WHAT IS BONGBONG MARCOS'S POST-2016 ELECTIONS GAMEPLAN?

By Philip M. Lustre Jr.

After his devastating loss, where he failed to win the vice presidency by a little over a quarter of a million votes against his nearest rival, incoming Vice President Leni Robredo, what is the gameplan of Bongbong Marcos to stay politically relevant beyond the just concluded 2016 presidential elections?

If ever the Office of the Ombudsman would exclude him in the next batch of lawmakers to face plunder charges re the P10 billion pork barrel scam and alleged misuse of the billion-peso Malampaya funds, where his name is prominently mentioned as among the participants, the key question is how Bongbong Marcos could achieve his political resurrection and political redemption for his family by 2022.

Or will Bongbong Marcos fade away from the political scene and allow to stand for BBM "By Bye Mark"?

No, given the immensity of his gargantuan ego and desire for eventual vindication of the family honor and reputation, Bongbong will strive to stay relevant and do everything - fair or foul - to keep his name in the people's consciousness.

Given his closeness to the incoming president, Bongbong will strive to get a Cabinet position in 2017, ie after the constitutionally mandated one-year ban from public service of all candidates defeated in 2016. His likely choice: the Department of Interior and Local Government.

This is a Cabinet post, which would enable him to influence and to establish control over the local government units (LGUs) nationwide and the Philippine National Police (PNP). His influence could be a key to enable him to run for president in 2022.

In brief, Ferdinand will take a shot for the presidency in 2022. He will do everything to win to ensure political redemption for his family by 2022.

In fact, he does not view his loss to Robredo as a stinging rebuke by the Filipino people of his initiative to seek the country's second highest political post. On the contrary, he views the closeness of their duel as the Filipino people's way to affirm the initial step for the political redemption of their family name and honor.

This is exactly the reason he keeps on insisting he was robbed of more than three million votes in the last elections. Had the missing three million votes were counted in his favor, he could have been the vice president.     

Historical revisionism

This is exactly the premise of the Marcos camp would continue their campaign for historical revisionism and strengthen the misguided assertion that the Marcos dictatorship was the best thing that had ever happened in Philippine history. 

Seeing his strong showing among the millennials, or voters aged 18-35, in the just concluded elections, Ferdinand would continue the unmitigated flow of noises in social media and traditional media to ensure fighting chances for his presidential bid in 2022.

Hence, the pestering presence of loud and foul-mouthed Marcos loyalist elements in the social media would continue. Those Marcos loyalist diehards and their trolls would continue making annoying noises to project this historical revisionism and Bongbong's media presence.

Although the Marcos camp would not deny that father Ferdinand and mother Imelda and her brood were all kicked out of Malacanang and the height of the EDSA People Power Revolution in 1986, they would try to  revise history and find every conceivable excuse to project that they are not the villains in history. They would insist they would  qualify as heroes too.

Political losses

Bongbong Marcos was no stranger to political losses. In 1995, he ran for senator and lost badly after antimartial law activists launched the Never Again Movement that sought a negative campaign against senatorial candidates, who were perceived as being possessing "fascist tendencies" or friendly to the Marcos regime.

Of four senatorial candidates (codenamed SHAM for Santiago, Arroyo Arenas, Mark), who were subjected to negative political campaign in 1995, only Miriam Defensor Santiago and Gregorio Arroyo  won by a whisker, while Rosemarie Arenas and Marcos lost miserably. 

The Never Again Movement called for the rejection of the four senatorial candidates at the polls.  After his loss, Bongbong concentrated in local politics as Ilocos Norte governor and, later, as a representative of his home province in Congress.

It was only in 2010 when he took his chances in national politics and ran for the Senate for the second time after he and his political lieutenants perceived that no political movement would work this time to derail his senatorial bid.

During the political campaign, Marcos took a day off from the hectic political campaign and sat with a group of bloggers, where he spoke freely about his senatorial bid.

On one balmy evening in late March, 2010, a blogger-friend took me to the bloggers 'night with Bongbong and Anabels' Restaurant along Tomas Morato Avenue in Quezon City.

During that bloggers' night, I endured the passivity of bloggers, whom I hardly knew except for one or two.  In my judgment, not one among them raised pertinent questions or sensible enough to perk up Bongbong Marcos's imagination. They left everything to Bongbong to speak on his senatorial candidacy.

It pushed me to stand up and participate in an event, where a blogger friend invited me only to watch and observe.  Without wasting a second, I asked Mark two pointed questions, which the passive bloggers there were incapable of asking: Are you running for senator to seek a vindication for your parents, particularly your father? If you win, are you going to seek a burial of the remains of your father and the Heroes?

On the first question, Bongbong's answer was a flat no. He was not running to seek a vindication for his parents, particularly this father, who was unceremoniously kicked out from Malacañang in 1986.

On the contrary, he was running to pursue his legislative agenda, which included the pursuit of what he believed an ongoing revolution in local governance, where local governments were empowered to deliver social services to the people.

On the second question, his answer was premised on his reply to the first question. No, he was not seeking the burial of his remains and the Heroes.

At that time, Ferdinand ran under the NP banner as a "guest candidates," a concept that is so revolting because it is an aberration in Philippine politics. But he still won, placing 7th.

mediocre Record

His stint in the Senate is characterized by mediocrity. He was not a hot shot in the 15th and 16th Congress. He is identified with hardly any landmark legislations enacted during his six-year stint in the Senate.

Bongbong understood he would have a difficult time if he decided to run for president. This realization prompted him to scale down his political ambition, as he settled to run for the vice presidency.

It was at this point that his real political agenda became clearer. He knew he did not establish a clear political identity as Bongbong Marcos. His mediocre credentials in the Senate spoke for themselves. 

It was at this point that he had to run with the shadow of his detested father on his back. He ran to seek a vindication for  his father, who was notorious for crony capitalism, massive corruption in office, and wanton violations of human rights.

It could be surmised that he would likely run for president in 2022 with the same political agenda.  Given the mediocrity of his political records, Bongbong Marcos has to ride on the name of his dictator father.

But many things are expected to happen from now to 2022. It would be the height of folly to make hasty predictions, although it could be felt that Ferdinand is dying to run for president for the first objective of political redemption.