Dictators have an old trick to assess the strength of their opposition: they say something patently untrue, and then look to see who mindlessly repeats it. Those who do, they recognise as their true supporters.
— British parliamentarian Barry Gardiner

MAYPAJO, Caloocan City — If Vice President 'Inday' Sara Duterte-Carpio is impeached and finally removed from office, the Marcos-Romualdez clan could rule the country for at least 18 years—two years short of the 20 years that Ferdinand Edralin Marcos Sr. ruled the country with his wife, the 'Iron Butterfly' Imelda Romualdez Marcos.
Some would say Inday Sara was being melodramatic when she reacted to the announcement that the House of Representatives had reached the minimum votes needed to ask the Senate to convene an impeachment trial, saying "God save the Philippines."
Certainly, we need God's hand here since the country once again face a predicament we already experienced eight decades ago.
In 1986, we were saved and democracy was brought back by God during the 'bloodless' EDSA People Power Revolution that ousted the so-called dictator and sent scurrying to Hawaii for refuge.
So we ask, will the Almighty once again intervene?
Would He? When Corazon Cojuangco Aquino's minions put up a monument to honor the Blessed Mother Mary with a huge statue erected at the corner of EDSA and White Plains Avenue while Our Savior Jesus Christ was commemorated only with a small cross inside the Shrine?
Please do not mistake that I am against giving respect to Christ's Mother, but let us just remember that God once said that "I am a jealous God" in Exodus 34:14, and so it is so obvious what has happened here.
But going back to our topic for today regarding Inday Sara's possible impeachment, we see nothing less than House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez being appointed to fill her post, thus enhancing his political reach—maybe enough to win the 2028 presidential election. Under Article VII, Section 9 of our Constitution, (if Sara is removed as vice president), "the President shall nominate a Vice-President from among the Members of the Senate and the House of Representatives, who shall assume office upon confirmation by a majority vote of all the Members of both Houses of the Congress, voting separately."
Added to this, I believe that the Marcoses are also superstitious and wouldn't want to challenge the purported jinx that no Speaker of the House has ever been elected president.
Despite being reviled by many Filipinos, it would be a walk in the park for President Bongbong's cousin to clinch the presidential elections. He has proven his capacity (and immorality) to mobilize billions of pesos in taxpayers' money for his political campaigns.
Only former President Digong's eldest daughter has the massive political force to stop Romualdez.
So that means 6 years of Martin's hegemony until 2034 and then it will be the turn of Bongbong's son Alexander to occupy Malacañan, as he turns 40 two months before the May polls, the Constitution's minimum age to run for president—and that would mean another member of the Marcoses sitting in power for 6 more years until 2040.

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