Isko Moreno Domagoso went to his classy Manila Pen press conference bringing three things: his larger-than-life ego, the wrong mathematical formula, and a substantial checkbook.
First, his ego was his most important blunder. But there is not much to say about it. Egos that are immense are simply inflated by hot air. Let’s say it proverbially: big egos are big shields for lots of empty space.
The only thing that can probably be said about it is that it brought an abysmal end to his career as a political strategist. The greatest corrupter of public men is always the ego. He must now sulk in his corner and cry. No amount of street slang as endearingly colloquial as yorme can now prop up his deflated ego. Domagoso just made a journey to nowhere.
As for his math formula, Domagoso’s is good only for the primary grades class section camote. He must re-learn the arithmetic that in the ranking numbers hierarchy, 2 is higher than 3, 4 and 5. That’s all there is to it.
That presscon was both exaggerated and flamboyant. Expect the backlash and the backfire to also amplify. As we write, social media has been promptly impatient since Easter Sunday of testimonies of voters’ shift away from Isko. Others expressed shifts away from Ping Lacson, though that shift is hardly tectonically felt; Ping’s rock-bottom numbers do not even catch a second, third look. He should have withdrawn eons ago. As for shifts from Norberto Gonzales, the has-been official political adventurist of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, does he even have supporters a few notches above 0%?
So who let the dogs out? The presscon was all about men who catcall women and were disrespectful. The last time we checked, only Vic Rodriguez, the spokesperson of Ferdinand Marcos Jr., called a woman candidate Mrs.
The bashing is now on Isko who did a reprise of Rodriguez. Women respond to misogyny. Let’s see the women power translated to volcanic votes come May 9.
Then there’s the substantial checkbook. Ah, there’s the rub. For who paid the tab? Surely not Isko, who goes running happily to the bank after each election loss. Hence the burning question: who paid for the ego trip? We can narrow it down to only two suspects.
It could only be someone from big business who fears that a Leni Robredo presidency will reject monetary enticements to gain lucrative contracts. That is a very distinct possibility. Each election has high stakes bankrollers.
The three – Domagoso, Lacson, Gonzales — are popularly perceived as Manchurian candidates. A powerful political player whose voting base is actually shared by these three stooges of presidential candidates could have paid the Manila Pen tab. He probably thought it benefits him. But then they let the dogs out.
Who, who, who, who, who?