We’ve watched movies on heists where in the middle of the plot the thieves double crossed each other: either one was shot and lived or jailed in perpetuity but soon is released and seeks out the double crossers to reclaim the loot and hie off in some tropical beach enjoying a chilled piña-colada.

Ferdinand Marcos Sr dreamt of a palace in Pagudpud where he will bask in its Ilocos sunshine until his sunset sinks with an iced Basi in hand.

In his heyday, FM was surrounded by legmen and acrobats in the persons of Ramon Cojuangco Roberto Benedicto Lucio Tan Eduardo ‘Danding’ Cojuangco and Juan Ponce Enrile, the touted genius of Batac masterminded the raid or Great Heist since Emilio Aguinaldo of the Republic’s assets or what remains thereof. They went on to organize media, satellite services, banking, mining, and shipping/transport empires. JPE on the other hand, organized legal paratroopers christened ACCRA topbilled by the bland Edgardo Angara and his rampaging associates.

The emerging conglomerates were named after the initials of the ACCRA lawyers hiding behind the cloak of lawyer-client confidentiality. Among them was Atty. Enrique ‘Ike’ Belo, the main consigliere of FM. Belo was the boss of one Atty Felipe Gozon whose accounts were the airlines-clients.
The lawyers fronted as nominees with robotic dummies. Out they went on as business as usual with these conglomerates operated and managed by management committees while the lawyers off they went with handsome retainers. The lawyers have nothing to do with the corporate behemoths as they have already delivered the prized TRUST AGREEMENTS to their client or management committees chosen by Jaime Laya or Bobby Ongpin.

The client went on governing this country until one Ninoy Aquino was shot dead at the main Manila airport. By February 1986, Marcos Sr and his inner circle were driven out of the country and died one after the other.

An agency called PCGG corralled all FM stolen assets. But the task of identifying these assets was hamstrung by lawyer-client mumbo jumbo.

Tony Carpio enumerated the corporate giants to be targeted by MJr once he takes his oath of office at noon of June 30, 2022 by brandishing some 40-year old Trust Agreements in the possession of the young Marcos. In so far as the copies of the TRs are concerned on file with the law firms, they were already either incinerated or shredded. They forgot that Imelda brought the vaults containing them when they escaped to Hawaii.

One colossal mentioned by Carpio is GMA7 purportedly owned by a fledgling lawyer ante EDSA, Felipe Gozon. GMA7 franchise expired somewhere in 2027, within the term of office of MJr. Gozon flaunts ‘his’ billions by gloating after the evaporation of his rival ABS-CBN.

Right now, he positioned Ch7 in the direction of MJr and his operators to blunt the looming repossession by the latter of Malacañang.

Again, law firms may be harnessed to foil the rampage of seizures of these giant conglomerates. But how can these legal mercenaries prevail over a grumbling and vengeful President who watched the trustees digested for the last 36 years his father’s loot? Du30 is a precedent in corporate shakedowns. The brewing spectacle is akin to “nagbabawi ang magnanakaw na ninakawan ng kapwa magnanakaw”

MJr will unmask the THIEVES who stole from his father, the big-time thief of them all.

Where this dynamic goes or settles is one entertaining episode being awaited by the Maritess in us all.

SECOND COMING

A MarcosJr presidency will be historic. It will be drum beaten as the biblical Second Coming.

36 years after Marcos Sr was deposed his son ascends to the presidency accompanied by nonagenarians miraculously still alive today: JUAN PONCE ENRILE, CESAR VIRATA, ESTELITO MENDOZA, ROBERTO ONGPIN, JAIME LAYA, GERARDO SICAT, LUCIO TAN and the eternal IMELDA ROMUALDEZ MARCOS.

The presidency of Marcos Jr is the evil sought to be corrected by the 1987 Constitution when it banned political dynasties. Ironically, he piggybacks on the Duterte dynasty who rules the roost in Mindanao.

The Japanese have the concept of IKIGAI: reason for being. Ever wondered why JPE & Co. enjoys longevity? They await the unbelievable Second Coming of BBeM: their IKIGAI!

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Image credit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6jrsFWpVLw