An epic feud rages on, call it “fighting in tandem” — a former President and an incumbent Vice President on one end and a sitting President and Speaker on the other. The resulting confrontation mimics Newton’s third law of motion (action and reaction), viz., “Whenever one object exerts a force on another, the second object exerts an equal and opposite force on the first.”

It’s a tad difficult to make an accurate comparison. Suffice it to say that where FM Jr. and his cousin are object A causing a strain on object B, being DU30 and Sara, this results in object B exerting an equal and opposite strain on object A.

The blow applied against Sara was on the confidential funds of her office, which was placed in question. DU30, as wrecking crew, simply countered by alluding to the House leadership as the “pot calling the kettle black.”

DU30 even challenged the Commission on Audit to forthwith audit high officials for the public expenditures of their respective offices in the interest of fair play. In this crusade, he summoned the help of the military whose salaries he had doubled.

The plot thickens with the vitriolic exchange of ad hominem attacks but DU30 always knows which red buttons to press (i.e. a Drug Watch List that allegedly included his nemesis). Firing back, FM Jr. cited the fentanyl that may have caused Du30’s “erratic behavior.”

Since both Presidents have an axe to grind against each other, who would likely come out the victor? If we even noticed, the rift or the clash, better yet what Forbes (Asia) called the “Game of Thrones,” has caught international attention while it hardly got full news coverage right where it happened.

Recall that Tandem B held its own multi-sectoral prayer rally branded, “One Nation, One Opposition,” while Tandem A their “Bagong Pilipinas” firebrand. It looks like they are already burning bridges in what the Daily Guardian referred to as the “cocaine-fentanyl war.”

There are two weights on the political scale. While VP Sara’s confidential funds were completely cut from her 2024 budget, FM Jr.’s own discretionary reserves remained untouched. How come the confi funds was the focus of a congressional investigation in late 2023 and yet all else, especially that of the President, was not questioned?

In other issues, we see diametrically opposed world views. Team A is in full agreement with amending or revising the Constitution. On the other hand, Team B is opposed to this. Again, the former is okay with a “People’s Initiative” while the latter is inherently against it. Obliquely invoking a PI, DU30 called for Mindanao’s secession amid the fracas.

Further, one from Team B’s camp called for the President to resign. Imagine a dog whose tail is in Mindanao and head is in Luzon. If the tail is pinched, it barks loud and clear in Manila, causing public consternation. The warring political clans soon reduced the country to a laughingstock on the world stage.

After all, both clans have a “wicked” past in the country’s political history. They also granted favors to their respective oligarchs, favored capitalists, and cronies. An invisible hand pushed the International Criminal Court against DU30 himself; the same hand cut the umbilical cord of confidential funds against Sara.

The Duterte camp dreamed of federalism at the outset. The Marcos camp wants Charter change that may go beyond merely tweaking the restrictive economic provisions in the constitutional text. In the end, the clash is on the behest of Sara for the Duterte clan and on the behest of Martin for the Marcos clan.

Meanwhile, the wealthy capitalists, the cronies, the compradors would just have to place their bets on who would likely win. Two global hegemons would likewise support candidate-flag bearers with whom they enjoy mutually aligned objectives and interests — not necessarily the same ideological persuasions.

It bears watching what the future will bring. Let’s pray it won’t be one major geographical area less — by dismemberment.