THE LOSING VICE PRESIDENTIAL WANNABES

By Philip M. Lustre Jr. 

The nation can expect the five senators, who lost in their vice presidential bid last May 9, to chart different routes in their political careers.

Sen. Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., the second placer whom Vice President-elect Leni Robredo beat by slightly over a quarter of a million votes, is to end his five-year term of office as senator on June 30. But he won't retire. He is still young at 58; he will likely pursue his anticipated electoral protest against Robredo, whose camp he had accused of fraud in the last elections.

Bongbong Marcos has yet to present evidence to prove his allegations. His lawyers, many of whom worked in the camp of incoming president Rodrigo Duterte in the last elections, were said to have been preparing the electoral protest his camp would file before the Presidential Electoral Tribunal, the Commission on Elections, and other fora.

If his electoral protest does not prosper immediately, Bongbong Marcos will likely wait for the lapse of one year ban on losing candidates to join the Duterte Cabinet. He will likely run for senator in 2019 en route to a presidential run in 2022. He is the proverbial man in waiting.

Sen. Francis Escudero, the third, will remain in the Senate to finish the three years remaining in his second six-year term as senator. Escudero, Chiz to friends and foes, will likely continue his political solitary ways, preferring to whisper his views to favorite colleagues instead of making earthshaking public pronouncements.

Dubbed as the "Rasputin" of Philippine politics, Francis will likely stick to the "politics of me first," opting to tread the political path in his solitary and independent ways, even as his fellow politicians abhor his lack of political loyalty and moral scruples in political dealings and intercourse. Chiz is always for Chiz, so his friends and foes say without batting an eyelash.

With his unsuccessful vice presidential run, Francis will likely lose his clout and influence in Congress, but he could provide the crucial swing vote on key legislative issues. But he will not be a voice of reason, moderation, or any other virtue or value. Neither can he represent the voice of conscience in the Senate. He does not seem to fit for that enviable role.

Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, the fourth placer, is likely to assume the despicable role of Nicholas Chauvin in the Duterte government. Alan Peter for several years had cultivated a public image of a crusading lawmaker, but he had abandoned it during the political campaign and assumed the detested post as the official apologist of Duterte.

For him, Duterte would not do anything wrong. For him, Duterte is a man of virtues, worth dying for. 

In fact, Alan is said to head the apocryphal Department of Interpretation and Clarification (DIC), the job of which is to lessen the impact of the damaging statements, which the unpredictable mayor keeps on dishing out publicity with regularity.

Wags say Alan Peter will become the new DIC head, working with the triumvirate of Sen. Koko Pimentel, incoming temporary Presidential Spokesman Sal Panelo, and Peter Lavinia, the campaign spokesman. They will interpret every Duterte's controversial statement, transforming themselves into a virtual bomb disposal team of the new administration.

Alan Peter will stay in the Senate, as he has three more years to complete his second five-year term of office. But he expects Duterte, his master, to appoint him as foreign affairs secretary to replace Perfecto Yasay Jr. after the one-year ban on losing candidates. He expects Duterte to complete his term of office as president, after which he is said to have been eyeing the presidency in 2022.

Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, the fifth, will likely take a different political role. He will not be a solitary cat like Chiz, a fawning functionary like Alan Peter. Neither would he be a man in waiting like Bongbong. 

Trillanes will personify the political opposition under the new government Duterte.

As hordes of political leaders take an exodus to greener pastures, which is Duterte camp, Trillanes will just sharpen his weapons and take the right time to unleash what he holds against the man, who is believed to have some mental issues.

Trillanes has the moral courage and sagacity combined to redefine the political opposition under the new government. He has the support of the Magdalo, which is continuously building its mass base for bigger political battles in the future.

Not much can be said of Sen. Gregorio Honasan, the sixth and cellar dweller in the last vice presidential race. He stays in the Senate to finish the remaining three years of his term of office. He will probably retire or fade away in 2019. Or he will again run for senator in 2022.