So went one of the most catchy slogans developed for Filipino to understand why Ferdinand Marcos Sr. declared martial law. Being only six years old at that time, I didn’t have any idea of what was happening. All I knew was we suddenly needed a car pass to get into our place of residence within Malacanan’s security perimeter at Concepcion Aguila St., San Miguel, Manila.
And so I was present at every major protest rally attended by Cory Aquino. From the very first at Liwasang Bonifacio, to the last at the Luneta, where she called for a civil disobedience campaign and a boycott against all crony companies.
Thirty-six years later and Marcos Jr. is President. But this early, I find him lacking and wanting. Is is wrong to expect him to follow in his fathre’s footsteps? Or to continue with Duterte begun during his term? It would appear to the greater majority of Filipinos who gave Marcos the mandate that they’re content with defeating the opposition.
Unfortunately, thirty years of the opposition being in power, together with the oligarchs since the time of the Spaniards has caught up with us, the ordinary Filipino.
The best example of how discombobulated we are as a nation is the state of the National Capital Region. We’re in the top ten in the world in terms of population density and traffic congestion. We are so far behind our ASEAN neighbors in terms of quality of life and we have not managed to make the capital any more appealing to even tourists because of the lack of a centralized authority to exert control over its development and formulate and enforce rules and regulations.
What is alarming is Marcos’ ignoring the need for structural reforms and embracing the same strategy of “selling” the Philippines to foreign investors. I expected Marcos to have a more realistic view of the country’s problems seeing as how he had his father’s record to review and that of what happened after.
A leader should have a strong sense or gut feel, for these things. It’s what defines their success or failure in the endeavor that is leadership. This early into his administration, Marcos doesn’t seem to have the drive and the determination to disrupt how the government is structured and run. It appears that he is content with a more of the same mindset. This isn’t exactly much of an improvement if the opposition won the election.
The six-day working visit to the US has been met with much enthusiasm. That’s just a euphemism for brown-nosing by the usual suspects. Imagine flying on an Airbus A350 which can seat up to 350 passengers. The size of the official delegation hasn’t been made public but from the photos and the videos, the more prominent hangers on are Pagcor Chair Al Tengco, PCSO General Manager Mel Robles and local government officials Albee Benitez and Bullet Jalosjos. It’s safe to say that there are plenty of other hangers-on in the “delegation.”
Among the tycoons accompanying Marcos, only Ricky Razon has a private jet which can fly nonstop between Manila and New York. Maybe the other oligarchs are on the same flight. What better way to bond with the President? Sabin Aboitiz and Jaime Zobel De Ayala are on the same page. From the looks of it, the Spaniards are making a ceomback to the detriment of some of the Parian who aren’t on the good graces of the President.
What we do know from the list of campaign donors is it was a cross-section of business players from the old rich to the noveau rich, from the Mestizos, the Chinoys and the Bompinoys; the Filipino-Indians who have made it to the list of de buena familia.
The working visit was similar to going to a trade show or a sales blitz and have meetings with those who count. Ringing the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange doesn’t really amount to much. Ringing the opening bell is much better. But beggars can’t be choosers when it comes to a PR blitz. If that what was available then better to grab the opportunity.
Marcos’ schedule is mostly meetings with CEOs of companies which already have operations in the country. Then there’s the usual economic briefing as was held in Singapore. Based on my business experience in international trading, the only time you can generate serious interest is if you have something they really want. At this point, the mining industry is what would generate the most attention. Unfortunately, the laws on mining are as convoluted as alphabet soup and not open to full foreign ownership. There is also no way that the oligarchs would agree to opening up mining to foreigners on a parity basis. It’s bad enough that certain “public services” have been opened up such as telco and transport.
Much has been made of the audience at the main session hall of the UN when Marcos delivered his speech. That’s par for the course. It only signifies how useful a body is the UN. It doesn’t really amount to much because most of the major decisions are up to the security council, whose membership is limited to world powers. The UN hasn’t been able to prevent wars since its inception. Its peacekeeping missions are a joke. The UN doesn’t even have influence or an adjudicating body which all of its members adhere to. To some, the PR value still counts but to the well-informed critical thinker, it’s just a waste of time. The UN is useful to the US when it preaches about world peace and has a target to bring down, which in this case, is Russia.
When Marcos left, the peso was still at P57.00 against the dollar. When he arrives on Sunday, the peso will likely be between P58.00 – P59.00. This is the result of US financial hegemony with the dollar as the fiat currency of the world.
Inflation is being driven primarily by the overprinting of money since the 2008 financial crisis and exacerbated by the pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war. The latter was caused by which hegemon? The US of course. The US and its European allies want nothing more than Putin to fall in order to get full access to its natural resources. This is why Ukraine must win and money is going to be thrown at Zelensky to ensure the outcome they want.
So in the grand scheme of things, where does the Philippines stand? The US simply wants bases in the country so it can have the advantage that China has, if and when it finally decides to take back Taiwan.
What do we get out of this if Marcos allows it? Historically, we have gotten nothing from the US not even when we were still a colony. Just look at how it controlled the politics and economy of the country even after independence. It’s the main reason why we’re in this shithole.
As a people, we have been sold out by our leaders not only to foreigners but also to the oligarchs. It’s why up to the present, we still have the same plantation-style politics and economy. It doesn’t look like Marcos will champion radical structural reforms during his administration. But these strucural reforms are what is needed if we are compete with our ASEAN peers for foreign direct investments. As it is, we are not even close to what Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam are getting.
Ferdinand Marcos Jr. isn’t Ferdinand Marcos Sr. who wasn’t born into a de buena familia clan. Apo Lakay’s capital was his intellect and cunning. In contrast, BBM was to the manor born, educated abroad and moved in the social circles of the old rich. It may just well be that despite what happened in 1986 with their ignominious ouster, Marcos’ real affinity may well be with the Americans, borne by the belief that it will never happen that American global dominance can wane in the near future.
It remains to be confirmed if we are in the throes of the birth of a new world order. This all depends on what Russia and China have in mind. At this point, China is in a better position economically than Russia is. Militarily, the nuclear option is the great equalizer but who leader would risk the fallout of resorting to that option?
I was hoping that Marcos’ priority would be getting our house in order. We definitely need strongman rule. We don’t need liberal democracy in the country. What we need is a strong government which can make the private sector be the engine that drives economic growth. Think of how the Koreans have made that model work. Think of how Singapore has become very progressive despite not having natural resources to work with.
But this early, I don’t think Marcos has it in him to become anything similar to or even being a semblance of Apo Lakay in terms of leadership. I think this is what Duterte was referring to in his cryptic remarks about Marcos last year when he was about to decide about throwing his hat in the Presidential race. This is why Duterte never formally endorsed Marcos even if the clamor was there.
The pomp and the pageantry of the Presidency is back but there is no semblance of organization because it is disorganized at the top. The Executive Secretary resigned just before Marcos left and as appointed to the newly-created Office of the Presidential Chief of Staff. Who would want to be Executive Secretary under Vic Rodriguez, who would still hold the power?
Then there’s the Office of the Press Secretary which replaced the PCOO but has sunk to even lower depths than the previous administration when it was under the leadership of Martin Andanar. At least the pubmats of the PCOO didn’t carry the branding of Andanar unlike in the case of the incumbent Press Secretary.
The gaffe about Marcos being the only leader singled out for side meeting with Biden was unforgivable. Biden met with other US allies on the sidelines of the UNGA. They didn’t have the opportunity to gab at Queen Elizabeth’s state funeral but since they were already in that part of the globe, they just took the opportunity at the other side of the pond in New York.
There will be the usual accolades come Sunday when Marcos comes back home “triumphant” from his sales blitz. But all of these is hollow compared to the pain we average Filipinos will experience as a result of the actions of America and its European allies on the global political and economic fronts.
We should be prepared for the coming hardship of high prices and supply shortages. The economic crisis of 1983 – 1986 is nothing compared to what we are facing in 2023 and beyond.
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