[Rear View] Marcos na lang muna? It appears we now have no selection.

Whereas the record of misfires, missteps, and controversies have change into a favourite subject throughout espresso breaks or ingesting periods, the sentiment, for now, is that Marcos Jr. must do

In seizing management of the disjointed narratives on corruption in flood management tasks, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has displayed a willingness to speak and act powerful however to not the purpose the place he could possibly be accused of being a tyrant like his predecessor — or his late father.

And therein lies the dilemma.

Since assuming workplace, the President has projected himself as the other of former president Rodrigo Duterte, who used the presidency to silence critics, sow worry, and mount a drug warfare focusing on the poor. And being the namesake of his father has confirmed to be a blessing and a burden; the President honors the parable however dissociates from the truth of human rights abuses and corruption throughout his father’s 14-year dictatorial rule.  

The President and his advisers clearly underestimated the dimensions of public outrage triggered by his revelations in July of widespread corruption involving legislators, contractors, and public works officers. They didn’t anticipate that the controversy would discover its means again to the Palace, implicating key advisers and members of the Cupboard. 

After 4 months, the general public has had sufficient.

They need prices filed they usually need folks held accountable. One will get the impression that the general public is even prepared to tolerate govt overreach and judicial shortcuts — if these would imply seeing highly effective personalities behind bars. Previously, any notion of govt meddling within the courts could be condemned as oppressive and dictatorial. That seems to have modified.

Together with his belief rankings down and his political capital depleted, the President’s choices are restricted. The sluggish, deliberate tempo of justice, the place proof is rigorously weighed by prosecutors earlier than circumstances are filed in courtroom, is being equated with sluggish and weak management. The kindest factor that has been stated about him is that he’s a sufferer of opportunists in his interior circle who took benefit of his kindness. Others painting him as both naive or a key participant on this conspiracy to raid the nationwide funds.

However the extended political turbulence is affecting the economic system. Investor confidence is down. The slide in public infrastructure spending will influence progress and employment. His financial czar is now not assured that the federal government can meet its financial goal for the yr, probably setting again the President’s purpose of being remembered because the chief who, on the finish of his time period, made the lives of extraordinary Filipinos higher. 

This explains the powerful discuss from the Palace. The President has publicly echoed statements that these accountable will spend Christmas in jail. On his private Fb account, he introduced the submitting of plunder prices towards a number of politicians, the issuance of arrest warrants, and the arrest of a number of public works officers, with the Palace releasing mugshots on Fb.

Usually, these are features relegated to regulation enforcement companies or the justice division, however these should not regular instances on the Palace. The President have to be seen as the person in cost. As he himself stated in a video, “Ako ang nagsimula nitong lahat, ako ang magtatapos.”

Center forces not biting

The President’s zeal comes after an uneasy week the place he confronted what was maybe probably the most severe risk to his presidency: A mammoth crowd on the Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC) rally, lower brief supposedly due to the uncharitable statements made by Senator Imee Marcos towards her brother, destabilization efforts by some retired generals, and the discharge of video statements from fugitive solon Zaldy Co implicating not solely presidential cousin former Speaker Martin Romualdez however the President himself. Intelligence officers described these occasions as coordinated, meant to pressure the ouster of the President and set up the Vice President.

However the center forces, which embrace the Church and progressive liberal teams, should not biting.

And the general public seems tepid to requires the President’s ouster. We are able to attribute the indifference to a merciless but fortunate coincidence: The President’s estranged working mate is seen as too unhinged and too mired in corruption to be president. 

For the navy institution, essential in any energy seize, the Vice President’s partiality to China is a screaming pink flag. The Armed Forces chief of workers made it clear that any unconstitutional change in management would solely profit China, in impact telling the retired Duterte generals to again off. After enduring years of intimidation and bullying from Chinese language forces within the West Philippine Sea, particularly in the course of the time period of the Vice President’s father, the navy will certainly not change allegiance to a pro-China chief.

It’s been a horrible yr for the President, his annus horribilis, if you would like a flowery phrase to seize his trials and tribulations in 2025, or malas within the vernacular. Whereas the record of misfires, missteps, and controversies have change into a favourite subject throughout espresso breaks or ingesting periods, the sentiment, for now, is that Marcos Jr. must do. It’s “Marcos na lang muna,” a minimum of till 2028.

So keep sturdy, mister President. We’re rooting for you. We’ve no selection. – Rappler.com