So many friends have been asking me what exactly happened to the supposedly sibling relationship of Manila Mayor Honey Lacuna and ex-Mayor Isko Moreno.
Being totally in the know, this is what happened.
Before and after losing the 2022 elections, Isko had repeatedly told us, his supposed colleagues and ‘family,’ not only in our party Asenso Manileño but also (as I once believed) on a personal level, that he is retiring from politics. He has also repeatedly said this even in his interviews while on the campaign trail.
We all believed him becasuse also repeatedly, he had been declaring that he is a man who keeps his word.
“Ang laway ko ay naisasanla. Pag nasabi ko na, pwede nyo nang dalhin sa Cebuana Lhuillier,” were his favorite lines that he has repeated countless times, many Manilans have in fact memorized them.
After suffering a humiliating defeat during the Presidential elections -he was beaten in Manila by President Bongbong Marcos, for one- Isko’s actions ran counter to his earlier declarations. His posts on social media are obviously geared at wooing Manila voters. It’s so easy to read between the lines.
Still, when the same people would ask, Isko would deny any plans to run against Mayor Honey and again, we would readily believe him.
Until one day, he asked Mayor Honey for a meeting. There, he merely told Mayor Honey that he plans to run for mayor, contrary to his claims that he had asked permission from Mayor Honey.
In the first place, granting for the sake of argument that it is true, isn’t it simply moronic for him to assume that Mayor Honey will not seek reelection, considering that she is the incumbent mayor?
Isko merely informed Mayor Honey of his plan and did not even bother to ask her, an incumbent, if she will be seeking a second term.
And mind you. Isko also never discussed his plan with the members of the party that catapulted him to become vice mayor and later as mayor. He decided on his own, unilaterally.
When she assumed the mayorship, Mayor Honey continued all of Isko’s projects and even enhanced them, even if he had left the city with a staggering debt of P17.8 billion, did not remove any of his appointees which covers nearly all positions except for one or two and continued letting Isko enjoy all other privileges that only a sitting mayor should have.
For lack of a valid or moral reason why he would be running against Mayor Honey, Isko who had the temerity to badmouth the mayor, notwithstanding that she is a lady and had done him no wrong, in an effort to justify his selfish move.
Just the same, Mayor Honey proved that she is an educated and decent woman by not resorting to the kind of badmouthing she had been getting.
It was I who introduced Isko to the party and along with my bosom buddy, the late Vice Mayor Danny Lacuna, we and our partymates molded Isko to become better. I and Danny also took care of countless personal matters and treated him like a son. The family of Mayor Honey treated him as one of their own.
Now let me share the story of the scorpion who ran out of food while on an island. It asked a frog to bring him to the other island since it couldn’t swim. The frog agreed and once they reached the island, the scorpion bit him.
While dying, the frog asked the scorpion why it bit him when he helped the scorpion with what he needed.
The scorpion replied: “There doesn’t have to be a reason. It’s in my character.”
I hope this answers the queries of my friends. Now you know.
