Militant groups hit Marcos Jr.’s lifestyle

MANILA, Philippines — Cause-oriented groups criticized President Marcos for allegedly flaunting his lifestyle while the country is experiencing economic hardships.

With the country facing an economic crisis, Marcos should decline the invitation from the Singaporean government to attend the Grand Prix 2023-Formula 1 night race, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) president Renato Reyes said.

“President Ferdinand Marcos attending another F1 race in Singapore, in a time when his country faces an economic crisis and crushing debt, and as the Filipino people commemorate the 51st anniversary of Marcos Sr.’s martial law, is truly the apex of insensitivity and callousness,” Reyes said yesterday in a statement.

Enjoying life as if it was 1972 when his father declared martial law, Marcos is sending the wrong message to Filipinos now struggling to find the so-called P41 per kilo rice in public markets, Reyes said.

For Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP), it has one wish on Marcos’ birthday and that is for the chief executive to vacate the Department of Agriculture.

“He better leave and assign a full-time competent agriculture secretary who will listen to the farmers, fishermen and agriculture stakeholders,” KMP chairman emeritus Rafael Mariano said in a statement in Filipino.

Mariano said the agriculture sector has no future under Marcos, adding that farmers will continue to suffer in his administration.

Meanwhile, Bayan also said that Sen. Robinhood Padilla should stop peddling disinformation about the supposed virtues of martial law imposed by the late strongman.

Reyes reminded Padilla that martial law was not about saving the country from the so-called communist threat but a power grab by Marcos.

He added Marcos’ dictatorial rule from 1972 to 1986 was a dark period in the country’s history wherein thousands were killed and imprisoned.

Massive human rights violations and corruption of government institutions were also documented during martial law, he said.

“There is no silver lining, no redeeming value, to this period of our history,”  he said in a statement.

Reyes described Padilla’s defense of martial law as absurd because the New People’s Army was a small unit at the time.

“If the goal of martial law was to put a stop to the rebels, it failed because under martial law the rebels even grew in number,” he said in Filipino.