Malacaňang probably did not see it coming, but the blows inflicted by ex-Cong. Rizaldy Co on President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has not only significantly weakened the latter’s administration but can, in fact, hasten its collapse.

Co is the closest anyone can get to a smoking gun. By his own admission, the former House appropriations committee chairman personally delivered billions of pesos packed in suitcases right to the doorsteps of BBM and his erstwhile patron, former Speaker Martin Romualdez.

Once one of the most powerful men in the country, Co has gone public about his role in the worst corruption scandal in the nation’s history, the alleged P100-billion budget insertion. Co had silently slipped out of the country while the massive cover-up was being hatched. He, however, belatedly realized that he was in fact being set up to be the fall guy.

After hugging the headlines after the first video, Co’s exposè seems to be losing steam. It is not so much because the administration’s counter-offensive was effective, but due to Co’s flickering hope to save himself without burning the house down. Co has to make up his mind to confess all and leave his fate entirely to God, or try limit the information he reveals to salvage whatever he can from the ruins of his economic empire. He definitely cannot have both.

Obviously, BBM is in panic mode. The botched revelation of detained kidnapper Ramil Madriaga and the pathetic plunder case filed against Vice-President Inday Sara Duterte confirms this. Like most things done in haste, both are pathetic. While mainstream media and well-funded social media machinery have gone overdrive to feast on them and deliver the desired result, which is to destroy VP Sara, they are not gaining traction.

For one, they are ill-timed. Whatever you say of Filipinos, Christmas is the most popular of holidays, and nobody, not the least a corruption-ridden administration, can distract them from the celebration. Political operators are aware of that, but they forced it anyway because the house is burning.

Like Sen. Imee Marcos, who detonated her own atomic bomb of an admission, however, Co still has enough to prove. If he wants to redeem himself, Co will tell the nation what he knows about the deal with the congressmen who signed the case for the Vice-President’s impeachment. He will not only partly atone for his role in it but also douse cold water on the second impeachment case that the yellows and the reds are pressuring BBM to pursue next year.

The clincher for Co would be a detailed recollection, a sworn statement (for the benefit of Usec Claire Castro?) about his participation, or, at the very least, knowledge, in the rendition of former President Rodrigo Duterte. It may or may not have any bearing on the legal arguments before the International Criminal Court, but it will add fuel to the fire in the bar of public opinion.

Aside from the millions of PRRD supporters, many more have been added to their ranks since then, those who were scandalized at the treatment BBM gave to a sickly octogenarian whose only fault was to stand up to the established powerhouses, not only in the country but even in the global community. While his critics mindlessly labelled his war on drugs as “crimes against humanity, the most that they have managed to come up with so far to back that lie is 43 counts. Truth, indeed, has a way of unmasking deceit.

True, these revelations won’t suffice to atone for the gravity of the crimes committed: the massive destruction, loss of lives, property and livelihood in the aftermath of the uncontrolled floods; and both the untold suffering inflicted on PRRD and the incalculable damage brought about by BBM’s surrender of the nation’s sovereignty when he shamelessly delivered no less than a revered former head of state to a foreign institution to the country’s eternal shame and curse.

Co, however, is not in a position to bargain for clemency and more so for restitution in the eyes of the Filipino people. Clemency and restitution for Co are impossible at this point, but if Co believes in a Higher Being to whom everyone must give an account on the day of judgment, confession and repentance are a good place for him to start.

If it is any consolation, Filipinos are known for short memories. The seething anger today may yet subside with the passage of time and the mitigating circumstance of Co's role in the collapse of the most hated regime he once aided and abetted. The question of whether Co would like to end his life on a positive note is a choice he alone can make.