Pundits often liken the Philippine political landscape to a chessboard and now, it seems, the match has reached its endgame.
One player stands on the brink of victory; the other struggles merely to salvage a draw.
In chess, there is a situation known as zugzwang, when every possible move only worsens one’s position. The disadvantaged player must move, but every move brings defeat closer.
And as in chess, one rule remains inviolable: the king must be protected at all costs. All other pieces (pawns, knights, bishops, even the queen) are expendable.
THE OPENING GAMBIT
The first bold move in this political match was the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte, an aggressive gambit that proved to be an overreach. The Supreme Court swiftly struck it down, calling it unconstitutional and a blatant violation of due process.
Then came an even riskier stroke: the forced repatriation of former President Rodrigo Duterte to The Hague to face trial before the International Criminal Court. It was carried out at the height of the campaign season.
At first, the administration’s prospects seemed dazzling. Surveys predicted an 11–1 sweep for its senatorial slate. Only Bong Go appeared likely to survive from the opposition. But the heavy-handed deportation of Duterte ignited public outrage. Overnight, the anticipated landslide collapsed.
When the votes were counted, Team Pagbabago, the administration coalition, lay in ruins. The Tatay Digong Team captured three Senate seats; the Pinklawans took two. The President ls political party Partido Federal ng Pilipinas was completely wiped out. The rest went to unaligned “guest candidates” who swiftly distanced themselves from Malacañang.
A decisive administration victory would have guaranteed VP Sara’s conviction by the Senate sitting as an impeachment court. But the gambit misfired. The momentum of the game began to shift.
THE MIDDLE GAME
Then, as if by divine intervention, came the floods. Torrential rains exposed the hollow truth behind President Marcos Jr.’s boasts of completed flood control projects, grand claims trumpeted in his previous SONAs.
Confronted by public fury over what was shaping up to be the worst corruption scandal in Philippine history, Marcos sought to regain control of the narrative. In his 2025 “Mahiya Naman Kayo” SONA, he admitted that many of those projects were either substandard or entirely fictitious.
The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee under then Chairman Rodante Marcoleta soon traced the trail of anomalies, uncovering layer upon layer of deception and plunder. Senator Ping Lacson delivered a fiery privilege speech, complete with an audiovisual exposé, revealing the rot within the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
He even disclosed that Undersecretary Cabral had texted newly elected Senator Tito Sotto, suggesting a ₱500-million “insertion” in the 2026 budget. Lacson implied that all such insertions were corrupt; Sotto, flashing his trademark grin, agreed. Both basked briefly in the moral high ground.
But when the Senate presidency changed hands, a committee reshuffle reopened old wounds. Lacson later claimed that nearly all senators in the previous Congress had made a total of ₱100 billion worth of insertions. The backlash was immediate, and talk of another leadership coup began to swirl.
Trapped in their own contradictions, Lacson and Sotto floundered. Lacson condemning insertions as inherently corrupt, while Sotto defended them as part of Congress’s constitutional power of the purse.
Then came Senator Marcoleta’s stinging rebuttal -- a privilege speech that laid bare the inconsistencies of both men’s positions. To this day, neither Lacson nor Sotto has offered a coherent explanation. Lacson was forced to resign as Senate Blue Ribbon Committee Chairman.
The middle game had turned chaotic. Pieces were no longer traded for strategy, but for survival.
THE ENDGAME
Feeling the full weight of the flood-control scandal, President Marcos Jr. sought to regain the moral initiative by creating an Independent Commission on Infrastructure — “independent,” at least, in name. It was presented as a bold step toward transparency and accountability.
In every endgame, the principle remains unchanged: protect the king. Every other piece, no matter how powerful, can be sacrificed.
Was Mayor Benjamin Magalong removed because he had become too dangerous to the Palace? Was Zaldy Co merely another piece taken off the board?
Will former Speaker Martin Romualdez be next? And could even Congressman Sandro Marcos, the presidential son himself, be sacrificed if that is what it takes to save the king?
How many more pieces must fall before the final move is played?
Or perhaps the most important question of all: is the king already beyond salvation?
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