President Rodrigo Duterte, Mayor Sarah Duterte-Carpio, Sen. Christopher "Bong" Go, and Sen. Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa. Photos: AP / Lean Daval Jr/Reuters / Manila Times / CNN s it just us, or has the opening salvo of the 2022 election campaign begun to look like an episode straight out of the Twilight Zone? Voters aren't sure who's running for office, or what offices they're running for. Jaw-dropping twists and turns have been occurring almost daily, with last-minute substitutions that would make even the most jaded voter's head spin. Who needs blockbuster movies like Squid Games, Pinoys have live entertainment playing out before their very eyes. It all began with the president's fear of being prosecuted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) once he is out of office. He first decided to run for vice president with his daughter Davao City Mayor, Sarah Duterte-Carpio, or his trusted sidekick, Sen. Bong Go running as president. Then the president decided he would probably be beyond the reach of the ICC if both the president and vice president were in his camp of loyal followers. So Rodrigo Duterte said he would finally retire when his term ends. Unfortunately, "the best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry" as the famed Scottish poet and lyricist Robert Burns aptly noted. The president's daughter Sarah said she wouldn't be part of her father's grand scheme, and would instead remain as Davao City's mayor. So another trusted Duterte loyalist, Sen. Bato Dela Rosa was fielded to run for president, with Go (who likely felt uncomfortable running for president as he knew that position was way over his head) running for vice president. Then, former Senator Bongbong Marcos decides he now wants his overthrown father's old job, runs for president, and starts leading in the polls. Fearing that Marcos could split the vote, Sarah Duterte-Carpio is coerced to run for president with Marcos as her VP. Unfortunately, in the latest twist of this jumbled drama, Marcos gets to her before her father and his minions do, and she agrees to run as his VP instead. And what we've posted above is but the tip of the iceberg. There are a lot of sub-plots and machinations that we left out, or weren't privy to. It is no wonder, in the Philippines, movie actors and entertainers gravitate towards elected office. Philippine politics is great entertainment. The majority of elected officials know next to nothing about governance, or politics. it is therefore no surprise that the Philippines has fallen so far behind even its Asian neighbors, let alone the entire world. Paid online trolls will quote glowing statistics and growth rates but they are nothing but lies and obfuscations that hide the truth. The country is in bad shape and getting worse because those in power do not know what they are doing. That's the bottom line. Philippine politicians are simply in it for the money—and they also like the glory and power that goes with the office. During the early years of Martial Law, Ferdinand Marcos had a great idea. He recruited very smart people into government. They were known as technocrats. However, as he overstayed in office and grew increasingly tyrannical, many of his technocrats left in frustration and were replaced by kleptocrats who, like Marcos, ransacked the country's coffers and bankrupted the country. To this day, kleptocrats in office appear to be the norm. When all you have is a foggy notion of statesmanship, don't know the first thing about governance, and have no vision of where to take the country, you end up doing very little while in office. "So I might as well make as much money as I can while in office," appears to be the logic many Philippine politicians ascribe to. At the end of the day, one cannot but question the motives of Rodrigo Duterte for fielding Bong Go, Bato Dela Rosa, or even his daughter Sara for president of the country. None of them are ready to lead the country as president. They are all unqualified at this stage of their political careers. Duterte appears to have done it to save his hide—never mind the future of the one hundred and twenty million Filipinos, alive today, as well as their children and grandchildren, who will end up paying the price if Go, Dela Rosa, or Duterte-Carpio had become president. Filipinos should be a lot more judicious when choosing their leaders. Wrong choices in the past have pushed us further and further behind the rest of the developed world. We must choose wisely in 2022, the country can't afford to waste another six years under the thumb of an unqualified president. Published 11/18/2021