The formerly convicted president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is brokering a political deal with Mayor Sara Duterte’s camp days after former senator Ferdinand Bongbong Marcos Junior got the brunt end of the stick after he reportedly misrepresented himself in his Certificate of Candidacy (CoC). While the Marcos camp just pooh-pooh the cases filed before the Commission on Elections (COMELEC), several pro-administration quarters however felt and rightly so, that Macoy Junior is already a goner. Whatever the outcome is on these cases before the Comelec, these cases will surely serve to frustrate the eventual favorable poll outcome for the Marcos political scion. Obviously, even if COMELEC deputy commissioners Inting and Antonio Kho junior find these cases in favor of Macoy Junior, the fact that any one of the filers can just appeal before the Supreme Court makes the entire thing seriously risky. These cases are now considered as veritable  Damocles swords hanging above Macoy junior’s head that even if he wins, these cases will just be used to destabilize his administration. And take note—no presidential contender won any poll contest that had disqualification cases filed against them.

And no amount of political propaganda would be enough to erase such a political conundrum. As I said, the problem is way past PR crisis. Losing votes is the least of the worries of the Marcos camp at this point of the game. Macoy Junior may win the polls but the possibility of him ascending to power is what is deathly problematic at this time.

Given this, what is the possible lusot that the administration forces hope to avail of? One possibility is broker a deal with the Sara Duterte and Marcos camps that will see Macoy Junior sliding down to the vice presidential slot in lieu of Senator Bong Go. Go agreed to replace President Rodrigo Roa Duterte as the PDP-Laban vice presidential contender in the hopes of convincing Sara Duterte to run alongside him as presidential bet. The thing is, Sara Duterte’s camp really hates the guts of the former SAP official. The fact is, the SAP group had already been decimated by Sara’s group when the presidential daughter assumed the mayoralty post in Davao. Go’s clique is, for all intents and purposes, out of the inner circle. Of course, Go’s counsel still carries weight only with the outgoing president and not with the presidential daughter.

Anyway, political fates are being thrown about as if everything is really managed. We know that things are not what they appear to be. Sara is staking everything by just attending this meeting and opening herself up to again be the poster girl of various interests not exactly pursuing the nation’s. Plus of course, if Sara does run, she humiliates herself by breaking her word–not just to her detractors, but moreso from her true friends and to herself, of course.