Pandora’s box

Many readers are surely familiar with the story of “Pandora’s box” a Greek myth about the first woman “Pandora” who was given a sealed jar by the gods and told not to open it. Overcome by curiosity, she opened it, releasing all the evils and hardships into the world such as sickness, death, and despair.

Well, there is no denying that as far as the Marcos siblings are concerned, Bongbong and Imee seem to be in a habit of opening their own “Pandora’s box” to get back at each other or their enemies but ultimately cause hardships on the country and the people.

Unfortunately, there is no “Goddess of Hope” at the bottom of their “Pandora boxes” to make up for the damage they unleash on each other and the nation at large.

While PBBM went on attack mode against people who ripped him off in terms of the government budget and frustrated legacy projects, Senator Imee for her part stabbed PBBM and twisted the knife full of accusations claiming that the First Family are “junkies” or drug users.

Pres. Bongbong Marcos has long been suspected or believed to take coke and party hard both in the past or present but to be fair, there has been no irrefutable evidence of a coke habit except perhaps the soft drink kind.

To his disadvantage and possibly future regret, PBBM has never once made a clinical effort to disprove his accusers unlike Apo Ferdie, who always addressed such rumors with bravado.

I recently remembered PBBM’s father the late President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. who would show people that he was in the pink of health by going water skiing or striping off his shirt to the media to show off his abs and dispel rumors that he was ill or had major surgery.

On the other side of things, I wonder if Bongbong Marcos sometimes regrets publicly calling out the corrupt during his State Of the Nation Address subsequently opening a Pandora’s box and difficult choices that go with it.

I suspect that PBBM discovered that he had been misled, and hoodwinked by his own people on two fronts. First, they sold him the line that Sara Duterte could be impeached, but in order to do this, members of Congress had to be given incentives, therefore, realignments and insertions were needed.

But before all of this could happen, controversy hounded PBBM when the unspent funds of PhilHealth were transferred to the GAA as “Unprogrammed Funds” beginning February 2024. “Unprogrammed Funds” eventually became a dirty word in the country.

As the administration got “burned” on the PhilHealth controversy, the President must have noticed that the impeachment of VP Sara was not progressing as expected. Adding insult to injury, the incentives caused the members of Congress to swear allegiance to Speaker Martin Romualdez, not to PBBM.

PBBM discovered that even the funds for his Legacy Projects had been realigned. So PBBM fired his first shot on Jan. 12 and 13, 2025 instructing his son, Congressman Sandro Marcos, to declare the chairmanship of the committee of appropriations vacant, kicking out Zaldy Co.

This unexpected action of PBBM scared many people around him, so much so that many were willing to “shanghai” or forcibly put former President Rodrigo Duterte on a chartered plane to the ICC in The Hague to please the President.

That may have removed a thorn on PBBM’s flesh but by then, the DOJ was already looking into the money trail of “unprogrammed funds” and “insertions” as well as the ghost projects and over pricing claims by Mayor Benjie Magalong.

I always wondered why DOJ Sec. Remulla willingly gave up a cabinet position to become the ombudsman, which he announced June 30, 2025. Less than 30 days later, July 28, PBBM fired his second shot inside Congress shouting, “Mahiya Naman Kayo!” during the SONA. 

Soon after that Remulla became ombudsman and now “The Hunt” begins! I wonder if PBBM and Remulla had already hatched a plan to get back at Ali Baba and the forty thieves using their 1 – 2 punch.

Malacañang recently announced the resignation of Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin (who denies it) and DBM Secretary Amenah Pangandaman (who confirmed it). Someone suggested that it was to prevent the two from declaring “withdrawal of support” for PBBM. 

Last week, the President announced that charges and warrants of arrests have been made against Zaldy Co and everyone involved. When critics questioned the exemption of Martin Romualdez, the ICI reportedly announced that Martin Romualdez was included in the list of respondents.

If this does not pacify public anger, PBBM will be forced to go after members of Congress, members of the “Small Committee” and all who made money from the grand heist.

If PBBM fails to deliver “several congressional heads” to the Filipino people, he will end up passing judgment on himself. As the saying goes; “You are either for us or against us”

President Manuel L. Quezon once declared: “My loyalty to my party ends where my loyalty to my country begins……A man to be worthy of the name should put his conviction into practice, profess them with faith, defend them with courage, happen what may.”

What then is the pleasure of the President?