have three friends with different presidential bets.

One wants Bongbong Marcos.

I ask him why Bongbong?

“I have no reason,” says he.  “I just like him.”

“Why no reason?” I ask him.

“I don’t know,” says he.

“Why do you like him?”

“I don’t know,” says he.  “Basta, I just like him.”

My friend is not a college graduate.  He drives a truck, is a plumber, an electrician.  He is, what you might call, a jack of all of trades.

“If I tell you that people call Bongbong a thief, you will still vote for him?” I tell him.

“Yes,” he says.

“Why?”

“Because I don’t see him as a thief,” he says.

“Courts in the Philippines, the United States and even Switzerland have ruled that Bongbong’s father stole our money,” I tell him.“I’m not sure about that,” he says.

I want to show him a scathing column of Joel Ruiz Butuyan in the Inquirer on March 28 about Marcos’ massive ill-gotten wealth.

I balk.

I am convinced he’s made up his mind.  Blind as a bat.

Didn’t I say he is not a college graduate?

No offense meant.  He is my friend, no matter what.  He is the family handyman, to begin with.

But to Butuyan, who writes that die-hard supporters have a blind allegiance to Bongbong so that they are “not affected by accusations of corruption, human rights violations, and charges of lies.”

Excerpts of Butuyan’s column:

“The serious accusations against Marcos Jr. and his family are proven by government records, evidenced by court decisions, and even institutionalized in laws passed by Congress.

“Court decisions in the Philippines, United States and Switzerland have established with finality that a huge bulk of the Marcos wealth was illegally accumulated.

“Twelve Marcos cronies confessed to having conspired with Marcos Sr. [Bongbong father] to enable the cronies to amass ill-gotten wealth, and they have surrendered enormous funds and valuable properties to the government.

“So far, P174.2 billion in Marcos ill-gotten wealth have been recovered, and the government is running after P125.9 billion more in pending cases.  Marcos Jr. has been convicted on tax-related charges, and the Marcoses have not paid P203 billion in estate taxes.”

Butuyan also writes about fake diplomas brandished by Bongbong from Oxford University and University of Pennsylvania.

Also, Bongbong’s claim that he was the Milo Little Olympics taekwondo champ in 2001 in the 7-12 age bracket was also a fake.  He was already 44 years old in 2001.

“So why are Marcos’ die-hard supporters unaffected by all these?” asks Butuyan.

My second friend originally wants Ping Lacson.

“But I am dropping Ping and switching to Leni Robredo,” he says.

“Why?”

“Because Ping is way behind in the surveys,” says he.  “And, yes, anybody but Bongbong.”

He is a college graduate.

My third friend?

“I am for Leni from Day One,” says he.

“Why?”

“She is decent.  She is honest.  She has a pure heart for the people.”

I tell that to my pro-Bongbong friend.

“That I can believe,” says he.  “And Leni is beautiful, too.”

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