Second chance

The most articulate member of the family gave the best statement. Following the official proclamation of Ferdinand “Bongbong” Romualdez Marcos Jr. as the 17th president of the republic, his elder sister, Sen. Imee Marcos, thanked the people for giving them “a second chance.”

The senator admitted that the past 36 years have been a trying time for the clan, and she is grateful that their “Marcos pa rin” constituency delivered.

Analysts say this was made possible because of the clan’s clever pairing with President Duterte’s mass base, even if ties between father and daughter seem to be genuinely strained. Vice president-elect Sara Duterte-Carpio garnered even more votes than Bongbong Marcos.

What happens now to all those pending wealth cases against the Marcoses, including the conviction for corruption of their ecstatic mom Imeldific, plus the effort of the Bureau of Internal Revenue to collect at least P23 billion in estate tax?

Will the second chance mean sweeping everything under the rug? Yesterday, the president-elect said he would not tolerate corruption. How this translates into action will be interesting to watch.

During the campaign, BBM promised that Marcos 2.0 would be an improvement on the original.

He is coming into office with high expectations from the masses who voted for him, who are waiting for deliverance from impoverishment and hunger, starting with rice at P20 per kilo and fuel prices cut by at least half.

Among his opponents, on the other hand, one thing he’s got going for him is that the bar of expectations on his efficient performance is set so low that he will need some effort to disappoint them.

A common warning among doomsayers is that the country is seeing light at the end of the tunnel: not the exit from our current woes though, but the light of an oncoming train set to run us over.

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BBM shouldn’t find it hard to counter the doomsayers in his first six months in office. Just going slow on drug killings while confronting the complex problem of drug trafficking would already be considered an improvement.

In terms of optics, he already has an edge over the outgoing President. Some doubters are finding relief in the absence of expletives, insults, rudeness and sexist jokes in BBM’s public remarks – in short, a more presidential demeanor, unlike his predecessor (who owes much of his popularity precisely to the kanto boy persona).

Since election day, Marcos has held a full press conference without a glitch, and has said he won’t need a spokesman. But yesterday’s talk with just three TV stations, two of them owned by religious groups, raised concern that he would be excluding other media outlets throughout his term.

Several of BBM’s Cabinet picks at least are helping allay concerns about his unclear policy directions.

Yesterday’s appointments in particular were warmly received: Benjamin Diokno is leaving Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas shortly before his scheduled retirement, to become the finance secretary. He will be replaced in the BSP by former NEDA head and dean of the University of the Philippines School of Economics, Philip Medalla. Management Association of the Philippines president and former UP president Alfredo Pascual is the new secretary of trade and industry. Manuel Bonoan, CEO of Ramon Ang’s SMC Tollways and an oldtimer in the Department of Public Works and Highways, is the DPWH chief.

I’ve mentioned Noynoy Aquino’s socioeconomic planning secretary Arsenio Balisacan who will return to the post, Benhur Abalos and Susan “Toots” Ople.

Last Wednesday night, returning labor secretary Bienvenido Laguesma, who has served several presidents, gave a reassuring overview of how he sees his work ahead. He told us on One News’ “The Chiefs” that BBM, among other things, wanted a review of contractualization, for a more realistic policy that will be beneficial to both workers and employers. Ending “endo” is one of the unfulfilled campaign promises of President Duterte.

Laguesma told us mass media could criticize him any time for perceived mistakes – “pitikin n’yo ako.” Government officials should not be onion-skinned, he said, and should be open to critiques of their performance.

This is a refreshing message compared to the lament of the incoming justice secretary about liberal hegemony and what he considers to be the unfairness of referring to BBM as the “son of a dictator” even in stories that are supposed to be favorable to the president-elect.

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Will the second chance include a return of authoritarianism? BBM’s defenders say that while the son reveres the father, Junior isn’t about to commit the same sins as dad (and Mommie dearest).

What we might expect in this second chance is Charter change, for a shift to a different form of government. BBM ran under a party that espouses federalism.

Rodrigo Duterte also wanted federalism, and he initiated Cha-cha early in his term. The inclusion of a provision limiting (not banning) political dynasties, however, appeared to have doomed that attempt. The House of Representatives led by Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo simply produced its own draft Constitution, without the anti-dynasty provision.

In any case, a shift to a federal system could further entrench the ruling clans, and could face opposition. A more palatable form could be a parliamentary system, which ideally allows the cream to rise and minimizes the risk of populist clowns and nincompoops occupying key government positions.

If opposition forces continue to fumble their way in the darkness, moping over defeat and unable to get their act together, an incentive for a change in the system of government is that after the second chance, a third chance can be possible. And a fourth…

Whether the incoming administration can afford to focus its energies on Charter change early enough is another story. There are simply too many urgent problems needing immediate attention.

Marcos is inheriting nearly P12.7 trillion in government debt, a pandemic-battered economy with the consequent higher poverty incidence and unemployment rate, a tax base weakened by stagflation (and resentment that the nation’s highest official is himself a tax dodger), endemic corruption, record-high fuel prices, and what agriculture experts see as a food crisis in the second half of the year.

But BBM can count on enormous political capital to get his policies going ASAP, and he can count on his mass support if he wants to make the nation swallow necessary bitter pills.

He cannot afford to squander this second chance.