As I write this, breaking news has cracked the airwaves on an assassination attempt on former US President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, a known Trump bailiwick. A bullet grazed his right ear and another hit his chest, but a bullet-proof vest saved his life.
Immediately after the US Secret Service helped him, he raised his fist in defiance to what just happened. This, on the eve of the Republican National Convention.
Well, I guess this really ends Joe Biden’s future for another term since most Americans will now throw their support to the former president, and would now change the way campaigns will be conducted in the future not only for heads of state, but for every candidate.
So what went wrong? Was the secret service lax?
This is obviously a security failure as they were not prepared for something like this.
We have not seen anything as such since the time of John F. Kennedy who was fatally shot by Lee Harvey Oswald on November 22, 1963 in Dallas, Texas, then his brother Robert “Bobby” Kennedy, shot as well by Sirhan Sirhan at the Ambassador Hotel on June 5, 1968, George Wallace by Arthur Bremer on May 15, 1972, and then Ronald Reagan on March 30, 1981 by John Hinckley Jr.
I cannot help but connect this assassination attempt on Donald Trump with the recent declaration of VP Sara Duterte that she would not be attending President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr.’s SONA, but instead would appoint herself as a ‘designated survivor.’
Does she know something we don’t? given it was meant as a joke, we are not laughing. Only a sick mind would do so and would treat this lightly. She should be held for interrogation by the PNP. Such utterances are serious and disturbing.
On that note, a Philippine eagle “Mangayon” has died from a wound by an improvised air gun while an American eagle has survived an assassination attempt on his life.
From a study by Peter Kreuzer of the Peace Research Institute of Frankfurt, note that the Philippines is especially conspicuous on the severity of fatal violence brought about by assassinations. It was reported that close to seventy politicians have been killed yearly over the past fifteen years, with violence increasing over time.
Such violence can be linked to local politics as in the countryside with the lowest level barangay politics where lethal violence involving mayors and vice-mayors are prevalent.
Hence, the majority of the assassinations are carried out by hired guns or hit men, but the suspects most times are not investigated and remain in the shadows and enjoy almost complete impunity.
As a result, a vast number of the killings remain unsolved with the masterminds still scot-free.
The Cuerpo de la Guardia Presidencial
Back here at home, this should also serve as a wake-up call for the close-in security of President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. and my friend Jun Baris who happens to be his trustworthy aide to keep alert at all times.
The Presidential Security Group (PSC) is a security team of selected men who are on a 24/7 work securing the President and the First Family.
The PSG or “Filipino Secret Service” is composed of personnel from the Navy, Army, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard and PNP.
The history of the PSG goes way back to the year 1898 when a guard unit called “Çuerpo de la Guardia Presidencial” was created to protect President Emilio Aguinaldo from assassination attempts on his life. And then in 1936, the 1stCavalry Regiment of the Philippine Army was assigned for President Manuel L. Quezon, his family, and the official residence.
I am privileged to be friends too with one of its brilliant commanders – BGen. Rodulfo “Diazky” Diaz of the Philippine Marines. If you want to hear stories about his time with former President Joseph “Erap” Estrada and his machismo peccadilloes, Gen. Diaz is the man to talk to. But his lips are sealed, sometimes.
Tell me who your friends are and I’ll tell you mine
Funny as I write this, netizens from the Duterte camp are now posting stuff saying Donald Trump is now the de facto US President which will be at the disadvantage of Bongbong Marcos.
But wait, here’s something worth sharing from another netizen on the other side. Excerpts: “Trump and BBM know each other personally.
When the decision was made acquitting Mrs. Imelda Marcos on the RICO case in New York, Donald Trump was the first person to send a huge bouquet of flowers congratulating Mrs. Marcos on her victory.
And then, when Mrs. Marcos arrived at her rented townhouse on 80th Street in midtown Manhattan from the St. Patrick’s Cathedral (from court Mrs. Marcos went straight to the church to pray and give thanks), Mrs. Marcos was greeted by a huge bouquet of flowers. I
n it was a card attached which read, “Dear Imelda, congratulations on your victory. Love, Donald.” So, he was the first to send flowers, even ahead of Leona Helmsley, the BFF of Mrs. Marcos.”
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Random Memorandum: The SONA 2024 is budgeted at P20 million. And no, each congressman won’t be bringing home a lechon.
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Factoid: Emilio Aguinaldo was the youngest Filipino president at age 29. He was also the longest-living Filipino president having survived until age 94.
(Leslie Bocobo is a former Special Assistant to the Secretary at the Office of the Press Secretary, Malacanang, and a former Public Affairs Director of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources)
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