SunStar + May 13, 2021 WHILE the others continue to play coy about their presidential ambition, former senator Antonio Trillanes declared the other day his intention to seek the highest office of the Republic in next year’s election. Whether or not the adage about the early bird catching the worm will work in his favor, we will not know until after May 9, 2022. Still, this early Trillanes has already earned credit for being straightforward. I do not expect an avalanche of similar declarations to immediately follow Trillanes’s lead, but it surely will not take long before the others take off their masks and admit that they, too want to live in the palace by the Pasig river. Of course, they will not be that blunt; candor is not a politician’s strongest suit. I can almost picture them saying with as much solemnity as they can feign, that they have arrived at the decision after much reflection, deliberation and listening to the people’s clamor and that they’re doing it only because they want to serve the people. Yes, all that crap.