A plotter in their midst?

DESPITE being dismissed as mere sour grapes, the critics of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. administration are showing no sign of slowing down. In fact they have been intensifying their attacks each day as they try to find a rallying point. The irony is that they are supposed to be allies of this administration.

I say supposed to be allies as they are identified with former president Rodrigo Duterte whose daughter Sara ran as BBM’s vice president, eventually winning the post alongside him last May 9. But no, they did not support BBM and were utterly disappointed that Sara had slid down to VP.

They were viciously lurching from the wings, waiting to pounce even at the slightest slip the President might commit. They have attacked his family — his wife and children — and his official family. Now they are using the case of slain media man Percy Lapid, whose primary suspect, former Bureau of Corrections director Gerald Bantag, is a Duterte appointee. It appears they are egging on Bantag to carry the flag for the hardcore DDS (hardcore na, diehard pa) in their quest to return to power.

I wouldn’t have touched on the subject, as I don’t see their plot (whatever it is) reaching critical mass anytime soon as no less than the former president has called on his supporters to support the BBM administration. Even the supposed beneficiary of their plot, if ever — the vice president — is 100 percent behind BBM.

Until I ran across a friend who is now holding office at the Palace. My friend laments he has yet to be given his appointment papers along with two of his officemates. One of them happens to be lawyer Joyce Dapat.

I remember meeting Atty. Joyce one week before the proclamation rally of the BBM-Sara tandem last February when I was invited to a lunch-meeting by a friend at A Taste of LA Restaurant in Quezon City.

It was Atty. Joyce who was presiding over that meeting of the group which calls itself Kislap for Kay Inday Sara Lilipad Ang Pilipinas.

In the said meeting, Atty. Joyce passionately called on her colleagues to work hard for the disqualification of BBM, albeit it should happen after the election so Sara could assume the presidency. Edwin Rodriguez, president of Malayang Quezon City and brother of erstwhile executive secretary Vic, who arrived late, asked the group to chant “Bongbong-Sara!” which he would record and send to the BBM camp but Atty. Joyce swiftly declined Edwin’s request, saying they were not for BBM.

I had long forgotten that incident as all disqualification cases against BBM have been dismissed anyway. Until plots of a BBM ouster coming from the DDS purists surfaced. And when I got the information that Atty. Joyce was now working for the Office of the Press Secretary (OPS), a relatively crucial and sensitive office.

So the question: How did she get appointed there? I’m not saying she is still active in any plot to oust BBM and install Sara as president but precautions and a thorough background check should have been undertaken before appointing her to any post, particularly in the OPS, as it could be the source of leakage of sensitive information.

The problem with these DDS purists is that they’re entertaining the illusion that they have the support of the people based on their “over-the-top” reading of the election results.

In the 2016 elections, BBM only got 14,155,344 votes in the vice presidential race compared to the elder Duterte’s 16,601,997 votes. But have they taken into consideration the fact that BBM’s running mate, the late Miriam Defensor Santiago, only got 1,455,532 votes, meaning the majority of those who voted for Marcos did not go for her. So, who will these Marcos supporters vote for?

Definitely not the other candidates who were identified with the Yellows who they abhor to their bones, and vice versa. Mar Roxas was the official Yellow candidate, Sen. Grace Poe was the Yellow’s reserved horse, having even been invited to run as Roxas’ running mate. Even former vice president

Jojo Binay was identified with the Yellows having dilly-dallied on his decision to sever ties with the Aquino administration even after being heavily persecuted in a Senate investigation after having made known his position on the controversial Disbursement Acceleration Program. Add to it the fact that Binay was a staunch antiMarcos activist in the 1980s.

So, who would these Marcos supporters vote for? The obvious choice would be Duterte.

In the 2022 elections, BBM got 31,104,175 votes, while Sara garnered 31,561,948 votes for a difference of 457,773 votes, which they interpret as Sara having more supporters than BBM.

But of course it was expected as BBM supporters heeded their candidate’s call for unity, voting for his running mate while these pure DDS abandoned their standard-bearer and instead plotted for his removal and have another Duterte installed as president. Hence the over-the-top result with which they should not be blinded as almost everyone I know who decided to face head-on their former running mate on the basis that a higher vote garnered than the standard-bearer ended up losing miserably.

Anyway, back to Atty. Joyce. I believe it would suit everyone better if she would issue a categorical statement denying any involvement or connection with those DDS purists lest she be accused of being a mole or even a plotter within the BBM camp.