WITH both presidential candidate Ferdinand ‘Bongbong/BBM’ Marcos Jr and vice-presidential candidate, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte maintaining their already insurmountable lead of more than 30 percent against their respective nearest rivals just a week before Filipinos troop to their polling precincts this May 9, 2022, it is inconceivable for them to still lose the elections.

“Everything is over but the counting,” as one saying goes, aptly describes the political situation in the country today.

But while their ascension for most Filipinos would mean not only a vindication for the Marcos name and a continuity of Pres. Duterte’s many laudable legacies thus giving them hope for a brighter and better future for them and the country, there is really no room for complacency.

We do not want to sound alarmist but the fact of the matter is that powerful vested interests, mainly the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and their foreign controller, the US, are both unhappy over the elections of Marcos and Duterte.

Heading to the end of his presidency on June 30, 2022, when President Duterte would be formally turning over the Office of the President to Marcos Jr., the entire CPP apparatus is nearly at the end of its ropes, clinging desperately for its existence and relevance after more than 53 years of terrorism and deceptions, courtesy of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).

Reading the writings on the wall, the CPP is very much aware that under a Marcos presidency, its actual demise as a threat to our nation’s security is a foregone conclusion.

Similarly, the US has seen its ulterior design for the country, especially as its cannon fodder for its war preparation against China, frustrated time and again by Pres. Duterte’s independent foreign policy where the country is an “enemy to none and a friend of everyone.”

Pres. Duterte declined to join a US-ASEAN Summit concocted by US President Joe Biden aimed at uniting the region against China while shoring up US’ crumbling alliance against Russia over Ukraine.

Seeing the wisdom of this policy that helped the country survive the COVID-19 pandemic and eliminate the threat of dismemberment of our territory with the help of China and Russia during the 2019 Marawi Siege, everyone also expects President-elect Marcos, to firmly adopt it.

And on a personal level of course, Marcos Jr., would never forget the repeated betrayal of his father and his family by the US, a lingering reason for him to discount the importance of having Uncle Sam as our ally.

Given these arguments, there really is no reason for us to be complacent after the May 9 polls.

The CPP and US have found common ground to not only destabilize but more importantly, effect a regime change in the country.

Nevertheless, the most effective riposte against such attempt is for the Marcos-Duterte administration to capitalize on the overwhelming mandate they are expected to get from the Filipinos after May 9.

That and the consistent adoption of good governance we have seen under Pres. Duterte during his entire term.

As history also teaches us, no power on earth can defeat a people united. Let us not waste this opportunity to defend our country from its enemies, domestic or foreign.