“In the case of Marcos, if he wins his protest before the scheduled presidential polls, he will have a very good chance of winning either the presidency or the vice presidency.

Another probable presidential/vice-presidential contender for 2022 is former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, who has been quoted in the media as being “definitely interested” in running for the 2022 national elections.

Chances are, the political post he plans to run for would depend on whether the President’s daughter, Sara Duterte-Carpio, will be running for the presidency.

Should Sara decide to run for the top post, it is highly likely for Bongbong to run for the second slot: the vice presidency again.

Marcos ran for the second highest political post in 2016, but lost to Leni Robredo. He then filed an election protest against her before the Supreme Court (SC), sitting as Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET), but the case has dragged on, with both parties ordered to come up with their comments based on the earlier decision of SC Associate Justice Benjamin Caguioa, which was virtually turned down by the SC en banc through an order for the parties to submit their comments, instead of ruling on it outright.

But Bongbong refused to reveal if he would run for the presidency or for the vice presidency. Truth is, it’s too early for any politician to reveal his plans for the presidency or the vice presidency, mainly because he would become the target of negative propaganda and the usual slew of fake news from the day he announces his decision to run for the highest or second highest political seat in the land.

Marcos, who lost to Robredo on deep suspicions that Smartmatic made possible the victory of Leni through its usual dirty “magic,” which will also play a role in Marcos’ decision to enter the political fray in 2022, was quoted as saying that the presence of Smartmatic in the 2022 elections would be carefully looked into before he makes his final decision.

Marcos stressed that the votes obtained by Robredo were “products of electoral fraud, anomalies and irregularities.”

It will be recalled that during the vote count, there was a blackout of Smartmatic vote counts in the dead of the night, with Marcos winning over Robredo by millions in votes.

However, in the early morning, all too suddenly and miraculously, Leni Robredo was winning by the millions while Bongbong’s vote numbers hardly moved and with his millions lost to Leni.

The Smartmatic officer and the Commission on Elections (Comelec) personnel were caught fiddling with the Smartmatic machines with the unbelievable claim that they were just ensuring a “cosmetic change” by inserting the Spanish letter “ñ” in place of the normal “n.”

The problem with Smartmatic’s stupid excuse was that there were no candidates, whether president, vice president or senator, that had an “ñ” to their names.

Even more mysterious was the fact that then Comelec chair, Andy Bautista, went along with Smartmatic and its stupid excuse after its officer and a Comelec personnel were caught cheating for the then Liberal Party and its vice-presidential candidate.

The Smartmatic machines, as claimed earlier by the Comelec and Bautista, could not be opened without the two different codes held separately by the poll body’s chair and the Smartmatic officer.

What this Smartmatic miracle translated into was that Bautista, through a Comelec personnel, gave Smartmatic his code number, to enable the Smartmatic officer to get the vote cheating going.

Bautista suddenly vanished from the Philippines and is said to be enjoying his alleged illegitimately acquired millions in the United States.

It will be recalled that Bautista’s estranged wife bared, backed by evidence, the stash of money, pesos and dollars and US bank accounts that Bautista had kept hidden. He scooted out of the country when inquiries were scheduled to be held against him.

On the status of his electoral case against Robredo, Marcos was quoted as saying that the comment ordered by the court has been completed and that he expects his case to move faster next year.

Marcos was quoted as saying that “we have just completed the comment that we are going to submit to the Presidential Electoral Tribunal and we expect the case to start moving faster in January or February next year.”

Marcos is too optimistic, given the reputation of the SC, acting as the PET, in merely waiting for the end of the term of the sitting president or vice president under protest to rule on the case, and with a ruling that states the protest has become moot.

In the case of Marcos, if he wins his protest before the scheduled presidential polls, he will have a very good chance of winning either the presidency or the vice presidency — depending on who else runs for the presidency.

If Sara runs, and he wins his case, Marcos will likely run for the same seat again.

If she doesn’t, it is likely for him to gun for the top post, especially if it will be Leni Robredo whom he will be running against for the same top post.

One disadvantage of Leni in 2022, if she runs for the post, is that Smartmatic may no longer be for her, since it is no longer the yellows who hold the levers of Smartmatic power.