Back in the 2022 Philippine Presidential Elections, it came down to a choice between a notorious yellowtard candidate (and a bumbling simpleton who can’t even manage to get herself out of humiliating political ads) and someone who promised to continue and steer the country to where then-widely popular Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte pointed it.
The yellow cult candidate was Leni Robredo and the latter was of course Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr.
That time, most people—not including yellow cultists and Commie/NPA supporters, of course—have already made up their minds on who they’ll vote for. It was obvious. Robredo was the embodiment of the traditional and mediocre politics that defined the Philippines since 1986.
And Marcos, being the whipping boy of the yellows and their allies for decades, was the underdog. And being an avowed supporter of Duterte and his policies, was clearly the man for the job; if only to wipe out and erase the scourge of yellowtard infestation and their opportunist commie counterparts out of Philippine politics once and for all.
If only for that.
Never mind domestic and foreign policies.
If only of for that. People were willing to lower the bar a bit as far as standards are concerned. Especially when he’s coming at the heels of an actual working president who had tangible and quantifiable results in terms of managing a country in the middle of a pandemic and drug-related crimes that were felt at the grassroots level of Philippine society.
Fast forward two years later and we have a president who’s more jaundiced than all hepatitis patients in existence in terms of work ethics, domestic, and foreign policies. Political observers commented what we have now is a deja vu of the BS Aquino years. And that’s not even including his fondness for motherhood statements delivered in a flawless, TRAPO manner.
In a recent article, former ambassador Rigoberto Tiglao wrote:
Of course, Marcos, with his family, wields the powers and enormous benefits of the presidency under the Constitution, but he has done after two years little, if any, to lead the nation.
By leadership, I mean what former president Duterte did. He waged a war against drugs, even if bloody, and broke the back of this scourge. He accelerated infrastructure construction through his build-build-build program. He enacted a Comprehensive Tax Reform Program which has strengthened government finances. He doubled our soldiers’ and policemen’s salaries, which was a factor in the low crime rates during his term. He all but dismantled the communist insurgency. Why, he undertook seemingly small reforms, such as the cleanup of the Manila Bay coast and the “detoxification” of Boracay, that demonstrated how much government can do if it puts its mind to it.
What leadership has Marcos demonstrated? His 27 trips to 17 countries (or about every month so far), for each of which he boasted billions of dollars in investment pledges that have not materialized to this day? His creation of the Maharlika Investment Fund launched in February 2023, financed by the central bank and Development Bank of the Philippines taxpayers’ money that so far has not invested a single dollar anywhere. His holding of the agriculture portfolio for 17 months that led to roller-coaster prices in agriculture products and delayed urgent reforms in the Agriculture Department? The fall in the value of the peso from P55.7 to the dollar to yesterday’s P59 — expected to hit P60?
However, Marcos’ biggest “non-leadership” is with regard to our antagonistic relations with China and the country’s reversion to a US puppet, a dangerous status for us in the new geopolitical situation involving China’s plan to recover its rogue province Taiwan. For the first time since the Cold War ended in 1991, we have been put in the cross-hairs of the nuclear missile launchers of China, North Korea and even Russia.
Nice, right? Happy days are here again for the filthy lucre and insanely greedy vultures in the upper echelons of Pinoy society.
If there’s one truly positive thing people can really get from this Marcos presidency, it’s the knowledge that the decades-long Marcos-Aquino tug-of-war is a monumental joke at the average Filipino’s expense.
And that popular “NEVER AGAIN” yellowtard slogan applies to both families.
Friendly lurker, at your service.