Can Risa Hontiveros build a peoples’ coalition?
Analysis and Opinion
By Joe America
Senator Hontiveros will be leaving the Senate this year at the end of her second term. She is impeccably and uniquely qualified to build a unified peoples’ coalition. She is respected by the left, the right, and everybody but criminals, dynasts, and China’s spies.
She almost single-handedly revealed the Pogo criminal gangs and got them chased out. She is a humanist of the first order, and her advocacies reflect a kind of national patriotism that is rare in the Philippines, and certainly not evident among self-dealing dynasts. She is respected by both Leni Robredo and Sonny Trillanes, a powerful pair of endorsements. Her accomplishments during her two terms in the Senate are astounding: Hontiveros Wiki
What would she have to do?
Organize things. She need not be the designated presidential candidate, but she could be. She would need to pull the oppositionist tribes together as a unified effort, each willing to sacrifice a policy or two to build a powerful, unified oppositionist force. An everyday EDSA, a pink revolution twice as powerful as Robredo’s, a jobs-movement unlike anything seen before. Specifically:
- Form an executive council (include Robredo, Belmonte, Trillanes, Colmenares, others) and name the coalition.
- Develop a very simple policy agenda.
- Pro jobs and careers
- Anti-China
- Anti-corruption
- Develop a mainstream media strategy and execute it.
- Develop a social media pyramid structure, as Duterte did, but issue truths, not lies.
- Raise money from the business community.
- Select 2028 candidates.
- Get President Marcos’ endorsement.
It is not an opposition to the existing government. It is an opposition to entitlement, impunity, and corruption.
Its single most important goal should be to build OPPORTUNITY into people’s lives, and from that, a brand of patriotism not now very strong in the Philippines. A true sense of national identity.
___________________________
Cover photo from PhilStar article “Palace should urge Beijing to recall ambassador over ‘disgraceful statements’ – Hontiveros“.
The Society of Honor by Joe America 
Yes she can
I think so too.
Great idea! Hope she sees this post and rises to the challenge. Though of course one can always lead a horse to water but not make it drink. (Example: Leni, after 2022.) Permission to share in a few pinkish Viber groups.
That would be terrific, indeed. Her staff follow me on Twitter so perhaps they will.
i suppose getting Bongbong’s endorsement is pivotal.
but who will be using whom will also be a question to be answered. maybe Romualdez will vehemently protest.
It would help immensely. If President Marcos endorses Romualdez and Romualdez loses, it has him leaving office a “loser”. If he wants to go out a winner, I don’t think he will endorse Romualdez. Horrid polling numbers. If the VP wins, he loses.
pbbm can convince romualdez to be on his side and support whoever pbbm supported. romualdez owe pbbm a lot in terms of status, influence and access to state assets normally not accessible to congressmen by constantly accompanying pbbm when pbbm goes on state visits abroad even though romualdez is not foreign secretary. on his own, romualdez dont have the numbers to bid for a higher position when I think, he may even be hard pressed to win a reelection in congress. hopefully romualdez can curb his ambition from rearing its ugly head before his and pbbm’s political party loses the people’s trust by their infighting and lack of cohesion. at the moment, there is a case brewing against romualdez, and will need pbbm’s support to win his case.
the best thing romualdez can do is show gratitude and appreciation and not be a thorn to pbbm’s side.
That’s true. Fascinating to watch it play out.
The Philippines pin its hopes on a candidate endorsed by PBBM of the Marcos dynasty? Wow, I’m really out of touch of happenings in the Philippines.
People died opposing the Marcos dictatorship. The country was bankrupted. I recall this from Lee Kuan Yew’s Memoirs:
>>>Ferdinand Marcos, Sr. asked Lee Kuan Yew for a loan to pay an installment on the interest due on Philippine foreign debt in 198315. This request came after the assassination of Benigno Aquino Jr., which resulted in foreign banks stopping all loans to the Philippines. At that time, the Philippines was in debt by over $25 billion and unable to pay the interest due1.
Specifically, Marcos sent his minister for trade and industry, Bobby Ongpin, to ask Lee Kuan Yew for a loan of $300-500 million to meet the interest payments15. Lee Kuan Yew reportedly looked Ongpin straight in the eye and said, “We will never see that money back.” Lee also added that what was needed was a strong, healthy leader, not more loans.<<<
More than 2 links puts a comment in moderation. President Marcos, the son, is the sitting President. If he were to endorse a “good governance” presidential candidate such as Leni Robredo, you’d advise Ms. Robredo to decline the endorsement and lose, or accept it and win?
“…you’d advise Ms. Robredo to decline the endorsement and lose, or accept it and win?” – Joe Am
Like I said, I’ve been away so long, I forget the choices. My choice would be to decline the endorsement, and win. If she accepted the endorsement of the man who stole the elections last time around (and got away with it easily), and won (as you say), let me ask this: “What would she have won?” Politics is politics, whether in the Philippines or even here in the USA. A Marcos endorsement would demand reciprocity. What would that demand be? And again…what would Robredo have won?
My reflections on this go to the lesson of Rizal in Fr. Florentino’s soliloquy. He admonishes Simoun for having a noble goal, yet choosing an immoral means. Is that lesson just for the classroom, and not for the real world? Maybe Marcos, Jr. used such an argument to achieve a victory in that last election so that he could “redeem the name of his family”….a noble cause, at least in his mind….hence he can sleep well at night.
have you seen the bags under his eyes! those are probly not signs of having good night sleep, haha. climate change and horrid weather have made our country and or people prone to the whiles of nature, with massive flooding, landslides and torrential rain that make children stayed out of school, their classrooms destroyed, their schools flooded, etc. plus a totally aggressive china hell bent on giving us hell is challenging our sovereign waters and making the life of our coast guard ultra perilous. often massing on our eez, china’s armed flotilla harassed our fisherfolks, our marine biodiversity woefully diminished, china’s massive reclaimed structures coming closer to our shores.
and now, his own vice president as well as his own sister have joined the foray and make his presidency not an absolute a walk in the park. make him nearly walk on broken bottles and turning against him. in times like this, his enemies are better behaved, more principled and showed decorum than those who claimed to his friends. and if he turns to his one time enemies for a change of pace and his own better peace of mind, he is well within his right.
incidentally, bong marcos won majority votes of ofws in singapore last presidential election 2022. the late lee kwan yew must be ecstatic to know that his descendant lee hsieh long one time prime minister of singapore is friend of president bong marcos. singapore and our country have cordial relationship with singapore being the go to place for wealthy filipinos seeking health and medical care.
“…and if he turns to his one time enemies for a change of pace and his own better peace of mind, he is well within his right.” – Kasambahay
Yeah…but my concern is that people like Robredo or Hontiveros not exercise their right to align themselves with someone like Marcos, Jr. I would rather they not do that. Like my adult son says, I’m an idealist. 🙂
I recall that Cory Aquino eventually aligned herself with some of those who were part of the group responsible for the assassination of Ninoy Aquino. Buhay sa Pilipinas.
leni has already shaken hands with bong marcos, and has also shaken hands with sara duterte. love of country and the will to serve filipinos are hallmarks of good politicians, transcending petty politics. ex pres noy went all his way to shake hands with blood thirsty moros for the sake of peace, kickstarting peace process.
I hope you dont have a low regard of leni and risa that they will align to mean they will be corrupt and plunder the nation the way makoy did.
methink what leni and risa need is president marcos’ endorsement, not alignment to his political party. leni and risa are not of the same political persuasion as president marcos. though in our system, it is okay for one party to endorse others in another party.
“I hope you don’t have a low regard of Leni and Risa that they will align to mean they will be corrupt and plunder the nation the way makoy did.” – Kasambahay
Perhaps not low regard, but lower regard. I’m an idealist, sorry. I would consider alignment with crooks as condoning their behavior. I love the story of Harry Truman. Early in his political career, a fellow I believe from his hometown offered to finance his campaign. The guy was known for his connections with organized crime. Truman needed the money so he accepted it on one condition: That the man would never ask him to do anything that was not above board. The man said yes, and was true to his death. That fellow died while Truman was president of the US. Truman said he was going to attend the man’s funeral. His close circle of advisers advised against it, because they said people would say things that would affect his political future which was far from over yet. Truman insisted…they had an agreement on a handshake that lasted until the man died, and Truman felt he owed the fellow attendance at his funeral. I love stories like that.
Idealism is not seen as a virtue by many.
“Every form of addiction is bad, no matter. whether the narcotic be alcohol or morphine or idealism.” Carl Jung
“Inside every cynical person, there is a disappointed idealist.” George Carlin
“The idealist is incorrigible: if he is thrown out of his heaven he makes an ideal of his hell.” Friedrich Nietzsche
I write often about 100 percenters who always want things their way. They criticize relentlessly, striving for a perfection that just cannot be. They refuse to negotiate and are the main reason the Philippines remains tribal. There MUST be some “give” to make progress.
Looking at how different places developed, usually they didn’t start out as clean. They got rich first before they could afford to become cleaner, I guess. Virtue is often just a lack of opportunity, Oscar Wilde once said, so I am indeed suspicious of moral purists.
Now, if CV acts as if he didn’t know what Maalikaya along Quezon Avenue was, I shall be very suspicious as even Will and Sonny know ABOUT that place. A place to go to heaven..
Back to politics, Marcos Jr. could indeed do for the Philippines what King Juan Carlos did for Spain after he grew up as Franco’s protege but enabled change after Franco died. He ended nearly two centuries of conflict in a country full of cabeza cuadrado (squareheaded) 100%ers..
I used to engage in business negotiations where partnerships are formed around documents shaped by attorneys acting as mouthpieces for businesspeople, translating wants into commitments that were never 100% what either side wanted. Ideals are guideposts, intellectual commitments, but if they don’t bend to new facts, it seems to me they are another form of ignorance. I was for sure ignorant in arriving in the Philippines, but have been beaten into submission. lol
I like that King Juan Carlos analogy a lot. Exactly what is needed here.
“Back to politics, Marcos Jr. could indeed do for the Philippines what King Juan Carlos did for Spain after he grew up as Franco’s protege but enabled change after Franco died. He ended nearly two centuries of conflict in a country full of testa cuadrado (squareheaded) 100%ers..” – Irineo
Interesting….I’m not familiar with that part of Spanish history (or any part really). I must look it up. One difference I can surmise from the comparison is how Juan Carlos got to the top position. He didn’t have to steal it, right? What I am suspicious of is when a person uses foul means to achieve an objective, and then changes his spots, so to speak.
I don’t believe that Marcos Jr. stole the last election. His winning margin was too big. We have to accept that even if we don’t understand those who voted him. Kasambahay here was on the ground campaigning for VP Leni. I was admin of a social media page supporting her. The Marcos mythology simply won, and in fact, you will see the face of Marcos Jr. on many strange YT channels extolling the very real stuff being built in the Philippines now. New Society online. Let us even be happy that Imee is not in power. Marcos Jr. has turned Feb 25 into a working holiday and thus reduced its importance but not abolished it. Imee might have books that write history she doesn’t like, and even historians burnt. Inday Sara would clearly pivot to China. You want moral purity, or a Philippines we don’t recognize anymore – in a very bad way?
My worry, Irineo, is that the election was stolen. My reason for the worry is that I fear the die is cast for future elections and it does not bode well for the democracy of the Philippines. Here is a synopsis of an assessment I got from a private individual, who did vote in the elections. He is an auditor and thus auditing is his field. Note especially the point about a consistent 47% lead of BBM over different times and regions. This means that BBM was just as strong in the Ilocos Region as he was in the Bicol Region. Not probable, unless pre-programed. Just for what it is worth…
Synopsis of the Report
The report raises concerns about potential election fraud in the May 9, 2022 Philippine elections and questions the role of PPCRV (Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting) in validating the results. It argues that PPCRV and its volunteers, though well-intentioned, may be unwittingly validating incorrect election results rather than exposing potential fraud.Main Points of the Report:
Conclusion
The report claims that election fraud is probable and that PPCRV’s validation process may be complicit in covering it up, even if unintentionally. It demands a manual vote recount as the only credible method to confirm or refute the election results.<<<
During the campaign period, I kept asking people in my cyber discussion group (like this group, composed of people in the Philippines and in the diaspora) what the Robredo campaign was doing about the threat of cheating. I got no response. Who inspects the vote counting machines BEFORE the elections? Were those the Smartmatics?
My purpose is just to show why I, from thousands of miles away, believe the election was stolen. I don’t mean to start a discussion back and forth on who is right or who is wrong about stolen vs. legit.
My information on the vote corresponds to the graphic shown below, which indeed had VP Leni winning in Bikol, the martial-law ravaged parts of Samar that have not forgotten what happened a generation ago, most of Panay and half of Negros. I wasn’t the only Pink who checked this.
The report you partly quoted implies that Marcos got 47% everywhere, which is not probable, and it looks like it did not happen. VP Leni, in her almost last campaign speech in Naga where she spoke in Bikol, had estimated 2 million people on the streets. Bikol has 5 million people.
It is possible that you misunderstand my idealism, Joe Am. This is my idealism and I quote my teacher in college (it was in a business class): “We can never reach the ideal. We can only hope to approximate it.” Now is considering Leni’s ONLY HOPE (your contention) an endorsement from PBBM an effort at approximating an ideal?
I would say it is not. Is the pathway of the Philippines from independence in 1946 to today a series of efforts to approximate an ideal, or a total abandonment of ideals, perhaps even seeing adherence to such as an addiction that should be avoided?
That is what I see. When I deviate from what I perceive to be the ideal, I know what I am deviating from. What bothers me is when people do less (in some cases much much less) than the ideal, and have no idea what they are deviating from. When I settle for “puede na”…I know I am settling for less than the best. Most of the time I try for better than “puede na”….and on rare occasions I strive to approximate the ideal as my teacher exhorted us to do. But when mediocrity is the standard, even after obvious setbacks to the community (or for that matter country) as a whole, then I start to get annoyed and disappointed at the people I live with.
I grew up a two blocks away from the home of Carlos Ysmael. He had a beautiful high wall such that you could not see the house from the street, except maybe the roof. I think only once did I see a car leave from the driveway…there was a guard, I think. Even as a little boy in short pants, I thought that I would never want to have to live like that…where you have to put up huge barriers to leave people out.
Expand that attitude to the gated communities in the Philippines. Many of those who live in those communities have the collective power to take the Philippines to a higher level….if they were to strive to approximate the ideal for a country the sort of which Rizal envisioned for the Philippines, or Lee Kuan Yew for Singapore, and so on as there are other visionaries like those for So. Korea and Taiwan, and possibly even Thailand and Vietnam. But do they….or do they see compromise with good principles (I won’t even say their principles because I may not agree with such principles) as the first option, and not the last?
Just my thoughts on the subject over a good cup of java in the morning!
@cdvictory, The difference between our views is that you would see a Marcos endorsement as dragging Robredo into the mud and I see it as Marcos doing his best to climb out of the mud. Because Leni Robredo is resistant to mud. A veritable mud teflon repellant. If Robredo wins without a Marcos endorsement, the nation remains tribal. If Robredo wins with a Marcos endorsement, the Philippines becomes a real nation. That’s my vision. It’s okay if you don’t see it. I agree it requires accepting Marcos as someone who does care about the Philippines and Filipinos. Not something we can know.
Many Filipinos, especially those raised in old school Filipino nationalism believe the Philippines is a true nation because it is defined as one. That is as deluded as believing the Philippines is just and humane because the preamble of the 1987 Constitution says so. Or that Filipinos are good Christians because they are baptized and make the sign of the cross when passing a church..
Things can only become real if one acknowledges how they are NOW.
Sinners can become better people. A collection of groups that mostly care for themselves alone can become a stronger community called a nation..
Yes. It seems to me a nation is a group of people working to help and protect everyone, not just the entitled. Well, it is a country because it has a geography. But it’s weak as a nation, and the people suffer accordingly.
“Many Filipinos, especially those raised in old school Filipino nationalism believe the Philippines is a true nation because it is defined as one.” – Joe Am
I’m with you on this Joe. I thought we were a nation because of the songs we sang in school and the pledges of allegiance we did. Then Rizal said “In the Philippines, a man in an individual, not part of a nation.” I examined the evidence and found that I agree with him. It was true back then, and it is true today.
Some years ago I read of a Congressman from the Sulo area who was giving a speech in Congress. He lamented that when his region of the Philippines was suffering from whatever, natural disasters or conflict with Muslims vs. the military, he got little sympathy from his fellow solons. He said “When one part of our country hurts, we should all feel the pain.” Sounds like St. Paul, eh? But imagine having to preach that to your fellow representatives of the people some 50 years after granting of independence, and over 100 years after the establishment of the elected Philippine Assembly while still under American rule.
Totally tribal then and now. That’s the point of the coalition-building idea. Think about how to unify around a commitment to country, not just join parties to win elections without grasping that real unity requires giving, not demanding.
“That’s the point of the coalition-building idea. Think about how to unify around a commitment to country,…” – Joe Am
Wow, I thought I was the idealist. The reality is, if you mention to a Pinoy politician “unify around a commitment to country…” I’m afraid you will get a puzzled look as in “What you talking about?”
“… not just join parties to win elections without grasping that real unity requires giving, not demanding.” – Joe Am
I remember a movie years ago about Olympic competition….someone is giving one of the speeches to the athletes assembled in the center part of the track oval and he says “Winning isn’t everything….” The coach of one of the athletes whispers into the ear of his athlete: “Don’t you believe that!”
Your words are noble, Joe…but I’m afraid our politicians and possibly even our fellow citizens back home have no idea what you are talking about.
My wife’s side of the family is into politics, mainly in the Mindoro region. When Marcos, Sr. fell, wife’s sister was on the phone from the Bay Area to political relatives back home who had to lay low for so many years because they were not loyalists to Marcos. Finally they were free! She shared with me the sentiment from her relatives: “Wala na si Marcos, kami naman!” That meant “it was our turn to reap the financial benefits of being a politician.” That sister had lived here in the States some 10 years already, and was saddened by that reaction. I believe she was not alone among Filipinos who were saddened. Wasn’t there someone in our group here whose doctor parents returned from the Philippines to the US after what they perceived as the failure of the EDSA revolution?
“…not just join parties to win elections …”
In my opinion, especially in Philippine politics, the ONLY reason you join parties is to win elections. Remember, Marcos, Sr. was a lifelong Liberal Party member. I think he even became president of the party. But in 1965, the incumbent Macapagal was the LP’s candidate for president, so Marcos, Sr. switched to the Nacionalista Party to be their candidate for president. He won that election. It was true then, I am pretty sure it is true now. Correct me if I am wrong.
You are right. And that is the inertia that enables the opposition (left and liberals) to keep losing. They are tribal like everyone else rather than developing the ability to form an alliance. 100 percenters, they are.
I am quite ignorant about tribalism and Philippine politics, especially national politics.
No, you understand the fluidity of political parties. That’s it.
joeam, that would be great if leni become president come 2028, truly.
but the hardest work before that is the three months nation wide campaign prior to election. that is why I seek pbbm’s endorsement of leni, that she got his blessing. so she can campaign in his bailiwick freely, unfettered and safely, no halls and venues suddenly fully booked and closing their doors on leni, power failure and sound system suddenly made useless, guard dogs not sent to harass door knockers like me, people throwing projectiles at us as we pass by their houses, no thugs driving us out of premises, confiscating our campaign materials and shoving us around. that people in his bailiwick will behave and be cordial because leni is pbbm’s endorsee.
as well, with pbbm’s endorsement, people in his bailiwick can vote for leni without thinking it a betrayal to pbbm’s cause, that voting for leni will not cause them to lose jobs and incurred penalties. because she is pbbm’s endorsee.
what I want is pbbm’s endorsement, is all, and we will do the rest.
Makes sense. My view tries to look at it through Marcos eyes.
“what I want is pbbm’s endorsement, is all, and we will do the rest.” – Kasambahay
But is that a realistic expectation in politics? Is that a realistic expectation when dealing with a Marcos in politics? As I understand it, the Marcos estate owes the Philippines billions, and PBBM is executor of the estate and refuses to hand it over. PBBM loves the Philippines? Probably because it is his ATM machine.
But that is just me. To those of you who are possibly working for Robredo or maybe even Hontiveros to be the next president, more power to your folk. And if you have to compromise principles to achieve the end, well you are the boots on the ground so I bow to you. My point is that I find it unfortunate that you have to do that. It, to me, is like not having any respect for the Filipino voter….who probably does not deserve such respect as a voter for a head of state.
I understand that you cannot teach a person to walk before it learns to crawl. I remember when Lee Kuan Yew said that he forced farmers into high rise tenement housing, he at first allowed them to bring their pigs and chickens into their units. He said it would have been too much to force them to both move AND leave their animals behind. But after 3 years he forced them to leave their animals somewhere else. He figured that was enough time for them to mature a little.
Compromising principles is necessary in democracy. That’s what elections are about, who wins, who loses and compromises until the next election. Dictators demand loyalty and unbending obedience. It is the compromises that democracy requires that is the most elegant, and hardest, part.
Bongbong Marcos is a real President. He’s 67. His mother is still alive, so he is still the kid, too, I suppose. His taxes and wealth gained wrongly are cases to be dealt with under law and the forces of politics and favor, which is a part of Philippine due process. You are only guilty here if you get caught, not if you cheat.
The goal is a mature, honest, functioning democracy. Who cares about Bongbong Marcos’ “crimes” if we can get there. Work the cases, sure, but don’t toss democracy out the window because it is tainted with wrongdoing. The Philippines for 125 years has been thick with wrongdoings. Who cares. Let’s stop tying the nation to its damaged history and get on with being whole and grown up. You cannot make an orphan a natural child, but you can help him become honest and responsible. If Bongbong Marcos helps, he takes nothing from our principles. He helps us hold on to them.
“Compromising principles is necessary in democracy. That’s what elections are about, who wins, who loses and compromises until the next election. Dictators demand loyalty and unbending obedience. It is the compromises that democracy requires that is the most elegant, and hardest, part.” – Joe Am
Thanks for the short post, which I find full of nuggets to comment on that I can’t do it all in one sitting.
The one word I learned here in the US (spent the first 27 years of my life in the Philippines) is the word “consensus” with regard to politics. I like it better than “compromise.” I don’t see elections as about who wins or who loses. For most politicians, yes. But for those citizens who want a good democracy, I would say elections are more about who we think can “keep the Republic” as Ben Franklin put it, not whose turn it is to plunder the public treasury.
I have been away from the Philippines for a very long time so you can tell me what it is for the average Pinoy, and I believe it is as you put it. What I like about you is that you are aware of it and can articulate it well.
I agree with you as to what it is. I disagree with you in your effort to make it the foundation of what you call “a mature, honest, functioning democracy.” I would call that a foundation of sand, as the expression goes.
What are some of the principles I am speaking of: strong institutions, rule of law, and ethical governance. I believe that if our leaders (and ourselves, like you and me) do not hold these principles in high regard, our democracy is headed down the tubes. If we are too easily persuaded to compromise them (which was the opening point of my post that started this thread), then I am not optimistic of the democratic future of the Philippines. A professor at the Ateneo de Manila (he is in his 80s, I believe, so was very much around even during the Marcos, Sr. years), said of the Philippines under Duterte that it was a “de facto dictatorship.” Is it still a de facto dictatorship? I don’t know. I’m not close enough to see it. I suspect that it is. I suspect that “we the people” do not know any better.
You are optimistic about this democracy built on what I call a foundation of sand. I’m not. We can agree to disagree on that. Oh, speaking of pragmatism, in other discussions I have even been open to China’s take over of the Philippines, if it will feed more mouths. Bad news for the minority rich…but maybe a better life for the majority poor?! Who knows?
“strong institutions, rule of law, and ethical governance”, excellent, excellent principles. The sand of which you speak is human intellectual and moral failings that permit greed and self-interest to become more important than your principles. They are everywhere, but historically very persistent in the Philippines. Your principles ruled the US until Trump which shows that sand can get dumped by the truckload on our hopes and even wealth. My optimism is based on the Aquino success. It can be done again, to remove a whole lot of sand, fast.
As for pragmatics and China, I agree with you. That’s why I insisted that my son learn Mandarin. This is Asia, after all.
“Bongbong Marcos is a real President. He’s 67. His mother is still alive, so he is still the kid, too, I suppose. His taxes and wealth gained wrongly are cases to be dealt with under law and the forces of politics and favor, which is a part of Philippine due process. You are only guilty here if you get caught, not if you cheat.” – Joe Am
His father was a real president too. He became the dictator under the legal process of creating conditions to declare Martial Law. The executive branch is responsible for executing the law. Under the law, the Marcos kleptocracy was proven guilty and told to pay back the country. So that has been “dealt with under the law” as you put it. Real president BBM is responsible for executing the law. Conveniently, he is also executor of the Marcos estate, so he can slam dunk it through….if he loves the Philippines (which he doesn’t). Marcos, Sr. was guilty and got caught. What’s next? What will the powerful head of the Marcos Political Dynasty (who supposedly loves the Philippines) do as head of the Executive Branch responsible for enforcing the law?
“if he loves the Philippines (which he doesn’t)” . . . that is where we collide. He actually works hard, buzzing about by helicopter attending multiple events a day. Or traveling to other countries or meeting with an endless trek of visiting dignitaries here. He does not demand things, but speaks frankly. He does not seem bitter about the rude Dutertes. He seems to have toned down his party life, no longer visiting the car races in Singapore, I believe. He is attuned to criticism. What drives him then, if not love for the Philippines? He could coast, or re-jig the Constitution. He does not have to be so diligent to protect his money.
I’ve never much liked him as a Senator. Stuffed shirt blowhard. But I also think the Marcos haters here (Riassa Robles) are fitting events into history, not fitting them into the individual, Bongbong Marcos. He should be judged by the sum of his acts, good and bad in our estimations. Not on his father’s misdeeds. I see growth in him, and merely urge him to grow one step further as a final statement of who he is.
Could be, there’s a lot we don’t know. But a lot we do, and we can see the President working hard to try to build a legacy by building alliances and being seen helping the struggling poor. We also can see that the Robredo camp did not challenge the election. A private group did and is trying to get COMELEC to open up its reports for inspection. Until we know, we don’t know.
Robredo is diplomatic, always. She holds no bitterness against anyone, it seems. If President Marcos can heal the nation through his endorsement, and Robredo accepts it, I see no bad result.
“If President Marcos can heal the nation through his endorsement, and Robredo accepts it, I see no bad result.” – Joe America
I do….I see the status quo, if not worse – a few very rich, a whole lot very poor…and very few in between. Here in the US it is trending towards that. We put a convicted felon in the White House because we liked what he said. For the most part, we are not idealists here.
Now you have a special income arrangement. If the peso devalues, your income does not devalue, right? Isn’t it pegged to the dollar?
Way back in the early 2000s, I knew this fellow who had a lot of wealth, but especially his wife did not like the US and they immigrated back to Spain where I believe his wife is from. He may be from Mexico, not sure. But they owned a lot of rental properties here. So they moved back to Spain, but had an American income from the rental properties. I think they went with two young kids, one in 7th grade, the other younger.
He had at least one adult child, I think from an earlier marriage, who managed the properties while he was in Spain. He would come back in the summer to check things out. Great deal, eh? Spanish cost of living, SF Bay Area income!
Meanwhile, the homeless population here continues to be a problem…they don’t have the choice of this Spanish resident.
Leni Robredo as President would not be status quo. For sure. But we can just disagree, no problem.
https://opinion.inquirer.net/144747/tax-debt-of-the-marcos-estate
joeam, sorry about this but I’ll just sabit the link here. much talk about what could have been, but never have been as regard the marcoses estate tax.
methink, the last sentence of the article is clear, ex pres duterte by his inaction has waived the estate tax burden of the marcoses. and if the dutertes thought the marcoses owe them big and will be grateful to them for life, they are clearly mistaken! pbbm’s presidency got in the way, and his duties to our country seemingly outweighs the hold of the dutertes over him. big fallout the dutertes and the marcoses are currently having with sara facing impeachment despite pbbm’s wish to the contrary.
I think, pbbm did try his hardest best to accommodate the dutertes, but sara went too far.
and like what is said, to the winner the spoils.
Well, the song below is something that fits and might even have been sung by Imelda Marcos sometimes, who knows.. 🎶 🎵
thanks, Irineo. not big on ABBA, our meldy is. but big on feelings yan and often breaks out on signing the song, feelings and also the song, dahil sa ‘yo. may crush yata yan kay george hamilton, the american actor na mukhang sioke, haha. ginusto rin nyan si richard clayderman, the american pianist. but being married to makoy and all the riches in the swiss bank, had made meldy stick to the straight and narrow of the marriage vows for better or for worse.
god forbade, makoy would probly have plied his charms on agnetha had ABBA toured our country in the 70s.
there was a time I had wanted to shot bjorn for what agnetha went through, the sod!
nice song by the way, the winner takes it all.
Oh, my. 203 billion. Duterte did nothing for 5 years so it’s now not collectable. No wonder he is not really interested in fighting with the Dutertes but the Dutertes keep bashing him. Well, it seems magic money to me at this point, Monopoly money, not real. It will not be collected and I have no angers left to spend so don’t mind moving on. Thanks for the article. Justice Carpio is one of the last remaining historically great Filipinos. Now we are into the tinniness of actors and dynastic quacks.
“Well, it seems magic money to me at this point, Monopoly money, not real.” – Joe Am
I remember meeting a Filipina here who was going home to the Philippines to vote for BBM. She said he promised 1 million pesos (I think) to people who would vote for him and she wanted to collect. Talk about monopoly money, eh? But he got her vote!
My auditor/accountant “kilala” in the Philippines estimate around 700 billion pesos is lost annually to corruption in the government. Monopoly money…. 🙂
I do admire the tenacity of the Jews in continuing to preserve the memory of the Holocaust (sin of the past?). There is that group that tries to promote the lie that it never happened…much like BBM and his “kakampis” want to erase from Phil. history the abuses of his late father (and keep any of his abuses from becoming part of Phil. history). Talk about being “worthy of the liberties that you seek.” (quoting Rizal).
Oh, for sure corruption in the Philippines is real money. But Marcos tax money owed is in the realm of illusive where laws and politics and greed do battle and my puny human existence has no capacity to understand or determine outcomes. We’d also have to define “lost”. I’d say misdirected. It builds nice homes for the corrupt, hires some people, and generally stays in the Philippines. Poor return on investment. Not lost.
“Poor return on investment. Not lost.” – Joe Am
Regardless, it is gone, not available to a people who need it, plus all future funds that people like PBBM continue to steal. Renaming it does not take away what it is. Calling the very poor “E” does not make them less poor, as is probably hoped by leaders in the Philippines.
Well, we are either particular in our honesty or not honest. Corruption is an accepted practice for mayors and agency people. The whole-of-government approach is to continue to pass money to LGUs in the form of unallocated funds or construction projects. The LGUs convert 30% +/- to personal commissions. As we accept that China might actually employ a lot of Filipinos well, and feed them better than they are fed now, then we can look at the pragmatics of corruption and see that it exists as a result of low salaries and a recasting of what is missing here, career opportunities with international level salaries, in the form of just grabbing the opportunities in cash. It’s why the brilliant Lee Kuan Yew immediately raised salaries for government workers and then strictly banned corruption.
Until Philippine leaders grasp concepts like future, careers, and opportunity, we can accept that corruption is just high salaries, but the salaries are going to slugs instead of productive workers. It is not lost money. It is badly spent money.
“It’s why the brilliant Lee Kuan Yew immediately raised salaries for government workers and then strictly banned corruption.” – Joe Am
Huh? He didn’t compromise his principles like you said is necessary for a democracy to work? Just kidding…Lee not only banned corruption, he punished it SEVERELY if anyone was caught…and if you were corrupt, the chance of getting caught was very high. And then, and this may be tough for you to swallow, HE HIMSELF WAS NOT CORRUPT. His opponents looked deeply for any skeleton in his closet….wala!
Before he took over, and while still under the British, corruption was rampant in Singapore, pretty much part of the culture. Lee did not use that as an excuse.
And whether money is lost, or badly spent…is there a difference to the illegal sidewalk vendor trying to eke out a living? I believe “Maharlika” has to do with royalty. Does naming PBBM’s “surplus” fund Maharlika make it royal? In the end, I would not be surprised if future generations of Filipinos refer to it as the “Kurakot Fund.” 🙂
Of course we can agree to disagree on all this. Except for the show, actual trending of BBM’s progress for the country does not bode well. How is he doing on inflation, cost of living, pollution, meaningful infrastructure (to invite foreign investors), meaningful work to bring down overpriced cost of power because the power companies are earning more than the 12% legal limit, reducing the debt burden, etc. etc. Theoretically, he has only one term. His father, theoretically had only two…but legally stayed around for total of 20 years!
I think you are twisting my words in ways I did not intend and cross-matching unrelated ideas. Lee Kuan Yew saw that the motive for corruption is not greed but missing opportunity to earn wealth. So he gave government officials the opportunity to become wealthy honestly. That idea is missing in the Philippines. Until it is discovered, corruption is the way government officials can have nice things for their families. I don’t see what the argument is. Corruption is bad. It exists. The money is not lost, it is poorly dispensed. What’s the argument.
The idea of compromise as an essential part of democracy is the unnatural act of allowing other to win because voting forces that on the losers and we take it constructively and do better next election. If our principle is equality and the other side has the principle of free market profits, only one is dominant for the next term. Compromise is forced. My pet peeve is 100 percenters who simply cannot give an inch. Their way or no way. And no way ends up being the result. Filipinos have been notoriously unable to compromise and build. Again, the concept is missing. Giving an inch is losing here. No, it’s giving an inch so we can build something meaningful.
The wealth fund may be a vehicle for corruption, for sure. I don’t see how it is going to earn profits. But that is just interjecting a new point into the discussion when we haven’t agreed on the first two. A suspicion is a conspiracy theory and we have quite enough of them going around to dirty our knowledge.
Justice Carpio appreciates Marcos Jr. For fighting for our sovereignty during his watch.
Now we will have an updated map before he steps down.
The Maritime laws approved during PBBMs time is not a no big deal.
So what if one sponsors a bill, not signed no law.
Here are the two laws he signed that firm up Philippine sovereignty over its seas.
https://pco.gov.ph/news_releases/pbbm-inks-2-laws-reinforcing-ph-rights-over-its-maritime-zones/
Nice to see the Philippines beating its chest! 🙂
Well, to my point. A lazy, greedy President would not have bothered. Duterte didn’t do these things. He struck secret deals with China. One who genuinely cares about the nation would. Marcos is the sum of his deeds, and we tabulate these in the positive column of the T-chart, by far the longer column.
I think it is best that you compare BBM w/ Pnoy, not Duterte. Don’t you agree? I have this “kilala” who is an economist and spends about half of his time in the Philippines and the other half in the US. Like you, he lives high on the hog in the Philippines. He doesn’t avoid Manila like the plague…instead he has a penthouse overlooking Wack Wack golf club and he makes sure we all know about it.
I knew little of Pres. Pnoy, and thought all Phil. politicians sucked. But this guy gave me economic numbers that showed huge gains by the Philippines under Pnoy, including improvement in its international borrowing status that allowed the Philippines cheaper borrowing rates! In other words, Pnoys achievements did not just impress locals who like his showboating. He impressed number crunchers like IMF and ADB. He also ran on a campaign of going after corrupt politicians and put a lot in jail….of course Filipinos could not stand success so they elected Duterte to take them out of jail.
Anyways, for future posts, can you compare your man w/ Pnoy and not with Duterte?
No, I won’t compare Marcos to Aquino. Different men, different times. I’ll look at Marcos’ good works and his bad works and add them up, then draw a conclusion. The reference to Duterte merely underscores that President Marcos works diligently, a positive on the T-chart. I’ve written plenty about all three presidents. Here’s the one on Aquino that means the most to me. Toward the end I talk about my writing principles, which is also how I look at President Marcos.
And your point that Marcos is “my man” is quite insulting, but you are new here, quite naive, so I’ll give you a freebie.
My apologies for the insult. I assure you it wasn’t intended. Although I never engaged in cockfighting in the Philippines, we often heard and used the term “aking manok” as a figure of speech to refer to someone that you were “betting on” to get a job done. Sometimes people would say “natalo ang manok mo” even in a non-cockfighting scenario, like say maybe a boxing match. Or say you were rooting for a basketball team and particularly one superstar player, so you would say “manok ko ‘yan.” At least that is how I understood it. I may have misunderstood. We never said it in English literally – “hey, Manny Paquiao is my chicken in that fight.” It just didn’t translate well. Hence, w/ reference to your upbeat feeling about Marcos, I used “man” instead of “chicken.” Not sure if that explains it, but I do apologize.
I write to provoke discussion. And often I’m not writing to you but to people who can shake an article at someone on President Marcos’s staff who will then say, “Yo, Mr. President, here’s an idea.” Or on Senator Hontiveros’ staff. When you write a comment, consider that someone important is reading and write to him or her. Not me. I don’t make any decisions, just try to get people to think about things. Go to the Villanueva Interviews tab above and see who has been willing to do an interview for the blog. That’s who I’m writing to, often.
“When you write a comment, consider that someone important is reading and write to him or her. Not me. ” – Joe Am
I’ll try to remember that. Thanks for the tip.
Thanks for the link to your write up about lunch with Pnoy. I noticed you did not say that he loved the Philippines….unlike your comment about PBBM.
Also, you say “different men, different times.” Pnoy and BBM are practically contemporaries, almost the same age. You compare BBM to Duterte, and refuse to compare him to Pnoy….curioser and curioser….
It appears BBM has decided to continue much of what Duterte began, which is quite the opposite of Pnoy’s style and policies. BBM is only 2 years into his presidency and you seem to laud his record, though I have no idea what it is, other than photo ops, helicopter rides, travels abroad probably with huge entourages ala Nora Aunor, and the Maharlika Fund which is supposed to be a surplus fund, yet the Philippines really does not have a surplus to speak of. I rely on folks like you to fill me in on the substance of this “love” that he has for the Philippines.
Looking at Pnoy again, I can see that he loved the Philippines. Marcos, who for the most part is continuing Duterte’s policies with regard to the economy, not to mention authoritative style of governance, is to me still a work in progress. I note that since BBM took office, the peso has steadily weakened.
Anyways, keep us in the diaspora informed as the months go by. Thanks in advance.
Try reading this as well:
Joe was accused of fanboying Aquino due to that BTW, even if that conclusion on PNoy was reached after years of checking him out as a leader and even criticizing him. Same with Marcos. Originally, I thought Joe might be one of those Americans trying to find favor with a Filipino President, and in fact I messaged my father and told him I’m gonna check out if he is more like William Henry Scott (or Blumentritt) or more like John Nance and Hartzell Spence. We Filipinos at times like to jump to conclusions about people based on a very narrow perspective, and based on very little information, I try to avoid that even as I badgered Joe a lot at the start. Sakit natin ang when you know you know minsan Socrates’ I know that I know nothing is better.
Great write up by Joe Am on Noynoy Aquino. But Noynoy was a different man from a different time (or something like that, Joe said). Thus, he doesn’t compare BBM to him. I disagree with Joe on that. I believe that if you must compare, you can between the two. Incidentally, I question the greatness of Reagan, Mr. Trickledown economics. I believe it is generally accepted that the road to the current huge gap between the “have yachts” and the “have nots” is attributed to his tax plans….and the ones that followed from other presidents after him, including Democrat ones. Also, in addition to tax cuts for the rich, Reagan attacked government entitlement programs for the poor…double whammy! I arrived when Reagan took office…no homeless in our streets. Now, they are legion!
Oh, on Carter…in recent Eulogies given upon his death, I heard from a hostage survivor in Iran that their negotiated freedom was entirely the work of the Carter administration and Reagan had nothing to do with it.
I frequently reference the CSPAN rankings of presidents, done by historians who, I’d guess, shade toward liberal. A CEO’s evaluation might differ. I hope they do another soon. You can dig into the 10 subordinate evaluations to discover why the presidents were rated as they were. Reagan is ranked high overall, his economic management not so high, and slipping.
https://www.c-span.org/presidentsurvey2021/?page=overall
I did not have to say President Aquino loved the Philippines. It was and is obvious. It is material to President Marcos as motivation for endorsing a good governance presidential candidate.
I’ve explained my method, to look at each person’s achievements, for their time and issues. It works and keeps me objective. You can do it however you choose.
Who knows if President Marcos “loves” the Philippines or not. I see effort from him, and good thinking, and if he does love the Philippines, then endorsing a good governance mayor is not unreasonable to suggest. He clearly wants to rehabilitate the Marcos name, so that’s one way. And any good governance candidate should seek his endorsement, in my view.
“Who knows if President Marcos “loves” the Philippines or not.” – Joe Am
Oh, I thought you said he did. My bad. Sorry.
I’m interested now in his assessment of the country and how he intends to take the country to the next higher level, higher than where PNoy took it. Maybe we will see some essays in your blog. I enjoyed seeing how Biden brought the country back from Trump AND the pandemic. He got all those bills passed like the American Rescue Plan, Inflation Reduction Act, etc. etc. In them he addressed practical things like the economy, infrastructure, education AND he also addressed future stuff like Climate Control. He pumped money into the economy so that we could lockdown AND manage to avoid a recession. Of course it contributed to inflation, but that was predictable and the Federal Reserve went to action on that. Now I know that more voters didn’t appreciate that than did…so what the heck. Like Pinoys, Americans can’t stand success either.
CV
NEDA drives planning and President Marcos hired President Aquino’s NEDA chief to run NEDA for him. Secretary Arsenio Balisacan. You can go to the NEDA website to review the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. https://sdg.neda.gov.ph/sdgs/
NEDA drives planning? I went to the site…looks like these plans were laid down in 2015??? If Leni had won, she would have the same answer as to her plans as president?
Just thinking out loud. 🙂
Yes, NEDA drives planning. 2015 is the baseline for statistical measurement, against which progress is measured. Leni Robredo would have similar and different goals. Your statement was “I’m interested now in his assessment of the country and how he intends to take the country to the next higher level, higher than where PNoy took.” I gave you the facts, same planner as President Aquino, and the plan.
I remember growing up in the Philippines, the Chinoys were already very successful businessmen even in the corrupt environment of the Philippines. They knew how to operate within the system. I was told that Chinese businessmen kept two sets of books – one that they show the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) when they are asked, and the real books which they use to operate the business. The NEDA plans look to me like the books you show the BIR.
In Rizal’s El Filibusterismo, he tells of a piece of physics equipment imported from Europe kept in a glass case in the physics laboratory of the university. It was never used in teaching or experiments. Its purpose was to give the university an appearance of modernity and advancement, but in reality, it was unused and untouched.
Just my thoughts.
I did some research on BBM’s plans and there is mention of an ambitious “10-point agenda for economic renewal and long-term growth.” I zeroed in on one point in the 10-point agenda: Infrastructure Development.
And then there are the mid-terms!
Yes, a good assessment of the plan, printed on shiny paper to look professional. But it is the guidebook, in all its mind-numbing detail. President Aquino appended a two or three page restatement of his priorities that simplified and made it more intelligible. But the usage of metrics is good and they do actually use the document as a guide. I like the Japanese format that was used at my company better. Two rather large sheets of paper. High-line goals. Performance results, and always driving to achieve.
What did you discover on infrastructure development? Aquino’s was easy to monitor. Totally transparent and active. Duterte’s was hidden. I’ve not looked at Marcos’, but I know some significant projects are being worked on. Subway, trains, airports.
The infrastructure development part of BBM’s 10-point plan is huge….I think any look at it can lead anyone to conclude that it is pie-in-the-sky. Looks good on paper, but that is about it. The plan is “too big to succeed” in my opinion. But who knows….maybe BBM will put his cape on and get most of it done!
Back in my day infrastructure work was called Bureau of Public Works and it was well known then to be one of the biggest sources of “kurakot.”
Real stuff is being built nowadays, though it is mostly a form of private-driven development. The SLEX-NLEX connector, the North South Commuter railway from Clark to Calamba, the MRT7 from Edsa to Bulacan, the Metro Manila subway. The LRT1 extension is done and top quality. The videos showing real people passing through it are convincing, I guess they are not AI deep fakes, and the videos of progress on various construction sites like MRT7 on EDSA look real. Those who are in the Philippines in this blog may confirm or deny that if they wish to.
Are these roads for use in building up the country’s economy…i.e. to attract investors and businesses to set up shop? Or are they just to get people from one mall to the other? I remember Lee Kuan Yew wanting Singapore to be a key port for shipping in the region, so he worked so that it would take 3 days for a ship to unload instead of the usual 5 in most ports around the world. Each day a ship spends at port costs money. He streamlined the paperwork process to speed things up. According to him it worked, and shippers preferred unloading in Singapore than anywhere else because it cost them less there thanks to the speed of unloading cargo.
These roads and public transport are mainly to get people from where they live to work and will help reduce traffic in the Metro Manila area, which is de facto already spread out all the way into the outlying provinces nowadays.
Many of these projects were not even initiated in Marcos times. Some were planned and signed in PNoy times and started in Duterte’s time – well, one “good” thing is that the companies that do these projects bypass the government, which is and was always inefficient.
Planned and signed by who, if the government is bypassed?
Since the time of FVR, most infra projects have been some form of PPP, BOT, or what not, basically the government lets major firms owned by oligarchs build stuff and somehow has lease contracts with them. One bad example is shown in the article below.
Yes, in Marcos Sr. days, it was mostly government and the crony-owned CBCP building stuff. We have been looking into this stuff for years, me for a decade, Joe and Karl for around two. We are quite aware of the strengths and weaknesses of the present Philippines and pretty much welcome feedback like that of Joey, which is based on excellent and current knowledge with multiple current sources. Here is one of my articles on Marcos Sr. and Metro Manila.
Actually the illnesses of the country are partly as old as Spanish times (Noli, Fili) and nearly every President is dealing with a government that is like a rusty steam engine. Very few leaders have the capability and vision to fix things and Filipinos themselves are such reklamadors that few dare even do long-term work. Those kinds of people are across different political parties and refuse to see the good if the one ruling is not of their “tribe”, they made life hard for PNoy (who cared) and Marcos Jr. ignores them, it seems.
I googled “What government agency approved San Miguel’s airport.”
“The New Manila International Airport (NMIA) project, proposed by San Miguel Corporation (SMC), received approval from the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Board and the Department of Transportation (DOTr).”
The modern equivalent of the physics lab in the 1970s was the language lab that was donated by a US agency to UP Diliman, but never IIRC put to work as UP did not get the funds for that.
Ateneo at least put its language lab to work, though the tapes for the German and French courses were not complete (Spanish probably was, as the name of the Department was Spanish and modern languages back then and it was the preserve mostly of mestiza teachers) I know as my mother (the teacher for these languages) and me taped some of the course tapes ourselves on a multitrack tape recorder, my first and last studio recording background. But yes, the pan-display mentality was also still part of the “New Society” of Marcos Senior.
When I came in here, I didn’t believe the stuff Joe posted about PNoy’s achievements because I assumed it was the usual bullshit that Filipino politicians publish. In fact, Rappler made it look like that as it referred to Aquino as “boasting of” things during his SONA, which implied BS.
assuming that things always stay the same can be useful but also dangerous.
The start of the Noli has Ibarra seeing the same things in disrepair that were not fixed when he left for Europe. My German grandmother asked us about the stuff she had seen in disrepair during her last visit when she came from Germany to visit us several times in the 1970s. Well I assumed that the roads PNoy had built were the same as those in UP in the 1970s, basically a bit of tarmac over the soil that broke down during rains when heavy JD and DM busses passed.
Well, no, the highways DWPH built in PNoy’s time ( I don’t know about today) were Western standards, meaning several layers of concrete and tarmac on top for wear and tear.
Sure, things look grittier today than in the airbrushed photos of the Martial Law era, but don’t we all know how we laughed at how reality and photos diverged. Less chance of that today. Possibly virtue for Marcos Jr. today is also lack of opportunity, but the result finally counts.
“Marcos, who for the most part is continuing Duterte’s policies with regard to the economy, not to mention authoritative style of governance, is to me still a work in progress.” Interesting statement. Duterte built nothing. Marcos is building like Aquino. Duterte moved toward China. Marcos toward the US like Aquino. Aquino bought the legislature with cash benefits, just like every President, and impeached the Chief Justice ( authoritarian style). The Supreme Court is working independently, the Legislature is working hard under Marcos, and for the life of me, I can’t see an authoritarian in the Executive branch. I think you have Junior confused with Dad.
Hey, back in late 2021, I fully agreed with some fellow Pinks who also did not like Marcos Sr. The only difference is that I didn’t delude myself with cheating theories, or we were the good guys’ narratives after we lost. Well, hell, the stages of grief were difficult.
Maybe those who are still stuck in 1986 are better than those still stuck in 1896 or 1898. But are those stuck in 2001 (Erap’s ouster) or Dick Gordon losing in 2010 better than those stuck in 1986? What do I know. Sometimes, we oldtimers are stuck in a picture of the Philippines we knew when we left it, but even Rip van Winkle and Buck Rodgers at some point decided to deal with the present aka future they found themselves in. There isn’t any choice, actually.
That’s such an important insight, Irineo. We are boxed in by our historical data set, or cultural setting. Or our biases. It is very hard to see clearly through crowds of people shouting instructions and insults, haha. You’ve pulled up some great classics of the work we’ve all done here, both the articles and the comments. There are classic comments, for sure. Josephivo used to really stretch my mind. I’ve learned so much, and been battered so much. No matter. The path is long and the next great view is just around the corner.
“The only difference is that I didn’t delude myself with cheating theories, or we were the good guys’ narratives after we lost.” – Irineo
The goal of the enemy is to have the public let its guard down. There is “stuck in the past” and then there is the present. Joe Am paints a positive picture of the present. I read from folks who see otherwise. Are those who see the flaws of the present (like the Philippines health care system) stuck in the past? I would say no. In fact, I think of this one particular crusader in the Philippines who keeps pounding and pounding about the present. He is extremely negative, even for me. He gives advice for older folks (he is an octogenarian) that before visiting Boracay, get a thorough medical check up. He says that if you have a heart attack there, you will probably die from it. He lives in the Philippines. In his younger retirement years, I am told, he was very active in trying to help people in the medical field in the Philippines.
For those who would say “stuck in the past” I would respond “Show me the present, and let’s talk about that.” That is my thing w/ PBBM…I’m not interested in dog and pony shows. That is for Trump at his MAGA rallies. The Philippines needs action, much like Pres. Noynoy’s administration, so I am told. So to you folks back home, send me news of actual accomplishments that help the majority poor…not just speeches of good intentions.
When PBBM makes those foreign trips, what does he have to offer foreign countries? Our infrastructure? Our power costs? Our political stability? Our democratic system?
Joe is, I guess, trying to see the glass as half-full because seeing the glass as half-empty will get those in the Philippines nowhere. Why do you think he is pushing for a winning candidate from the opposition for 2028? And I guess still hoping some oppositionists make the Magic 12.
My opinion is it could be far worse, and one more term for someone from Marcos’ ranks, Sara Duterte, or even a Digong Duterte who decides to do a Trump will ruin the country.
As for your idea of alignment with China, look at how Laos and Cambodia are faring with that.
Thanks for pointing that out. I wasn’t ever paying attention to Laos and Cambodia. Probably true of most Filipinos, including our leadership there, right? Typical. I wonder if our politicians were knew about Cambodia and Laos when they were beating their nationalistic breasts during the negotiations for bases with the Americans? My father used to often say, “If I had to be under any imperialists, I would prefer the American imperialists.” He said this during the 60s and 70s, I believe. Vietnam War was still going on.
Meanwhile, since we don’t want to be stuck in the past, what is our Philippine loving president there doing with regard to the present? Does he have an assessment of the major problems facing the nation, and does he have a plan to deal with them? It seems PNoy did. Is Marcos just doing cosmetic stuff, like that Esplanade on the Pasig?
@CV
https://technology.inquirer.net/43447/whos-joe-america-why-did-he-make-it-to-aquinos-sona
Some comments:
1) we are almost contemporaries and left the Philippines around 4 decades ago. Strangely, Pinoys abroad are often frozen in the time they left.
2) many who stayed unlike us had their frustrations with post-EDSA. They also moved forward on Marcos in a country where the sense of history and time is different from that in the West.
3) a lot of us who left before and after EDSA are old middle class. The families of the new middle class that has risen were often not as affected by Marcos Sr. as we were. True, many college students were affected, but their parents might not have been in college etc.
It sucks that Filipinos care little about what doesn’t affect their own family, town, or group. There are people from Samar who will remember Martial Law badly and Ilocanos who won’t.
Took me nearly three years going through stages of grief after May 2022 to realize we can no longer fight certain lost battles. Sure, it also sucks that many Filipinos don’t care about the debts Marcos Sr. incurred, but how many of them don’t pay utang themselves..
I agree with your comments, Irineo. Ninoy Aquino said “The Filipino is worth dying for.” In the context of your comments, is the Filipino worth dying for? Probably only “certain Filipinos” right? Like those from “own family, town, or group.” It is not politically correct to admit that, but isn’t that the reality of the Philippines? I can’t say for sure because I’ve been away for so long. But I can meditate enough to somewhat get a feel of what it may be like to be in survival mode.
its probly not true that filipinos dont care what does not affect their families, town or group. we do care, hindi lang kami pakialamera, but we care a lot, we hear and we get involved only if asked and invited. see how we rally in times of sakuna? we have bayanihan and the likes, and sometimes we dont even have to be asked, we just go and help and offer succor. but its not all the time na nakikialam kami, we have borders and respect others privacy. but when we see our fellow filipinos in need of help, we do something, often contacting authorities so proper help can be given.
Of course we care….but building a nation takes a special kind of caring. At the end of Trump’s first term, so many Americans cared enough to come out and vote against him. When he ran again in 2024, not enough cared to not see him in the White House again. A lot people decided not to make “pakialam” by voting. He is back.
So it is not just the Philippines. But the USA is not the Philippines. Ben Franklin warned, “We have a Republic, if we can keep it.” Keeping it takes a special kind of caring, in my opinion.
Well, there was the comment of Joey here and also the observation of Miguel Syjuco when he was a tokhang beat reporter that crowds around victims often acted as if the person killed deserved it. Joey also added that families of tokhang victims were often shunned by their neighbors as if they were bad. Not that this didn’t happen in other societies in some parts of their history, but I don’t believe in the myth that Filipinos are the kindest people on earth.
Friendly for sure, but I could also give the example that those whose families or regions benefitted during Marcos Sr. see it as a Golden Age and sometimes even say those who were victimized then were all Communists. Or those who benefit from being close to corrupt politicians but don’t care if that harms the entire country or those who didn’t care about how Marcos Sr. was bankrupting the country while the party still continued for them. That is what CV meant when he quoted Benjamin Franklin about a special kind of caring, a broader one.
filipinos not the kindest people on earth, that’s why I try to be kind not just to filipinos but to people I share this planet with. the charity of christ urges us!
It won’t be easy in a culture of many 100 percenters and full of distrust that the one leading a group will only be loyal to his or her subgroup. It takes a sense of wanting to do things for the greater good or at least a 90% common vision. And the sense to indeed accept that achieving that 90% now is already greater than the “my way or the highway” mindset that indeed led to Aguinaldo versus Bonifacio in the face of Spain advancing or Aguinaldo versus Luna conflict in the face of retreating from American troops where everybody finally lost, though yes one has to keep out the “bandits” that don’t deal straight and those probably are the Makabayan folks.
What probably made Quezon (revolutionary army background) and Magsaysay (WW2 guerilla) successful is that they knew who the bandits were – and how to deal with them properly. That is essential in a place that might be where California was in the early 1900s, booming in a more modern capitalist way but still with traces of the “Wild West” in its mentality. Hontiveros has shown she can deal with the bandits and still stay enough of a lady while doing it.
That 100% kills any kind of building initiative, doesn’t it? Powerful and invisible. I think Senator Hontiveros can grasp it if she thinks it through. It’s a land of 84,000 lawyers and no negotiators. Peculiar.
Hehe, get at least some of the tribes of Absurdistan to agree on an alliance in a country where nearly every family has a land dispute going back decades.
It does take a mix of brains and bravery to pull that through. Sen. Risa has both.
She can but is she willing?
That we don’t know. She is definitely committed as a lawmaker.
We recently opined that all it takes for Leni to be convinced to run for presidentis one influential person.
In the case of Risa, I guess Leni can convince and officially endorse her.
That is probably better than a Marcos Jr. endorsement.
Why not the best of both worlds?
That can quickly become the worst of both worlds.
May puntos ka.
he is cheerful, that one.
That would be a big deal, for sure.
leni and risa both have the interest of our country and doing what is best for our people. but they need all the help they can get and if that help comes from pbbm, well and good. pbbm needs their help too, if he wants the good things he has done for our country to continue on like the two maritime laws he has signed asserting our sovereign rights over our sea borders, his legacy after he vacates the presidency respected like the executive orders he has signed, the studies he has proposed ensuring the viability our food security, etc. if sara duterte had her ways we will be under china’s control, our sovereignty compromised, bong marcos’s legacy made null and void and replaced with whatever sara duterte comes up with. and with imee’s support, god knows what more damage the dutertes can do to our country, to our people, our economy, and our reputation abroad.
I think, martin romualdez will create his own dynasty, his wife is already positioned in place. but numbers are stacked against him, he has a long way go. and if he is impatient, barges his way in and overstep the president, he could well fall flat on his face. much to imee’s delight.
Nice synopsis, k. Spot on, it seems to me.
Yes but with Sarah being demolished it is interesting to see if the Marcos/Romualdez axis will try to keep power within the family
I wonder how Speaker Romualdez can get his poll numbers up. Zero charisma.
probably another Marcos next? The sister is actually more charismatic
imee marcos has too much charisma, she is out of the magic 12, lumagpas tuloy. she could well lost her senate reelection bid.
The family seems divided on the point of China. I personally don’t find Imee charismatic, but Bongbong is. It seems to me 2028 is wide open. Anyone’s to win.
As an aside, the great archivist Tewell walks off the plane of existence, now a legend. Should have been made a citizen of this country, given the keys to the city, but the man suffered in his last days.
may john tewell rest in peace. I think he cannot be made citizen of our country unless he applied for it, and renounce his previous citizenship. I understand he was american pilot but not war veteran. US embassy did look after him. his wake is today, 16th of feb, I think.
may god reward john tewell in heaven.
I checked out some of John Tewell’s photos. Quite a trip! Nice to see a glimpse of the Philippines that Rizal knew and loved.