This just in.
President Melchor is said to have been seriously injured in an accident.
According to the presidential palace, President Melchor lost consciousness due to the accident and has yet to regain it.
An official from the presidential palace stated that the medical team is taking every possible measure, but that the situation is not good.
The government immediately convened an emergency response meeting.
Vice President Bayani announced that he is preparing emergency measures to prevent a vacuum in state administration, and that, if necessary, he will also consider transitioning to an acting authority system.
Messages wishing for the president’s swift recovery are continuing to pour in from political circles and all walks of life, while the public is also watching the situation closely.
Patrick and I were watching the news together.
The news was airing a breaking report that President Melchor had been seriously injured in an accident.
It was an accident, all right.
Since Melchor rolled down the stairs while trying to run away.
Honestly, I had no intention of killing Melchor.
It’s not as if murder is my hobby.
As long as he stepped down from the presidency, I didn’t particularly care what happened to him.
But at the very least, I had to make him step down.
It would be a problem if he stayed in office.
He was a greedy bastard.
There was no telling when he might stab me in the back.
I couldn’t carry that kind of anxiety with me.
So I’d only meant to scare him a little and make him resign.
But Melchor, terrified before I even did much, ran off trying to escape and rolled down the stairs.
Badly, too.
He injured his head and was hospitalized.
That news was now coming out through the broadcast.
No mention that he fell while running away?
I stopped watching TV and spoke to Patrick.
“Patrick. Since things have turned out this way, how about trying to become president?”
“Pardon?”
“You’re popular. I think you could do it if you play your cards right.”
“Hahahaha. What a joke.”
As if he’d heard something ridiculous, Patrick turned his head back to the TV.
“I’m serious. I’m telling you, you have a chance. Mindanao and Bohol will vote for you anyway, and we just have to do something about Luzon, don’t we? If we massage the things you achieved as mayor of Zamboanga a bit and put them out through the media and YouTube, your recognition and approval ratings will shoot up. Then wouldn’t that be enough?”
When I spoke seriously, Patrick looked at me strangely.
“Are you serious?”
“Yeah. One hundred percent serious.”
“Kahahahahahaha.”
Patrick burst into loud laughter.
It was the first time I’d ever seen Patrick laugh that hard.
“Khehehe. There won’t be an election, so how am I supposed to become president? Keke.”
Patrick spoke while still unable to stop laughing, as if he found it too funny.
“There won’t be an election? Even though there’s no president?”
“Kheh. Yes. The vice president will simply serve out the remaining term. If there’s no vice president either, then it goes to a senator, then a representative, like that. They don’t hold a separate election.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Presidential elections are held every six years. The president serves a single six-year term.”
It was true.
The Philippine presidential election is held every six years.
If something happens during the term and the president becomes unable to perform his duties, the vice president takes over and carries out the duties for the remainder of the term.
“I see. I didn’t know.”
“You might not have.”
“But the president has a single six-year term?”
“Yes.”
“Then the next presidential election will be held in three years. Until then, the current vice president will act as president?”
“That’s right.”
Hearing that gave rise to one question.
A pointless question about whether the president had to serve only six years.
I was going to make Patrick president, so it would be a bit of a waste if he only served six years.
It would be better if he did it longer.
Twelve years, eighteen years instead of six would be better.
Six years was too short.
A short amount of time that would end just when you were trying to do something.
But the presidential election would be held in three years.
Which meant we had enough time to change that.
Enough time to change the single-term system into one that allowed reelection or multiple terms.
“How do we change that?”
“Change what?”
“To change the single-term system into consecutive terms or multiple terms.”
“Hahaha. That would be hard because you’d have to change the constitution.”
“Tell me anyway.”
Patrick told me about the procedure for amending the constitution.
Listening to the process, it didn’t seem easy.
There were three methods, but all of them were difficult, complicated, and arduous.
The easiest and fastest method among them was to persuade the senators and representatives.
Of course, even that was by no means easy.
But the benefit was too great to give up on.
“Patrick.”
“Yes.”
“What was that vice president’s name again?”
“It’s Bayani.”
“Right. Bayani. I’ll have to meet Bayani. The Senate president and Speaker of the House too.”
“Understood.”
If it doesn’t work, then there’s nothing I can do, but we can at least meet and talk over a meal.
Right?
It seemed like, for once, something had come up where I’d have to use both guns and money.
It would be better to bring Sandro, wouldn’t it?
******
Anna tapped away at the keyboard, clicked the mouse a few times, then shouted.
“It’s done.”
“You’re finished sorting it out?”
“Yes. I’ve sorted out all of Melchor’s assets. Wow, this is seriously incredible.”
“That much?”
“It’s no joke.”
“Really? Good work.”
I turned my head and looked at Raksa, who was sitting in one corner, then spoke.
“That’s enough, right?”
The person who had played the most important role in bringing Melchor down.
The person who had brought Melchor’s weaknesses.
The person who, blinded by money, had betrayed his friend.
That was Raksa.
For Raksa’s sake, I’d put Anna, one of our high-level personnel, to work sorting out Melchor’s assets held under borrowed names.
And Anna had handled the job far too neatly.
“Yes. Thank you so much.”
Like the traitor he was, Raksa was extremely courteous.
He was polite, too.
Anna held out a thick brown document envelope to Raksa.
“You absolutely must not lose this. All of Melchor’s assets were under borrowed names, so we transferred them to other borrowed names. But if you lose this, you won’t be able to prove anything. So keep it safe no matter what. Do you understand?”
Anna repeatedly warned Raksa.
“Yes, yes. I’ll keep it safe.”
After receiving the brown envelope, Raksa’s face flushed as if he was slightly excited.
Raksa gripped the brown envelope in his hand tightly.
Just how much money was inside this envelope?
An astronomical amount.
The vast fortune Melchor had possessed had come entirely into Raksa’s hands.
He wanted to shout for joy, but he barely held it in.
He’d shout later, once he was outside.
“You even helped me sort out the assets. I will truly never forget this favor.”
“Then the deal between us is over now, right? You brought me Melchor’s weaknesses, and I sorted out Melchor’s assets and handed them over to you. Correct?”
“Precisely.”
“Then that’s that. This is the end. I kept my promise.”
“Yes. That’s right. Then I’ll be going. I wish you continued good health.”
After saying his farewell, Raksa left through the door.
After confirming that Raksa had gone out, I called Scott.
“Scott.”
“Yes, Chairman.”
At my call, Scott, who had been sitting somewhere out of sight, came out.
This bastard Scott.
When I was going back and forth to China because of Ascend, I’d left Scott behind.
I wanted to move quietly, so I went alone.
He must have been comfortable while I was in China.
He’d gained a ton of weight.
I nearly died in China, and this bastard bodyguard had apparently spent that time stuffing his face.
I’d have to roll him again.
Tires and Scott are at their best when rolled.
“What are you doing?”
“Pardon?”
“Hurry up and go get it.”
“Get what?”
“Are you going to keep acting this clueless?”
“I have to know what it is before I can bring it.”
“This bastard has no professional spirit. If you’re a gangster, act like one and steal other people’s stuff once in a while.”
“Pardon??”
I glanced at the brown envelope with my eyes.
Scott, realizing something, answered.
“Ah~ that? Understood.”
After answering, Scott ran out well enough despite his bloated body.
Watching him, Anna asked.
“Don’t tell me you just told him to take back the envelope he walked out with?”
“Hm? What? Something like that, I guess?”
“Wow~ Boss, I didn’t take you for that kind of person, but you’re kind of a punk, aren’t you?”
“Really? Am I finally achieving my dream now?”
“Don’t tell me your dream was to be a punk?”
“Yeah. It’s cool. I should bleach my hair yellow and ride a motorcycle too, but I’m lacking in a lot of ways.”
“No, but if you were going to take it back like this, why didn’t you just take it from the start? Why make things so complicated?”
“If I’d been drooling over it from the start, Raksa probably would have hidden more than half of Melchor’s assets.”
“Ah?!”
“We don’t know Melchor’s exact assets. Raksa had trouble transferring them into borrowed names. So I said I’d help him. Even when I told you, I only said to cleanly transfer them into borrowed names and hand them over.”
“Yes. You did.”
“Once we sorted it out like that, Raksa got excited and brought every single asset over.”
“That’s true. The amount kept increasing.”
“I only said I’d keep my promise.”
“So today, when all the assets have been completely changed into borrowed names, you’re taking them?”
“I kept my promise. Raksa is simply getting his bag snatched by a street thug on his way home.”
Anna shook her head from side to side as if she couldn’t understand.
Clunk.
At that moment, the door opened and Scott, wearing a mask, ran in.
“Huff~ huff~ Here, huff~ it huff~ is.”
Now that he’d gotten fat, he couldn’t even run properly.
“Anything unusual?”
“Huff~ He was screaming like crazy.”
I looked at the envelope Scott held out and said,
“Give it to Anna. Anna, check if anything’s missing.”
“Yes.”
After checking the documents, Anna signaled that there were no problems.
With this, Melchor’s assets had perfectly become ours.
Even I thought it was a bit punkish, but isn’t it wrong for a traitor to live well and prosper?
I say this all the time, but betrayal is instinct.
Anyone can betray.
And that anyone includes me.
Just as Raksa betrayed Melchor, I simply betrayed Raksa.
I’m telling you, betrayal is instinct.
*******
A luxury hotel in Manila.
I was meeting the vice president in a conference room.
“Good day. I am Bayani.”
“I’m—”
“I know. You’re someone who needs no particular explanation.”
“Then this conversation will be quick.”
In the Philippines, not only the president but also the vice president is elected through an election.
It is not a position appointed by the president.
So when the president and vice president belong to different parties, their opinions can continue to clash, and their term may end without them accomplishing anything.
The term is the same as the president’s: six years.
However, the vice president can serve one additional term.
Bayani was a fairly aged politician.
Before becoming vice president, he had experienced everything from being a member of Congress to a mayor, a seasoned politician.
Naturally, he knew many people and was sensitive to information and rumors.
He didn’t know the exact circumstances, but he had heard enough to know that the president’s accident was connected to this man.
That rumor had already spread widely throughout Philippine political circles.
They said he was a heavyweight, and a big spender.
A man who could hold the Philippines in his hands and shake it.
That was why he had come.
Intending only to play along to an appropriate degree.
“The reason I asked to meet you, Vice President, is that there’s something I’d like to discuss.”
“Let’s hear it.”
Bayani answered indifferently.
“I intend to amend Article 7, Section 4 of the Constitution.”
“Article 7, Section 4?”
“That’s right. The provision concerning the presidential term.”
“Goodness... That won’t do.”
Bayani was dumbfounded by what they were saying.
He wanted to just leave.
No matter how much of a heavyweight this man was, this was impossible.
Amending the presidential term?
Did he know how that constitution had come about?
It was the result won through resistance against dictatorship.
The result of fighting against twenty-two years of dictatorship.
They had made it into law and put it into the constitution so that such a thing would never happen again.
And now, a lunatic who wanted to change that had appeared here.
“It can be done, can’t it?”
“I don’t think so. It hasn’t been that long since that law was changed, and public opinion won’t be favorable either.”
“What do you mean, it hasn’t been long? It was changed in ’87, so it’s been almost forty years.”
“Has it already been that long?”
“The Philippines has grown and developed a lot in that time, hasn’t it? The people’s level of awareness has risen too, and there probably won’t be anyone who rules like a dictator as in the past.”
“Of course I’d like to think so. But isn’t the human heart something that changes once one actually seizes power? That’s why they prevented such things from happening by codifying it into law. If you want to amend this, it will probably be quite difficult. Public resistance won’t be insignificant either.”
“Wouldn’t we just have to persuade the members of the National Assembly? As far as I know, it only needs approval from more than three-fourths of them.”
“After that, there’s still the referendum.”
“We’ll take care of the referendum ourselves, so please focus on persuading the lawmakers, Mr. Vice President.”
“I don’t think it will be easy.”
“I know. I do, but isn’t the Vice President the only person capable of doing it?”
“Mm.”
“As far as I know, among politicians, you have the widest network, the best reputation, and you’re known as the most reliable. Am I mistaken?”
“No, that much is true.”
“Of course, I understand it costs a great deal to meet people, win them over, and persuade them. We’ll make sure you’re not lacking in that regard.”
At my words, the vice president’s expression changed.
The thought of handling money must have set his heart purring.
“We’ve already finished speaking with the Senate President and the Speaker of the House. They’ve agreed to actively help us.”
“Even so… it won’t be easy.”
When Bayani continued to drag his feet despite my persuasion, Sandro stepped in.
Sandro said one thing to the vice president.
“Don’t you want to be president? For a long time, too? Man, you really don’t get it.”
“What?”
At the word “president,” Bayani suddenly acted as if he had malfunctioned.
“I’m asking if you don’t want to be president.”
“What? Of course I do.”
Bayani’s eyes changed.
They filled with greed.
His posture changed.
I suppose the position of president—power itself—was like that.
It seemed to have a magic that awakened instincts he had kept hidden.
“Then you need to change the law. Did you not understand because I was being polite?”
“I understand.”
“If you want to become president, and stay president for a long time at that, you have to change the law.”
“That’s right.”
“So let’s move quickly. I’ll give you one year until the referendum. Get the constitutional amendment done within that time.”
“That’s far too tight a schedule.”
“Then are you going to change it during the next presidential election? Nine years from now? We’re not the ones running out of time, Mr. Vice President—you are. If you want even one more term, you need to hurry.”
“Of course. You’re absolutely right.”
“Then let’s hurry. There’s no time.”
“Yes. Understood.”
And just like that, Bayani left in a rush.
Carrying the bag of money we had given him.
The meeting room was left with only Sandro and me.
“What was that? Are you going to make Bayani president?”
“Are you insane? How could I make a scatterbrained old man like that president?”
“But you said you would.”
“I gave him motivation. People work harder when they think it’s their own business instead of someone else’s. Even at a restaurant, the owner works harder than a part-timer. Because it’s his own business.”
“Then what are you going to do later?”
“Old men like that have plenty of dirty laundry. We leak a few things to the press, then say on our side that he has too many flaws and won’t do.”
“Wow, you really are… the best.”
“You flatter me. I learned it all from you. Heh heh.”
In that manner, we met with government officials and asked for a constitutional amendment.
We met the vice president, the Senate President, the Speaker of the House, and several members of the National Assembly.
At first, they all hesitated, but once we hinted that it wasn’t just a bag of money—that they might become the new president—their posture changed, and so did their attitude.
That was enough.
Our side also had work to do.
We had to prepare for the referendum.
The first thing to do was eliminate resistance toward allowing consecutive terms.
We had to break the perception that reelection meant dictatorship, and plant the perception that it was necessary for maintaining a stable administration.
We had to move the media.
All we had to do was take countries that maintained their governments through reelection as role models and keep planting that idea in people’s heads.
Fortunately, most countries, including those in Europe and the United States, had adopted systems allowing reelection.
We could leave out the drawbacks, take only the advantages, turn them into articles, documentaries, and Shorts, then spread them around.
If people are exposed to something over and over, they come to believe it is true.
It had been a long time since dictatorship disappeared from the Philippines.
More than half of the current voters had never experienced dictatorship.
To them, poverty was a bigger problem than dictatorship.
If they could live well, if allowing reelection could make the Philippines stronger and wealthier, they would gladly vote for it.
If they could avoid watching the tiresome fighting of politicians, they would support reelection.
We had to focus on that and shape public opinion.
Here, too, they would do anything as long as you paid them.
What a relief.
Thanks to the money Melchor left behind, I could do all this without spending a single cent of my own.
And there was still plenty of money left over.
Thank you, Melchor.