Divine intervention is not without its own pain. When all seems lost, don’t confuse this with the end, rather this is the beginning. — Retirement income consultant Todd D. Boddy
FIVE decades have passed since the late strongman Ferdinand Edralin Marcos Sr. imposed martial law on September 21, 1972.
In this 50th year since martial rule was imposed, Marcos Sr.’s, his namesake Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr., is soon to be hailed as the country’s head-of-state—a title he has won in a landslide victory ensured by more than 31 million Filipinos who chose to elect the former senator.
With him, ‘Inday’ Sara Duterte-Carpio, daughter of outgoing president Rodrigo Roa Duterte, will serve as his vice president.
Marcos Jr. and Duterte’s supporters are indeed rejoicing over their victory that validates their influence on the Filipino people who await the return of the so-called golden age—the mythical period of national prosperity, peace and order boastfully dubbed the ‘Bagong Lipunan’ or ‘New Society’ perpetuated during the leadership of Marcos Jr.’s father.
Before the general elections last May 9 and even now that the former senator and former Davao City mayor have been proclaimed as winners of the recently concluded polls, we asked their supporters why they were voting for Marcos and Duterte.
The truth is that most of them could not give clear answers, save the fact that they wanted to support a winning candidate rather than join someone who would ultimately langusih in defeat.
And we can only hope against hope that they answer the question honestly without being haunted by a not-so-erroneous conscience.
The apathetic others—the Pinklawans and Dilawans who opposed a return of a Marcos hegemony—are now calling on fellow Filipinos to move on.
Still, whatever the meaning of this ‘call’, it appears they do not actually and clearly comprehend what it means—sorry to say.
And for the more than 55 million voters who braved the pandemic and the scorching heat to cast their votes and only to be welcomed with malfunctioning voting machines, never did they comprehend that the fastest election turnout could ever be achieved—even faster than that of the United States, despite the technological advancements of the world’s biggest economy.
Moreover, the degree of blatant vote-buying, vote-selling, irregularities, disenfranchisement and even a number of digital manipulation also placed anti-Marcos and anti-Duterte voters in catatonic shock.
Still, even before he was proclaimed the elected president by both Houses of Congress—actually even before the May 9 general elections and during his campaign sorties—incoming president Marcos Jr.’s battlecry had been one about unity and ending the divisiveness so pronounced in the rivalry between his camp and that of graduating vice president Maria Leonor ‘Leni’ Robredo.
Some had doubts whether he would be true to this advocacy but in what we consider as a sign of living by his ‘appeal for unity’—made during the election campaign period—he has unexpectedly nominated erstwhile National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) adminsitrator Arsenio Balisacan to once again serve in the same position he occupied during the time of the country’s 15th president, the late Benigno Simeon ‘Noynoy’ Aquino III.
By BBM’s admission, Balisacan is an old friend who had worked with him extensively during his time as governor of Ilocos Norte.
The man, Bongbong identified, is a experienced economist with an extensive high-level of policymaking practice and a well-recognized scholarship in Asia on economic development, poverty and inequality, competition policy and political economy of policy reforms.
So, as the new president’s NEDA chief, Balisacan is expected to push for a quicker implementation of passed programs of thge Duterte administration—being a firm believer of continuity and with him around, he could be the all-important link the country needs to address the efforts of an Aquino and a Marcos in uplifting the plight of poor Filipinos.
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