Marcos, a Manchurian candidate?

By Herbert Vego

DOES Ferdinand “BBM” Marcos fit the definition of a “Manchurian Candidate”?

The dictionary defines the Manchurian candidate as “a person, especially a politician, being used as a puppet by an enemy power.”

Considering his wish to be “anointed” as successor-candidate by President Rodrigo Duterte – a self-confessed ally of Chinese President Xi Jinping – he could be one.

Strange as it seems, since his daughter Sara is BBM’s vice-presidential running mate, Duterte has yet to name him.

On second thought, it is not really surprising because he recently belittled BBM as a “weak leader”.

However, Duterte is not known for walking his talk. Remember, his “three to six months” vow to rid the country of illegal drugs has resulted in bigger drug lords dumping tons of shabu.

The emergence of paid pollsters chorusing BBM on top of presidential surveys – notably SWS, Pulse Asia, Octa Research, Laylo Research and Publicus Asia – indicates unseen hands behind the mind-conditioning surveys.

I remember that in 2013, then Congressman Sergio Apostol filed a bill seeking to regulate the conduct of poll surveys, specifically citing Social Weather Stations (SWS) and Pulse Asia, for their power to influence voters. He warned that “certain persons may use their wealth through surveys to advance their not-so-noble intention of misinforming the public for personal gain. Politicians would be tempted to bribe journalists and broadcasters into playing up favorable survey results.”

Apostol also cited a law — the Fair Election Act of 2001 (Republic Act No. 9006) – which requires polling firms and media organizations to fully disclose the identities of survey sponsors and to open their data and survey methods to candidates, political parties and the Commission on Elections (Comelec) whenever survey results are published or reported.

His bill failed to pass and the cited law remains violated flagrantly.

You could say it would be too sweeping to see the dubious surveys as the pathfinders that would pave the way for a Marcos win.  But why not with the Smartmatic (provider of vote-counting machines) and the Commission on Elections (Comelec) — all composed of Duterte-appointed commissioners, including Marcos’ lawyer George Garcia — collaborating?

It does not seem to make sense, since Sara could have run for president if only to keep the family in power in the next six years.

Going down memory lane, take note that the president’s daughter topped the earliest surveys among probable presidential bets. The OCTA Research survey done between Jan. 26 and Feb. 1, 2021, for example, saw Sara on top of the first five, gaining 22 percent of the 1,200 respondents, followed by Sen. Grace Poe with 13%, Sen. Manny Pacquiao and former Sen. Bongbong Marcos on 4^th place with 12% each, and Manila Mayor Isko Moreno with 11%.

Vice President Leni Robredo was nowhere mentioned.

By the way, one wonders how OCTA — an inexperienced survey neophyte that feigned expertise by announcing Covid-19statistics borrowed from the Department of Health — could have pulled that feat ahead of SWS and Pulse Asia unless they had picked the numbers out of thin air.

The early SWS and Pulse Asia surveys also placed Sara “No. 1” with as high as 28 percent of respondents’ votes, and Leni was on the tail end with only 5 to 6%.

If Sara were so popular, why did she give way to Marcos as her standard-bearer?

One recalls that Duterte’s party, the PDP-Laban, rushed Senators Ronald “Bato” de la Rosa and Christopher “Bong” Go to run for president and vice-president, respectively.  They barely beat the deadline in the evening of October 8, 2021. These two, sensing themselves unwinnable, eventually pulled out.

Anyway, let us now dissect the reason why BBM and Sara now stand as the leading presidential/vice-presidential candidates in the latest surveys where he and Sara enjoy 55 to 61 percent of the votes. It is an “insurance” that their opponents would never catch up.

He must be doubtful of that, knowing that Robredo gathers more warm bodies than he does in the political rallies.

He knows that despite the good news about the Comelec dropping disqualification cases against him due to “moral turpitude”, his uncertainty is far from over even on the presumption that he would be elected and proclaimed president.

What if, with him already ensconced in office, the disqualification cases reach the Supreme Court on appeal?  He could still be disqualified and stripped of the presidency.

The vice-president, as the proverbial spare tire, would then ascend the throne.

Oh, well, fortunately all this scenario is still imaginary. God forbid that another Manchurian candidate would advance to be recognized.