Payback time

Brushing aside a rare disbarment by the Supreme Court, President Marcos swore in Monday his point man for his poverty alleviation program, Larry Gadon.

With 110 million Filipinos, people asked: wala na bang iba? Isn’t there anyone else?

Gadon had previously been convicted by the SC and suspended from law practice for three months for similar offenses. He faces six other administrative cases before the Office of the Bar Confidant, and four before the Commission on Bar Discipline of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines.

“Although these cases have yet to be decided, the volume of administrative complaints filed against Atty. Gadon indubitably speaks of his character,” the SC declared in a unanimous ruling.

Clearly, appreciations of character, like truth, are relative under Marcos 2.0.

In other countries, someone disbarred, and over such offenses, would have been relegated to the dustbin of ignominy.

But this is the Philippines, where the President of the republic feels political support trumps SC condemnation for abusive language, in this case directed at journalist Raissa Robles. Some quarters have voiced suspicions that Gadon’s offense is something that fulfills a BBM fantasy.

Ferdinand Marcos Junior received early accolades for his picks for his Cabinet, particularly for his economic team.

But with the ban ending on the appointment of losing candidates within a year from the elections, BBM is proving to be no different from the typical Pinoy politician who thrives on doling out patronage.

It’s common to reward supporters with government posts; after all, officials must enjoy the confidence of the appointing power. And as long as the appointee has the qualifications, as members of the economic team do, it’s fine. But the public must not suffer as a result of appointments that are anchored mainly on political payback.

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The message being sent with the appointment of Gadon, whose mouth needs more washing than Rodrigo Duterte, to a post that tackles the country’s most serious problem is that it’s OK to publicly spew what the SC described as “misogynistic, sexist, abusive and repeated intemperate language.”

Gadon is not the only disappointing choice. Our education sector is in crisis. So who gets appointed as junior secretaries in the Department of Education? Two retired military officers: Maj. Gen. Nolasco Mempin, former commander of Task Force Davao when DepEd chief Sara Duterte was the mayor, and Brig. Gen. Noel Baluyan, former assistant commander of the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division.

It was a promotion for Mempin, who reportedly served for six months as a “highly technical consultant” of the DepEd with a monthly pay of P80,000.

What will soldiers do in the education sector? I guess they can help Marcos’ BFF weed out communist influence, real or imagined, from public education, starting with the identification of members of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers.

The VP/education secretary’s other obsession, the return of the Reserve Officers Training Corps, is nearing fulfillment. This is probably her balm for being refused the defense portfolio – something that most people knew from the start was reserved for Gilbert Teodoro.

Philippine education was already in crisis even before the pandemic; COVID worsened the situation. Post-COVID, unfortunately, it looks like we’re facing six lost years of simply trying to catch up with our neighbors in the basic competencies of reading comprehension, science, mathematics and English proficiency.

Meanwhile, the VP’s former spokesperson, the tourism chief, is trying to avoid being permanently referred to as Secretary Fiasco.

As in the case of Gadon, BBM has said he still trusts Christina Frasco. Maybe he thinks letting them go will mean he made a mistake and reflect badly on his decision making.

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Apart from controversial appointments, there are the laws BBM has enacted in his first year. One, overhauling the rules on term limits in the Armed Forces of the Philippines, had to be hastily remade by his rubberstamp Congress after an outcry from AFP officers.

Another, the postponement of last December’s barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections by yet another year, was not only struck down by the Supreme Court, but led to a prohibition on further BSKE postponements and effective extension of the terms of village and youth council officials.

Now he’s rushing Congress to rubberstamp the Maharlika Investment Fund, in whatever form, as long as the law can be signed before the SONA.

Once signed, the MIF bill is sure to be challenged before the SC. Until litigation is finished with finality, it’s doubtful that any serious investor (except for the sipsip or suck-ups who need favors from the administration) would want to invest in the fund.

The MIF has also been linked to recent BBM appointments. It is widely believed to have led to the retirement of Felipe Medalla instead of the extension of his term as Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas governor.

Medalla had ably steered the central bank during the country’s worst health and economic crisis. But he had initially spoken out strongly against the use of BSP reserves as seed fund for the Maharlika. He later expressed support for the MIF, after Marcos 2.0 was forced to forgo the reserves and instead settle for BSP dividends.

At least Medalla’s successor, Eli Remolona, has the credentials for the job. The economy and foreign affairs, it seems, are two sectors where BBM wants to present the nation’s best to the world.

But because of his earlier much lauded appointments, there is greater disappointment over Marcos’ selection of the unqualified and downright unhinged to his government.

His reaction to the criticisms has been equally disappointing: he can inflict any appointee on the public, because he can.