‘Maritess’ in Malacañang

"Maritess” in Malacañang is currently sharing information that several factions are beginning to form among supporters of BBM and the division of sorts is happening as a result of nominations and endorsements for positions inside the PBBM administration. “Maritess” suggests that there are now rings around PBBM much like the rings on a bullseye and PBBM in the center. The outer rings are politicians and friends, the inner rings are kamag-anaks and serous supporters during the campaign and the closest tightest ring to get through would be the president’s working team in Malacañang.

Things have apparently gotten touchy because of the nominations and announcement of certain individuals that were challenged in media and business circles last week while other and better nominees were “dropped.” While some Malacañang officials blamed it on poor screening or too much work, Maritess claims that some of those individuals were no strangers to the working team. This sort of thing is nothing new and has existed in other administrations and previous tenants of Malacañang. Perhaps PBBM should keep a score card on nominators and people who regularly make recommendations and impose a one-strike policy where a bad or poor nomination results in endorsers and team members losing future opportunities to recommend or screen people.

PBBM might find it beneficial to learn from Albert Speer who wrote the book “Inside The Third Reich,” particularly about what he observed in the inner circle of Adolf Hitler. In the book, Speer referred to the formation or evolution of a “Court” composed of people who intentionally stroked the ego of Hitler while creating a tight grip on power and access to Hitler. Speer pointed out that Hitler knew about it and made the mistake of condoning or tolerating the court as it eventually led to his isolation and delusion. In current history, the same thing is being said about Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is surrounded by a similar court composed of oligarchs and generals.

In his first week as President, PBBM gained cautious approval for selecting the highest caliber of people for his economic team. Into his second week, people noted lapses, gave mixed reviews and ultimately raised questions. This early in the game, President Bongbong Marcos needs to widen the circle around him and prevent those he trusts from creating a “court” or, worst of all, a Cordon Sanitaire that will strangle his leadership.

Whether it’s in the kitchen with mothers or with friends facing complicated situations, some people who’ve tried to give unsolicited advice or help have ended up being told: “You’re not helping” or “You’re just making things worse.”

The same could be said for people who are giving unsolicited praise or building unwelcomed monuments for the Marcoses just because BBM has become the 17th President of the Philippines. A classic example of such suck-up-ism would be the proposal to rename the Ninoy Aquino International Airport into the Ferdinand Marcos International Airport.

The suggestion or attempt to rename NAIA is a clear example worthy of the phrase “You’re not helping” or “Just making matters worse.” While PBBM is clearly trying to prove himself through wise and prudent first moves in governance, particularly in the selection of his Cabinet members, the unsolicited act to rename NAIA stirs up controversy and places the Marcoses once again under the spotlight of criticism for something they did not initiate. Instead of “helping” to smoothen things out for PBBM’s reentry into Malacañang, the unsolicited suggestion has placed him in a bad light and made the Marcoses targets for a slew of memes and insults on social media. The legislator or legislators who came up with the bad idea obviously did not think of consequences before making the suggestion because if they did, they might have considered the aftermath.

Some of the points raised are: 1. Renaming NAIA would be “Double Murder” because after being murdered on the tarmac at NAIA 1, removing Ninoy Aquino’s name would be tantamount to murdering his memory and sacrifice for the nation. 2. If NAIA is renamed to FMIA, nothing can stop people from referring to it as FMIA “where Ninoy Aquino was murdered.” Last weekend, someone came out with a dark and derogatory jumble of letters where he named the airport as the “Marcos Family International Airport” or MAFIA. Funny for some but certainly insulting or injurious to the family concerned, and all because of some people’s unsolicited attempt to curry favor or trying to do the Marcoses a favor they did not ask for.

On the other hand, it might be a good idea for officials in Malacañang to look into the matter in terms of ulterior motives. There is a possibility that the suggestion to rename NAIA goes beyond suck-up-ism and may be a veiled attempt to ensure that current suggestions or future possibilities of selling the NAIA complex never happens. At the moment, there is a growing move to partition and sell NAIA to property developers and create new townships and commercial centers.

The presumption is that it will never happen during the term of PBBM if NAIA is renamed into FMIA. It is public knowledge that certain business groups and aviation-related operators want to preserve the status quo and power bloc in Philippine aviation by preserving their hold on large properties inside the huge area of the Manila International Airport. The current tenants on government land inside MIAA are paying some of the cheapest rent per square meter in all of Metro Manila and the overlords of Imperial Manila love the fact that MIAA/NAIA is just a few minutes away from their offices and residential palaces. If MIAA/NAIA is chopped up into blocks and sold, they would all have to move to different airports and hangars outside Metro Manila.