Bongbong is our genuine VP

I endorsed Leni Robredo in this column and in my column in Bandera, and then voted for her.

I was a close friend of her husband, the late Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo.

I believed she would make a good Vice President, and perhaps an excellent President later as I believe that women are smarter than men.

I was happy over the victory of my friend’s wife over her equally competent — or even more competent — rivals.

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But I was saddened to learn later that it was Bongbong Marcos who won the election but was cheated of victory.

There was massive cheating at the polls in 2016, so massive that presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte reportedly got 21 million votes and ended up with only 16 million.

The 5 million votes reportedly went to candidate Mar Roxas, who was fourth in the prepoll surveys — next to Grace Poe and Jojo Binay — but went up to No. 2 after the ballots were counted.

Rody Duterte was so far ahead that all the cheating the Liberal Party did was in vain.

So, failing to put Roxas in the No. 1 position in the presidential race, the LP had to make his vice presidential bet Robredo win at all cost.

That’s the reason Bongbong was leading Robredo, her closest rival, by about 1 million votes on the night of May 14; but the people were shocked to find that she had overtaken him when they woke up the following morning.

I am told by very reliable sources that Robredo didn’t know the maneuverings of her own party as she was too naive to even think of cheating.

You see, her husband Jesse always won handily in the elections for mayor of Naga City.

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We may not like Bongbong Marcos as many of us are reminded of his father, Ferdinand, who ruled the country as a dictator.

But just because we don’t like him, why should we deprive him of the vice presidency, which he won had he not been cheated?

Whatever our sentiments about him, Bongbong is our genuine vice president.

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As this column was being written yesterday, there was no word yet from Malacanang regarding the fate of Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre who, according to earlier reports, would be fired.

If he is eventually fired, it’s no longer a surprise as he is the most incompetent chief of the Department of Justice.

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The continued refusal by the Bureau of Customs to open a 40-foot container van, which National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) agents seized outside the customs zone, elicits suspicion.

The owner of the shipment, Jules Nero Morato, has declared that it consists of candles and food items.

Morato insists that the NBI has no authority to seize the cargo. He has sought the help of Customs Commissioner Sid Lapena, who sustained him.

The NBI is now seeking a court order to open the container van.

If Morato has nothing to hide, why doesn’t he allow the inspection of the container van by the NBI, which will only take a few hours?