APROPOS my last column, reader Cebuphil Jorge commented: 'Vice President Robredo is the most sincere and the most trustworthy among the aspirants for presidency. Others, and especially Bongbong Marcos, have their own agenda, and the welfare of the country or the Filipinos are not the priority.' This came in contrast to the reaction by supporters of retired Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr., who felt offended by what struck them as a disgusting snub of the general's run for the presidency. In that little exercise of trying to determine who would become president from the 2022 elections, I did seem to have missed including the general in the lineup of presidentiables. And because of a citation in that piece that a certain pattern of the presidency appears to bear out Leni as the next president, the omission effected a denial of Parlade's true worth in the contention.

'Why did you not list Parlade as a contender?' went the uniform complaint of many Parlade followers.