Marcos must exercise powers

“For his part, Duterte ended his term in office leaving the country, and the Marcos Jr. government, with a whopping total national debt of P12.8 trillion.

For all intents and purposes, the alliance between the camps of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and his predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, which was forged to support the campaign of Marcos and his vice presidential running mate, Sara Duterte, for the 2022 elections is crumbling fast.

Not a few informed analysts are worried that such a break between the country’s two formidable forces would degenerate into political instability, foiling the incumbent President’s encouragement of investors to come and plunk their money into the country in hopes of spurring faster, better growth to allow the Philippines to catch up with its more prosperous neighbors.

In his speech before the Philippine Constitution Association marking Constitution Day in Makati City last Thursday, the President firmly expressed support for amending the 1987 Constitution as it “extends to economic matters alone, for (the introduction of reforms to the Charter) aimed at boosting our economy, nothing more.”

There is an urgent need, he said, to amend economic provisions of the Charter to realize the country’s economic potential and competitiveness globally.

At the same time, the President quashed calls to separate Mindanao from the rest of the country, quoting leaders of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and former members of Muslim separatist groups who, he said, have “repudiated” the call for Mindanao’s secession by labeling such a move a “preposterous idea.”

The President was careful not to mention by name former President Rodrigo Duterte who, in a press conference on Tuesday, 30 January, proposed severing Mindanao from the Philippines to become an independent state.

Saying that such a move is a “grave violation of the Constitution,” Marcos on 7 February stressed: “I strongly appeal to all concerned to stop this call for a separate Mindanao. It is doomed to fail for it is anchored on a false premise, not to mention a sheer constitutional travesty.”

In a statement, National Security Adviser Eduardo Año said the Marcos administration “will not hesitate to use its authority and forces to quell and stop any and all attempts to dismember the republic.”

To recall, former AFP chief of staff Año, who was known for his prowess as a “rebel hunter” and as an officer with deep experience in intelligence work, had been commander of the Philippine Army’s 10th Infantry Division based in Davao and was Duterte’s Interior and Local Government secretary.

Marcos Jr., as Chief of State and Commander-inChief of the republic’s armed forces, must now make sure that any or all moves to destabilize the country are, indeed, checked. This, even as he continues to oversee all efforts to push his economic development agenda for the country. There is a lot of work to be done where that is concerned.

The Philippines attained its first-ever investment grade rating from such major global credit ratings agencies as Fitch, Moody’s, and S&P Global in 2013 under then President Benigno C. Aquino III. From a ranking of 146 in Transparency International’s corruption perception index, Aquino left Duterte a 101st TI CPI ranking.

Forbes magazine observed that “after Aquino came six chaotic years of Duterte that were more backsliding than forward progress. At the end of his term, Aquino left the incoming Duterte administration with a budget of over P1 trillion.”

For his part, Duterte ended his term leaving the country, and the Marcos Jr. administration, with a total national debt of a whopping P12.8 trillion.

Even some of his most vociferous former critics now find themselves admitting that Marcos Jr. hasn’t been the disaster they expected him to be, surrounding himself as he does with technocrats known for their competence, restoring regulatory stability, and generally winning the trust of the business community.

Still, the economy, under the current regime, is a work in progress and could be derailed by this unfortunate bickering by two of the country’s most powerful political dynasties as well as by the intramurals in Congress, whose members must unite now and agree on amending economic provisions in the Charter to better the country’s chances of attracting foreign investments.

The President needs to do what he must, including using all the political savvy he has learned through time and, if necessary, the mustering of forces under his command to quell any moves — including those that smack of insurrection — that threaten the stability of the republic and his government’s efforts at attaining growth and economic progress.

“Marcos Jr., as Chief of State and Commanderin-Chief of the republic’s armed forces must now make sure that any or all moves to destabilize the country must, indeed, be checked.