Riddle me this

There are some who regard President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. as a conundrum, or a riddle that is hard to figure out. His journey to return his family to power continues to engage political observers, most recently in light of his style of governance versus that of his late father, Ferdinand Edralin Marcos.

If some were to have their way, President Bongbong should be impeached right along with his former UniTeam-mate, Vice President Sara Duterte. Others, however, demand a more sober approach, calling attention instead to a more pressing matter at hand: the rape of the national budget.

Yet before anyone could even begin to build solid cases against the politicians that have been linked to the flood control projects controversy, the wrong “Marcos” has been dragged into the limelight to cause vexation among us, perhaps justly so.

Francis Leo Marcos, the vlogger who introduces himself as FLM, garnering 11.95 million views in the process, was recently brought before the media by the police after he was charged with, you guessed it, “unjust vexation.”

The man christened Norman Mangusin initially came to the public consciousness when he ran for a Senate seat in 2022. Perhaps driven by an intense desire to cause mayhem, he got himself arrested recently for a crime other than the “unauthorized use of a police uniform.”

Was he guilty of impersonation? No, the warrant was issued for “12 counts of Violation of Article 287 (Unjust Vexation) of the Revised Penal Code in relation to Section 6 of Republic Act 10175 or the Cybercrime Prevention Act.”

The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) arrested him while he was dining in a hotel in Pasay City for a case filed by a fellow vlogger, who accused him of scamming overseas Filipino workers of “P40 million to P80 million,” reports say.

Said vlogger, who goes by the alias Makagago, said he wished to lodge an “unjust vexation” complaint against Mangusin as it was “the only problem he gave and made for me.” Meanwhile, said conned OFWs have not filed cases against the fake Marcos.

As for the police? “Walang puwang ang pagpapanggap at panloloko sa ilalim ng batas,” declared National Police Commission (Napolcom) Vice Chairperson and Executive Officer Rafael Vicente Calinisan at the media conference where Mangusin was presented, clad in prison orange.

Calinisan, reports note, had previously been the subject of “offensive statements” made by Mangusin, who also mocked Land Transportation Office chief Markus Lacanilao and former Sen. Manny Pacquiao.

Lest they be accused of being onion-skinned, however, the Napolcom explained this big show of capture and arrest as something bigger.

Leo Marcos, Calinisan said, had “dishonored the uniform of the PNP.” He is, then, to be summarily probed by both the police and Napolcom.

If anyone should be accused of unjust annoyance, it is whoever made Leo Marcos a name to be uttered at all, as the public is still waiting for even half of the rigor and intensity invested in the vlogger business to be poured into the case of politicians who had already been identified in connection with the ongoing “Floodgate” saga.

The conundrum we see lies in our law enforcers’ sense of proportion when it comes to ensuring that justice is served.