A landmark veto to show who's in charge now

While in Atlanta, a few days ago, my lawyer friends and I were debating about the meaning of the Marcos veto of the Bulacan Airport Economic Zone bill, a vital legislative measure approved by the previous Congress, formalizing a major infrastructure project of the Duterte administration. Our conclusion is that the far-reaching implications of this veto can be interpreted in many ways depending on one's perspectives and orientation.

First, if you are a diehard BBM loyalist, you would say that the veto is a correct political decision. It signals that the priority is to prepare for food shortage, to focus on food security, not on a multi-billion dollar project that may be good in the long run but not really a priority need, given the impending famine brought about the confluence of various natural and economic pressures. Second, if you are a neutral foreign observer, like many of my companeros here who are New York-based lawyers, you would say that the veto was a strong signal to all and sundry that hey, I am now the president. I call the shots from here on, and I assert my leadership here. I am not a blind captive of the previous administration's edifice complex, called "Build, Build, Build."

Third, if you are an anti-Marcos activist or rabid non-conformist, you would say that such a veto is a wrong move because it is practically throwing away to the drain all the expenses for the planning, the strategizing and the preparatory moves that have already been done with tremendous expenses. You would say that the veto is a highly partisan and myopic politicking oblivious of the many efforts, the huge budget and the many burdensome preparations already put in place. Large tracts of land had been purchased. Loans had been procured. Multi-million contracts had been signed. Executives and managerial staff had been hired and many more works had been completed, others in the height of being undertaken and still others just started.

Fourth, if you are a businessman, doing projects for the government, you would decry such a shocking presidential veto. And this is a major, major debacle that has befallen on the previous government and project proponents. That means that it is very risky to do business with an administration. This will have chilling effects on construction companies and foreign investors as well as lending institutions and companies here and abroad. The veto would mean that the government cannot be trusted to honor the commitments of previous political leaders. It should be recalled that the Cory Aquino government honored all foreign debts by the Marcos Sr. 21-year government. Although Cory mothballed the nuclear plant, her government paid the Marcos debts on money spent to fund that gargantuan white elephant borne by the Filipino taxpayers for many decades.

Fifth, if you are purely a political animal, you would say that BBM might have felt that the San Miguel Group, the proponent of the Bulacan airport project and its top honcho, RSA, might have failed to sufficiently coordinate with the Marcos campaign group before and during the election. We were not born yesterday and we all share an open secret that big taipans, tycoons and magnates are supposed to sufficiently coordinate with top politicians who face major political battles. Look what happened to ABS-CBN which earned the ire of president Duterte in the 2016 presidential campaign. The Villars, the Sys, the Gokongweis even Lucio Tan and Manny Pangilinan know this ritual where politics should be sufficiently supported by business, so that politics can later on support business. That is a game we all know.

Lastly, my take on this is that we should give the president the presumption of good faith. He has a country to govern and 110 million people to serve and protect. I did not vote for this president but he is the leader now. We should not attribute bad faith or malice to his decisions. By making that veto, he is giving a signal to one and all that a leader should bite the bullet, make hard decisions, and face the consequences, no matter who gets hurt. BBM is asserting his leadership. Businessmen should learn from this marching order from now on. It is not much different here in America. After all, we, Pinoys, learned our politics, both the good, the bad and the ugly, from Uncle Sam.