The unceremonious ouster of deputy speakers GMA and Ungab

You should know by now that all is not well between the Marcoses and the Dutertes. And the role of senator Imee is just to mitigate the cracks between the two highest officials of the land.

You do not have to be a political genius like Niccolo Machiavelli to understand that the unlamented removal as deputy speakers of both GMA and Davao City congressman Isidro Ungab is merely a collateral damage in the raging war between the Dutertes and Speaker Martin Romualdez. The speaker is, of course, supported, albeit surreptitiously, by Malacañang. These are skirmishes in preparation for the war in 2028, when Inday Sara and Speaker Martin will meet in a major political battle for survival. Manang Imee is assigned the role of a double agent. But the Dutertes are not stupid. They know the Marcoses and the Machiavellian games they play.

The series of demolition attacks against the so-called Confidential and Intelligence Funds of both the Office of the Vice President and the Depart of Education are planned and strategized to weaken the leading contender. Inday Sara and his stage father, Manong Digong, aren’t stupid as not to be aware that all these guerilla tactics and Hamas-like attacks are emanating from the camp of the true enemy, whom Inday called "tambaloslos". True enough, if the elections are going to be held today, there is a strong possibility that Inday might beat Romualdez hands down. Of course, the tides can easily be turned around once the president, who is a first-degree cousin, would prove that blood indeed is thicker than water.

These developments are palpable evidence that not all is well between the two highest-ranking officials of the land. It is now indubitably clear and apparent that there is a wide crack between the president and the vice president. It is even possible, if the malicious mind would inject some intrigues into this squabble, that when Malacañang allowed millions of presidential funds in 2022 to be transferred to the Office of the Vice President, it could have been a trap in the style of a Trojan Horse, so as to make Inday Sara look bad and vulnerable to attacks. Can you imagine spending multi-millions in 11 days? Of course, the Duterte camp hastily corrected it as 19 days. That means that the Dutertes did not deny spending those millions.

There is even a possibility that the Makabayan bloc in the House is now in a secret deal with Speaker Martin. The bloc is apparently given the mission of demolition by reopening such old issues as the alleged extra-judicial killings in Davao and the multi-millions of alleged confidential funds of the Davao City mayor, not to forget the supposed thousands of ghost employees. It would seem then that the camp of Speaker Martin is slowly and surely hurting those who are visible allies of Vice President Sara. The case against GMA's supposed highly-questionable use of the Malampaya fund is also being resurrected. The Martin boys are attacking Inday Sara like how the Arabs are hitting Israel, from all directions.

If the die is cast then there is grave and imminent danger that Deputy Speaker Duke Frasco and his wife, Christina Garcia Frasco as Tourism Secretary, may be the next in line to be hit. Remember that Secretary Christina Frasco was the vice president's spokeswoman. And the Garcias are close friends of the Dutertes. The House of Representatives on Tuesday removed former president and Pampanga lawmaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and Davao City Representative Isidro Ungab as deputy speakers. This developed after the House plenary approved the motion made by House Deputy Majority Leader Ramon Nolasco Jr. of Cagayan. It is not difficult for Speaker Martin's boys in the House to also remove a very competent and hard-working Deputy Speaker Duke.

If Speaker Martin commits the mistake of antagonizing the Garcias, the Speaker will surely lose the five million Cebuano votes in 2028. But if he is as astute as Machiavelli and as strategic as Sun Tzu, then both the Tourism secretary and the deputy speaker should be left untouched. Not because he loves the Frascos more but because he cannot afford to focus on his presidential ambitions any less.