{"id":12743,"date":"2022-07-02T06:05:22","date_gmt":"2022-07-02T16:05:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/?p=12743"},"modified":"2022-07-02T06:05:26","modified_gmt":"2022-07-02T16:05:26","slug":"is-bongbong-machiavellian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/2022\/07\/02\/is-bongbong-machiavellian\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Bongbong Machiavellian?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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REUTERS\/Eloisa Lopez<\/sub><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

by Perry Diaz

<\/em>With President-elect Ferdinand \u201cBongbong\u201d Marcos Jr. taking over the government, one must look at the people he has chosen to be his alter egos and wonder: Are they ready to run the administration or is Bongbong ready to be president on Day One?

<\/em>Looking at his published list of cabinet members, he has picked qualified\u2014except for a few misplaced appointees\u2014so far.

Bongbong appointed Clarita Carlos to be the National Security Adviser. A retired political science professor, Carlos will be the first woman to sit as National Security Adviser, a post typically given to former military officials. As National Security Adviser, Carlos will head the secretariat of the National Security Council, the principal advisory body of the president on national security and foreign policy.

<\/em>Recently, Carlos requested the National Bureau of Investigation to investigate alleged libelous posts made against her by five personalities that includes former PCGG Commissioner Ruben Carranza for his tweet last March 2022.  Hmm\u2026 Makes one wonder: Have you heard of \u201cMaking a mountain out of a molehill?\u201d

<\/em>The positions of Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Secretary of Defense, and National Security Adviser are arguably the three most important cabinet positions. They\u2019re the triumvirate that is responsible for keeping the country secure and prepared to defend from external forces.

<\/em>Defense Secretary<\/strong>
<\/em>Bongbong named retired Lieutenant General Jose Faustino Jr. as Senior Undersecretary and Officer-in-Charge of the Department of National Defense (DND). However, Faustino will assume the position of Secretary of National Defense on November 13, 2022, in compliance with the one-year ban on the appointment of retired military officers under Republic Act no. 6975.

<\/em>It\u2019s interesting to note that during the \u201cDeep Probe: The SMNI Presidential Candidates Interview,\u201d Carlos asked Bongbong whether he thinks of himself as Machiavellian.

<\/em>Bongbong\u2019s reply was: “Am I Machiavellian? Well, I’ve studied him quite thoroughly, and I know very many Machiavellians in my life.”  Needless to say, his model would be his own father, the late dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos who was a practitioner of Machiavelli\u2019s famous dictum: \u201cThe end justifies the means\u2014no matter how cruel, calculating or immoral those means might be.\u201d  His proclamation of martial law in 1972 was a classic example of Machiavellian act.

<\/em>Bongbong then explained, \u201cIt’s about knowing the situation on the ground to help achieve success.\u201d However, Merriam-Webster dictionary defines Machiavellian as suggesting the principles of conduct laid down by Machiavelli specifically: <\/strong>marked by cunning, scheming, and unscrupulous, especially in politics. Wikipedia defines Machiavellian as a personality trait centered on manipulativeness, callousness, and indifference to morality, which is more akin to the personality of Marcos Sr.

Those who exhibit high levels of Machiavellianism show signs of interpersonal manipulation, such as “the use of flattery and deceit, as well as by aloof, cynical, and traditionally amoral viewpoints adopted in order to promote their own goals\/interests,” according to a 2013 study on the personality trait.

<\/em>Machiavellian<\/em> comes from the Italian political philosopher Niccol\u00f2 Machiavelli (1469-1527), the author of the most famous treatise on bare-knuckled politics ever published, The Prince<\/em>.

<\/em>Troll Farm<\/strong>
<\/em>Bongbong\u2019s use of an \u201carmy of trolls\u201d\u2014which he admitted\u2014to win the election was another example of Machiavellianism. A YouTube video recently surfaced in which Bongbong admitted using a \u201ctroll army\u201d\u2014thousands\u2014in his campaign to \u201ckeep political fortunes alive.\u201d Then he changed his tune, claiming that his support base on social media is “organic.” He dared those who claim that he has troll farms to show evidence.”I have never had a troll farm,\u201d he said. But his YouTube confession has already gone viral!

<\/em>A Filipino-American group called US Filipinos for Good Governance (USFGG) launched a website called Troll Exposer that identified 102 trolls using public data and artificial intelligence. The site collected extensive evidence of how those accounts coordinate with each other, sharing the same propaganda that berates Robredo\u2019s intelligence, downplays her accomplishments, and tags her as a communist sympathizer.

Foreign Policy
<\/strong>Bongbong\u2019s lack of \u201cforeign policy\u201d initiatives on his official website are causing uneasiness among international community observers. He didn\u2019t have a position on the West Philippine Sea (WPS) territorial disputes. He seems to be ambivalent on where to stand.

<\/em>One thing for sure, he\u2019s been vocally supportive of China. He calls China a \u201cgood friend\u201d and the Philippines\u2019 \u201cstrongest partner\u201d and at the same time maintained that he would implement an \u201cindependent foreign policy,\u201d which amounts to nothing more than posturing.

Wait until China starts dangling infrastructure loans for the various projects that Bongbong has in mind. Wait until Chinese fishing ships start swarming in the West Philippine Sea. Wait until killer typhoons inundate the Philippines\u2019 towns and we need humanitarian assistance.

Wait until the Chinese Navy starts shooting at Philippine fishing boats in the Scarborough Shoal and Spratly Islands. Wait until Chinese drug lords increase their smuggling operations in the country. Wait until China moves to take over the mining industry in the Philippines. Wait until the Philippines falls into a Chinese debt trap.

The loans that China gave to fund Duterte\u2019s \u201cBuild, Build, Build\u201d projects will soon be due.

<\/em>With the Philippines\u2019 debt-to-GDP ratio above 60% right now, the country needs to grow between 6% and 7% on a sustainable basis, which is hard to achieve under the dire economic situation.

The Marcos Jr. administration would be forced to raise taxes, defer tax reductions, and repeal certain tax exemptions to reduce the anticipated huge deficits. And it would certainly help a little bit if the Marcos family would pay off their P203-billion tax liability. How does Bongbong expect the people to pay their taxes if their president refuses to pay the taxes his family owed?

Right now, the Philippines\u2019 economic troubles are immense. Is the Philippines ready to put as collateral its sovereignty like what\u2019s happening to Sri Lanka, Kenya, Pakistan, Malaysia, and several others who had fallen prey to China\u2019s debt trap diplomacy? The numbers are getting there. It\u2019s just a matter of time.

<\/em>And once again, Bongbong will have to deal with Xi Jinping, the grand master of Machiavellianism.

<\/em>PERRY DIAZ<\/strong> is a writer, columnist and journalist who has been published in more than a dozen Filipino newspapers in five countries.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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