A Christmas of assassins

Christmas is supposed to be a time to celebrate the birth of a famous person, the Savior no less, and not a season to kill.

After all, the merriest season of the year is Christmas. The Philippines celebrates the world’s longest Christmas season, from Dec. 16, start of the nine-day Simbang Gabi, til Three Kings Day of the new year. The malls start Christmas with the ‘ber months, October to December, a full quarter, and extend the celebration till the Chinese New Year, Jan. 25, 2025 – four months of holiday mood.

Only in the Philippines can, during the happiest of seasons, the second highest official of the land, Sara Zimmerman Duterte, rant on national TV to disclose she has contracted an assassin to kill President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr., First Lady Louise Araneta Marcos and House Speaker Martin Gomez Romualdez. It’s sounds like a macabre rare Christmas offer – pay once, kill three. Apparently, there are takers. The contract is no joke, Sara declared. And so assassins are on the loose. “It’s an active threat,” said Malacañang.

Only in the Philippines can a former president, Rodrigo Roa Duterte, 80, on national TV, repeatedly urge the Armed Forces of the Philippines to stage a coup on the ground that the President is high on drugs, habitually.

So far, none inside the 250,000-strong AFP and the 125,000-man Philippine National Police has taken up the offer. Should Digong offer a bounty? Or the men in uniform think he was – joking? drunk? high on drugs? sleep-deprived? All of the above? “It’s a selfish offer,” harrumphed the presidential palace. 

Digong’s daughter is only one heartbeat or one successful coup against Marcos Jr. away from the presidency.

The issue is succession. Sara said later the presidency was hers already in 2022 (per surveys, although surveys don’t elect presidents) but she gave up Malacañang because she was busy with some other things.

In the Bible, King Herod also had a Christmas succession problem. He was told a baby would be born and succeed him as king. Herod contracted killers who, unhappily, killed the wrong babies, in Bethlehem.

“Evil people inflict terror and pain and sorrow,” says my favorite pastor. Some congressmen agree. And lawyers too. They want Sara impeached, charged or at the very least disbarred, stopped from practicing the law on assassination.

In true tradition of biblical humanity and humility, BBM does not buy all the BS on Sara and Digong.

Said the President in an ambush interview in Lucena, Quezon:

“(Impeachment) does not make a difference to even one single Filipino life. So, why waste time on it? What will happen if somebody files an impeachment? It will tie down the House, it will tie down the Senate. It will just take up all our time and for what? For nothing. None of this will help improve a single Filipino life. As far as I’m concerned, it’s a storm in a tea cup.” 

History repeats itself. In 1973, Ferdinand Marcos Sr. accused his vice president, Fernando Lopez, of being part of the plot to assassinate him. Marcos Sr. imprisoned Fernando’s nephew, Geny Lopez Jr., son of Fernando’s elder brother, the tycoon Eugenio Lopez Sr., and Geny’s friend, Serge Osmeña. Geny and Serge were later freed – “escaped” – in mystery movie parlance, and after the family’s crown jewel, Meralco, was “democratized” – “sold” in business parlance.

On Dec. 1,1989, vice president Salvador Laurel was implicated in a bloody coup against embattled president Corazon Cojuangco Aquino. It was the deadliest and bloodiest of the nine coup attempts against the Philippines’ first woman president, by soldiers of the Reform the Armed Movement of Col. Gringo Honasan and Juan Ponce Enrile. The US Air Force saved the day, and the Republic, for Aquino.

Fast forward to Dec. 1, 2024.  President Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Marcos and their three boys led the traditional Christmas tree lighting ceremony inside the Malacañang palace grounds. If anybody was afraid of being shot to dead, I did not notice it. BBM was bubbly and gave a stirring Christmas message. He exulted:

“It’s actually a little bit hard to believe that it’s Christmas time again. This is the most important part of every Filipino’s calendar … the time for us to be with our friends, with our family, to enjoy a little bit of quiet time, a little bit of relaxation… (a) joyful time for all the Filipinos.

 “But as we celebrate, what I would like is to ask you to hold a thought for all those people who up to now are trying to recover from the effects of the six typhoons that we suffered in 23 days. Many of them are still in shelters. Many of them are still in need.

“And all of these disasters, like I just came and saw some victims of fires. All of these people, let’s just keep them in mind and do what Filipinos do. Let’s help each other. My Christmas wish is that despite everything, that every Filipino should somehow feel Christmas. After all, no matter how many typhoons they throw at us, no matter how many problems are thrown at us, there’s nothing that will quench the Christmas spirit in the Filipino heart. In every child, man, woman, Filipino, hindi mo na matatanggal sa Pilipinas ‘yan.

“And rightly so, we all deserve Christmas. It’s been a tough year. But, never mind, we are Filipinos, we always stand up. And why not? After all, it is the time to celebrate, to be with our loved ones, to put the trials and tribulations that we have been through in the past year — put them to one side, enjoy the benefits of family, their affection and all that comes with Christmas.”

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