{"id":13063,"date":"2022-07-17T02:45:55","date_gmt":"2022-07-17T12:45:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/?p=13063"},"modified":"2022-07-17T02:46:07","modified_gmt":"2022-07-17T12:46:07","slug":"political-fireworks-greet-bongbong-on-day-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/2022\/07\/17\/political-fireworks-greet-bongbong-on-day-one\/","title":{"rendered":"Political Fireworks Greet Bongbong On Day One"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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by Perry Diaz
<\/em>
<\/strong>June 30, 2022 marked the date of the Marcoses\u2019 return to power in the Philippines. It was the most remarkable comeback of one family that was booted out of power 36 years ago during the EDSA People Power Revolution and sent the Marcos family to exile in Hawaii.

It rained that day, which seemed foreboding of the newly inaugurated 17th President of the Philippines, Ferdinand \u201cBongbong\u201d Marcos Jr. The day\u2019s festivities included a \u201cshow of force\u201d by the Philippine military.

Tanks rolled down on the parade ground. Uniformed soldiers from the various military units of the Armed Forces of the Philippines were in their best uniforms. And across the parade ground were the dignitaries and other government officials in their best barongs to match the new President\u2019s simple barong.

In Bongbong\u2019s 26-minute inaugural address, he said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI fully understand the gravity of the responsibility that you\u2019ve put on my shoulders. I do not take it lightly, but I am ready for the task. I will need your help; I want to rely on it. But rest assured, I do not predicate success on the wide cooperation that\u2019s needed.\u201d  He asked for the people\u2019s help, but he made it clear that he doesn\u2019t need their cooperation to succeed.  So what is he going to do if he doesn\u2019t get the people\u2019s cooperation?  Declare martial law and rule by decree just like what his father did?

A divided house<\/strong>
\u201cIn this fresh chapter of our history, I extend my hand to all Filipinos. Come, let us put our shoulders to the wheel; and give that wheel a faster turn \u2014 to repair and to rebuild; and to address challenges in new ways; to provide what all Filipinos need; to be all that we can. We are here to repair a divided house; to make it whole and to stand strong again in the Bayanihan way, expressive of our nature as Filipinos.\u201d

It must be remembered that during Marcos Sr.\u2019s brutal regime, he amassed billions of dollars in unexplained wealth and was accused of looting the country\u2019s treasury. Excessive foreign borrowing plunged the Philippines into debt and millions of Filipinos were mired in poverty.

To quell dissent, he jailed political opponents, shut down media outlets, and imposed nine years of martial law, which witnessed tens of thousands of human rights violations.

Defended father\u2019s legacy<\/strong>
And after claiming victory, Bongbong vowed to be a leader \u201cfor all Filipinos.\u201d To the world, he said: \u201cJudge me not by my ancestors, but by my actions.\u201d

Hmm\u2026  But he went on to praise\u2014and defended\u2014his father\u2019s legacy and glossed over its violent past. He said his father accomplished many things that had not been done since the country\u2019s independence.

\u201cI once knew a man who saw what little had been achieved since independence in a land of people with greatest potential for achievement and yet they were poor. But he got it done,\u201d Bongbong said. \u201cSo will it be for his son. You will get no excuses from me.\u201d

Bongbong promised to bring the country back to its \u201cgolden age\u201d during his father\u2019s rule. But the truth of the matter is: The economy was in shambles when President Cory Aquino took over from Marcos in 1986.

The Central Bank was bankrupted and was put out of business. The country\u2019s gold reserves mysteriously disappeared, and the peso lost its international monetary value. It became worthless.

Bongbong took over an economy that was on the brink of imminent collapse. The exchange rate went down to P55 to the US dollar. Taxes became uncollectable including the Marcoses\u2019 estate tax, which ballooned to P203-billion.

How do you expect to collect taxes from the people when their own president refuses to pay his taxes?  Bongbong should lead by example.

Charter change<\/strong>
But on Day One of his presidency, Pampanga Rep. Aurelio Gonzales Jr. introduced a resolution to change the presidential term of office from six years without reelection to five years with one reelection.

It seems that he\u2019s more interested in laying the groundwork for him to stay in power much longer. And perhaps stay in power long enough to pass it to his son Ferdinand Alexander Araneta Marcos III, also known as \u201cSandro\u201d Marcos, who is now 28 years old. He\u2019ll be 40 years old in 12 years and would be eligible to run for president.

In his resolution, Gonzales cited the \u201coverwhelming electoral mandate\u201d that Marcos and Vice President Sara Duterte received in the May 2022 elections.

\u201cThe clear majority mandate of our new President and Vice President would be the green light from our citizenry to proceed to the discussion on Charter change,\u201d Gonzales said in a statement.

Well, things could drastically change by then.  There is no point in discussing charter change right away. Why don\u2019t they wait for a little while longer and see how Bongbong\u2019s presidency performs.

Confidence in the future<\/strong>
Bongbong must be commended for his confidence in the future: \u201cI have 110 million reasons to start with you. Such is my faith in the Filipinos.\u201d

However, he must make sure that he delivers on the promises he vowed to deliver. Otherwise, he\u2019d end up with 110 million unhappy Filipinos who would bring him down like they did to his father.

He promised food self-sufficiency as his top priority. And he will continue Duterte\u2019s \u201cBuild, Build, Build\u201d despite ballooning debt.

He also promised to fix shortcomings in Duterte\u2019s Covid response.  He also promised to pursue an independent foreign policy, which is questionably unrealistic in today\u2019s geopolitical reality where small countries have to kowtow to one of the superpowers to remain \u201cindependent.\u201d But he was mum on human rights, low on detail, and high on false claims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are certain things that he did not talk about in his address. He did not talk about the corruption cases hounding his family.

Will he keep the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG), which was created in 1986 for the sole purpose of recovering the ill-gotten wealth from the Marcoses and Marcos\u2019 cronies?

As of 2021, the PCGG said it has recovered a total of P265 billion, or P175 billion in cash and P90 billion in assets.  About P125 billion in Marcos wealth remains under litigation.

So far, Bongbong has not appointed new members of the PCGG who serve at the pleasure of the president. Until then, there is no active PCGG. Critics raised the alarm that a second Marcos presidency could undermine PCGG\u2019s mandate.

On his first day in office, Bongbong also exercised his veto power on House Bill 7575 creating the Bulacan Airport Special Economic Zone and Freeport adjacent to the proposed airport city in Bulacan province.

He justified his veto because of its provisions that \u201cpose substantial fiscal risks to the country\u201d and its \u201cinfringement on or conflict with other agencies\u2019 mandates and authorities.\u201d

Marcos also said that he decided to veto HB 7575 because it would be an additional burden to the taxpayers. He said the measure was in contrast to the government’s objective of developing a tax system with low rates and a broad tax base, as it \u201cwill significantly narrow our tax base with its mandated incentives applicable to registered enterprises.\u201d

Incidentally, the main sponsor of the bill was Sen. Imee Marcos, Bongbong\u2019s sister.

Hmm\u2026 Was this another family moro-moro? Perhaps, Bongbong should have solicited expert advice instead of killing the bill on his first day in office. It will drive away foreign investors.

The veto is reportedly seen as a sign of animosity between Bongbong and Imee, who has reportedly been pushed to the sidelines while First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos emerges as a major power broker in her husband\u2019s administration.

It seems that political fireworks have greeted Bongbong on Day One.

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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