There will never be a shortage of bets in any Philippine election cycle, not even if it is as far away as the 2028 presidential election. No election is ever too far away especially if you are in this country. The next election starts the very first day after the last. The recent antics at the House show just how frantic and frenzied things can quickly get for wannabes.
Bets can also mean wagers, in practically every political context they may nuance. With that in mind, I specifically reference the very one person upon whose bets in the all-important 2028 presidential run the political fortunes of many will hinge. That person is President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.
Bongbong, or PBBM, is a most practical man. That is what I have come to believe after what can only be a most incredible, precedent-setting, and historic 2022 presidential run. He would not be president today if he had not grounded himself well in the practical reality he found himself to be. Goal set, he did not allow himself to be distracted in pursuit of it.
My clearest understanding of his determination came when Rodrigo Duterte, never the lame duck president that most become in the twilight of their presidencies, made loud and unambiguous references to alleged substance use. At the time, Duterte daughter Inday Sara was still in the running. Tatay Digong was just trying to be the dutiful tatay to inday.
But Bongbong did not engage, in the same manner that he never took up the Marcos burden the world heaped on his back. He chose to be free and focused. At some point in the lead-up to the campaign, it became clear except to the most obstinate that a new destiny was in the making, a new history was being written.
Not even Duterte can mistake the writing on the wall when even Inday Sara, and most especially Inday Sara who was the runaway leader in all survey, decided to give way and not challenge destiny. Duterte never endorsed Bongbong wholeheartedly but it was telling that he dropped his initial barbs and never took them up again.
So here is what I think. PBBM, being the practical person I have come to believe he is, will not stop being practical even after his presidency. In fact it is his post-presidency that I think he needs to most nurture with his practical mind. His presidency can take care of itself. It is what comes after that needs extra care.
PBBM may have won, with his earth-shakingly convincing huge victory disproving many things. But it also deepened old enmities. In other words he still needs to watch his back. Son Sandro cannot be president in 2028. Too young. Neither will Sister Imee. Too strong-willed. As to first cousin Martin Romualdez, he is too long a shot for the presidency.
Any practical mind cannot miss these things, least of all Bongbong's. Even this early, Bongbong knows his best bet is a friendly ally in Inday Sara, to whom he must have made big 2022 commitments and whose DDS army is intact to this day. It will be to his best interests to honor such commitments over interests that will not in 2028 bear fruit anyway.
It is the 2028 election that will be most crucial to Bongbong after his presidency. He needs to be on the right side of the fence after that. He cannot be wrong in his choices, or else everything that he has done will be all for nothing. Only practical minds can see that even in such a "dishonorable" profession, honor is still possible.