Swat that bangaw

Swat that bangaw | Daily Tribune

The late former President Cory Aquino called bangaw (horsefly) her political foes during her turbulent term which perfectly fits demagogue Antonio Trillanes IV. A horsefly is attracted to whatever form of excrement is present. Trillanes came out of the woodwork recently to file

cases against his political foes while insisting that he did not do it as a gimmick to make known his senatorial bid for next year.

If there’s a complete wannabe, it would be Trillanes, yet his sordid image as a destabilizer fond of undertaking demolition jobs makes him a poor candidate for any elective post.

His 2022 Senate bid landed him in the 21st spot, which was the distance to the moon in his comeback bid.

Trillanes also volunteered as the standard bearer of retired associate justice Antonio Carpio-led 1Sambayan, a group that failed to take off.

To prove his being a schemer, the putschist tried to spread the canard that Vice President Leni Robredo, the titular head of the Liberal Party (LP), was not interested in the presidency and that she was seeking the gubernatorial post in Camarines Sur.

Robredo’s spokesperson, Barry Gutierrez, issued a denial.

“I, together with the Magdalo group, have decided to convey to the 1Sambayan Coalition to change my status from being an alternate candidate (to VP Leni) to being a principal candidate for President to vie for the Coalition’s nomination,” the desperate Trillanes said then.

Trillanes proved then that he would go to the extent of creating a wedge in the opposition alliance to push his ambition.

Trillanes was then betting on the United States government supporting a candidate who would be useful for US President Joe Biden’s revival of the Asian pivot policy of Barack Obama.

Instead of creating ripples of concern, his opponents welcomed his self-destructive effort when he later on settled to seeking a Senate seat.

He was good for only two percent of the votes for the 2016 Vice Presidential race earning for him the title Mr. 2 Percent. He did a little better in the failed 2022 Senate bid with a little over 8 million votes.

His most notable endeavor during the term of President Rodrigo Duterte was fighting off a string of inciting to sedition charges and manufacturing 20,000 fictitious extrajudicial killings in the war on drugs, which was used in the filing of the “Crimes Against Humanity” case before the International Criminal Court.

Previously, he was alleged to have lost Scarborough Shoal to the Chinese when he acted as the back channel for the late President Noynoy Aquino.

He was later charged with being a traitor for having had 16 secret meetings with officials in Beijing and providing information, which resulted in the immediate occupation of Scarborough Shoal and the Spratly Islands by China in 2012.

His most notable failure was substantiating his allegation that he obtained information about Mr. Duterte’s enormous bank accounts from the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), which denied the existence of the records.

Still, deeper in his disreputable public service, he was dismissed as a Navy officer after leading failed military takeover attempts which are the Oakwood Mutiny in July 2003, the Marine standoff of February 2006, and the Manila Peninsula siege in November 2007.

Trillanes and other members of the Magdalo mutineers were charged with rebellion but were granted amnesty by Aquino.

He was also believed to be the mastermind of the outrageous Bikoy videos that backfired on the yellow mob resulting in the further weakening of the chances of the Otso Diretso candidates in the 2019 senatorial polls.

The videos on social media platforms were part of a well-funded plot to oust Duterte. With his tainted past, the fresh effort against his political rivals is only as good as his past foul-ups.