Senator Imee Marcos' “independent” political gambit

Imee doesn’t need BBM to win. She is one of the richest senators and even one of the richest Filipinos in the country. She can finance her own campaign. She doesn’t need the party of her younger brother or the Nacionalista Party. She can stand on her own.

When she filed her certificate of candidacy, Senator Imee was accompanied by her famous mother, her politician sons, and a big entourage of supporters, complete with a big band with street dancers. Such political gimmickry could have cost her a lot of money. And this big and unnecessary gimmickry has transformed a solemn legal process of Comelec filing into a mardi gras. Such actions don’t contribute to the elevation of the quality of our political processes.

Her script really pointed to a slant projecting her independence from Malacañang. She doesn’t really want to align herself with her brother's administration. Not because she doesn't love her brother. I believed her when she manifested that the whole family loves BBM, the only boy among the three children of Imelda. But obviously, it appears from body language that the same love doesn’t exist between Imee and the first lady. Nor does such a love for BBM appears to exist between Imee and their famous first-degree cousin, the House speaker. These two persons closest to BBM appear to me as the main reasons why Imee doesn’t want to be on the same stage with such characters during the campaign.

The other reason why Imee withdrew from her brother's senatorial slate was her endearment to the Dutertes. She is the only member of the Marcos family who remains forever grateful to former president Digong for staking his political neck on the peoples' chopping board, by approving the interment of the remains of President Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani. Not even FVR, a distant cousin of FM had the guts to defy the public opinion against such burial. Not even Erap who was very close to the Marcoses since he was mayor of San Juan. Much less GMA, the daughter of Diosdado Macapagal, whom Marcos Sr. defeated in 1961.

Imee wants to repay the Dutertes. The rest of the Marcoses appear ungrateful to the Dutertes. The refusal of Imee to join BBM's anointed 12 is to save the face of the Marcoses and to show that there is, at the very least, the eldest child of FM who knows how to remember a big favor. For this, the people of Mindanao and the die-hard Duterte supporters are likely to focus their votes on only three candidates: Imee, Bong Go, and Ronald de la Rosa. If Baste and Polong should proceed with their senatorial ambition, then there will be five serious bets.

All the rest like Harry Roque and Sal Panelo, albeit lawyers, are mere embellishments. They can never win, especially Roque with all the issues against him. Francis Tolentino will be severely punished by Midnanaoans for riding on Duterte's wings during the good times, and abandoning Digong during difficult times, and then jumping into the bandwagon of the administration. What Tolentino did and is doing is the complete opposite of Imee's gracious manifestation of gratitude. Imee and Tol cannot be on the same ticket. Their calibers are not the same. One partakes of the character of Peter denying his master and the other is Judas selling his master.

Let us remember that Imee was the favorite of her late father, Early on, she was the one anointed to become president. She was made the head of the original SK, then called Kabataang Barangay. She was sent to UP to study Law. But she fell in love with Tommy Manotoc, former husband of beauty title holder Aurora Pijuan. And the rest is her story. But the fact remains that she is more articulate. She has mastery of the nuances of politics and political science. She has a grasp of Philippine culture and Filipino behavioral patterns, and has wisdom on human frailties and weaknesses.

This unexpected and unorthodox gambit of running alone is a product of an astute and clever maneuvering and even a canny and ingenious tactic. At the end of the day, both parties end up supporting Senator Imee and she may even top the race and put Tulfo in the second or third spot. I smell something Marcos here. If I know the Marcoses, BBM must have given his blessing to this scheming move.