Dangerous times

KathNiel started this ugly public break-up with an overwhelming public expression of sorrow. Now, we have this very pathetic Marcos-Duterte disUniteam breakup.

The Marcos-Duterte break-up was expected, but not this soon. It was precipitated by the public questioning and denial of confidential funds sought by VP Sara. She reacted by accusing the Speaker of having an enormous prick. Then the P51 billion pork fund of Congressman Duterte was also publicly revealed and a COA audit sought. The other Duterte, who is mayor of Davao, then demanded the resignation of the President, accusing him of not loving his country. Is the family in panic mode?

The Marcoses and the Dutertes are fighting each other for supremacy. There can only be one ruling political dynasty. The Dutertes are afraid to lose their hold on power. It is easy to understand why.

Without political cover, Sara and Polong Duterte must explain how they used confidential and pork barrel funds. Polong’s P51 billion is enormous. Even the former President may have to face the music on Pharmally. And there is still the International Criminal Court looming in their future. Political power is a life and death necessity for the Dutertes.

The public exchange couldn’t be more telling of the kind of people we have running the country.

Former president Duterte: “Bongbong… bangag yan. Kayong mga military, alam nyo ‘yan… May addict tayo na president, p*****’ yan!”

The President: “Ako I think it’s the Fentanyl. Fentanyl is the strongest pain killer that you can buy. It is highly addictive and it has a very serious side effect… Kaya nagkakaganyan. I hope his doctors take better care of him.”

Frankly, a pox on all of them! They all seem to not love their country to cause this public airing of very dirty linen. Worse, we get the feeling they are both right about each other.

Tell me, what investor, local or foreign, would now foolishly invest in a country where the political risk significantly increased because they are led by quarrelling drug addicts? Make no mistake, we are now living in rather dangerous times. Could China be fanning the discord to replace Marcos with another Duterte?

I hope those who voted for them are happy now. They had their fun. They were entertained. But they have damaged their country’s future, possibly irreparably for present generations.

Duterte accused Marcos of being on the PDEA list of drug users. PDEA denied that. It is an old accusation from the last presidential campaign. The Filipino people could have listened and voted for the better candidate offering good governance. But no, our voters were driven by unexplainable insanity to give the reins of government to the UniTeam. Magdusa tayong lahat ngayon!

What is done is done and it is best for us to live with the sad choices already made. The presidential system is not flexible to fix voting mistakes before term ends. Still, the President has surprisingly shown better statesmanship than his predecessor and has been making fairly good decisions in the economic front, short of dismantling the cartels in agriculture. There is hope with a new Agriculture Secretary and the dire need to assure food security that the President will start making the right decisions there too.

But the campaign for next year’s midterm elections broke out too early. The Dutertes are accusing Marcos of wanting charter change to prolong his term. Said the old man Duterte: “You are pushing the limit, Mr. President. You want to perpetuate yourself in power, but at the expense of Filipinos. Mr President, huwag ninyong kalimutan. Ang delicadeza. Isang term ka lang.”

It is obvious the Dutertes are against charter change out of fear VP Sara will lose her straight line to Malacanang under the present Constitution. A parliamentary form is something new they still have to figure out. Curiously, the irrelevant and non-thinking opposition Liberals are aligned with the Dutertes in opposing charter change.

At a time when we should all be working to catch up with the likes of our regional neighbors like Vietnam, we are playing dirty politics.

The old man Duterte did not mince words. He warned the President: “Mr President, lalabas ka ng Malacanang gaya nang pinalayas kayo.”

Old man Duterte called on the armed services to “protect the Constitution and not just think of one family.” He told the national police and the military that if “hindi na kaya ng rally, kayo na ang bahala” implies a coup. He coddled the uniformed services during his term, giving them a generous pension that placed the country’s fiscal position at risk. Now he is telling them, be ready to pay back.

This is one reason why we should go parliamentary. In a parliamentary, the head of government literally serves at the will of the people. Once confidence is lost, a new election is called. Not a coup. Then those who are sorry for voting stupidly will have an immediate chance to correct their mistake in a new election. We won’t need to risk bloodshed in a coup to correct a grievous error in voter judgment.

Because of this political bodabil, nothing is going to move in this country, a tragedy by itself given the crisis in education, infrastructure, agriculture and national security among others.

Bastonero

A former Cabinet member reacted to our column, Bastonero, on the need to monitor progress on key projects.

“As usual, you are right on!

“They need something like these. It has been done before when the bilaterals complained about the project delays during the Cory administration and eventually recognized our solution as a model system.

“Some remnants of the system are still at DPWH. At least, you can still check the progress of projects on their website now. But a check of the website of DOTr since several admin back revealed they had a full section on ‘Gender Equality, but none on project status and up to now, there is none.

“And the system has to be used, remember when the project accomplishment at the DU30 admin was only about 35 percent! Seems nobody was tracking accomplishments vs targets and why (?), a basic management task.”

Boo Chanco’s email address is [email protected]. Follow him on X or Twitter @boochanco