Addicted to chaos

It’s now an all-hell-breaks-loose situation, as the country’s two highest officials are caught in an ugly feud that grows uglier by the day.

Welcome to Manila. Welcome to mayhem.

Why is it that throughout history, our leaders, it seems, are so addicted to chaos and everything that comes with it – the high-stakes game for power and more power, the adrenaline rush, the media spotlight, the messianic delusions and the satisfaction of feeding one’s already bloated ego?

But at the rate they’re unraveling, the Dutertes seem most addicted to chaos – invectives, toxicity and killings. What is it in Davao’s air? I can’t help but wonder.

Unfortunately, with this ongoing family feud, the warring political clans are dragging the whole country down with them, turning off investors.

Peso, stocks down

On Tuesday, as the Marcos administration responded to Sara Duterte’s kill threat, the peso fell to P59 to the dollar, depreciating by one centavo from its P58.99 finish the day before.

The peso returned to the P59 to $1 mark yesterday, shedding one centavo from its P58.99 to $1 finish on Monday.

Obviously, investors aren’t happy with the ongoing political noise as this has only worsened the looming trade war between the US and China.

The chaos also pulled down the benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) to 6,806.86 on Tuesday.

Sure, the markets are more concerned about Trump’s announcement that he would impose an additional 10 percent tariff on US imports from China and 25 percent on all imports from Mexico and Canada.

But the political chaos isn’t helping. The peso also weakened due to “local political noises since the weekend,” said Michael Ricafort, chief economist at Yuchengco-owned Rizal Commercial Banking Corp.

Even some of the country’s tycoons and businessmen aren’t happy about the ongoing family feud.

“It’s bad for the economy. The Philippines will lose investor confidence,” the head of a Philippine conglomerate told me yesterday.

Another tycoon said the political feud is certainly a cause for worry among businessmen, as well as Rody Duterte’s call for a military takeover and the ongoing US-China battle.

An advisor to a tycoon said businessmen are worried because “it shows how low we have gone and how far political and economic redemption is.”

“History shows that one man, one leader, is all it takes to make or break a nation. Deng Xiaoping is an example of an enlightened leader who knew what to do to pull China out of its morass and convert it into a global, political and economic powerhouse in just one generation,” he said.

Before him, Mao Zedong failed at his socialist goals and pushed the country back.

Another source, a director in many listed companies, said local businessmen are getting tired and disgusted with all the squabbling.

“It is sending a signal that it’s all about power and what’s in it for them.”

Even the budget is bloated with too much pork, my source said.

Another businessman who is currently abroad for some investor meetings said he is being asked what’s happening to the country and why the Philippines has been overtaken by Vietnam and our other neighbors.

The answer is politics.

While businessmen are used to political noise every now and then, this one has turned so ugly, he said, and it doesn’t look good, especially with the country desperately trying to woo investors.

The Marcos administration just passed the CREATE MORE, supposedly to make our country an attractive business destination, but potential investors also consider the political climate and stability.

And at the rate things are going now, any foreign investor would be turned off.

Headlines

We are again making headlines across the globe as foreign publications – New York Times, Time, The Guardian, Singapore Straits Times and more – carried the news about VP Sara’s assassination plot against Marcos.

What an embarrassment once again.

Trojan Horse

The Dutertes though seem to have forgotten that they were, once upon a time, the Marcoses’ Trojan Horse.

When Rody Duterte allowed Marcos Sr. to be buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani – the only president who had the nerve to do so – he helped pave the way for the Marcoses’ successful comeback into Philippine politics.

Today, their divorce has turned ugly and chaotic, and we’re the ones suffering the consequences.

Unfortunately, as I said, our leaders seem addicted to chaos. I just wish they wouldn’t drag the country and our economy down with them.

What happens next is still anyone’s guess. I wouldn’t be surprised if the ongoing drama takes yet another ugly turn by the time this column comes out.

Things happen so swiftly when titans clash but as the old adage goes, when elephants fight, the grass gets trampled.

It is us, ordinary Filipinos, who suffer the consequences as the two powerful political clans try to expose who is really god’s gift to Philippine politics and to the Filipino people. Or should I say – the devil’s gift to each other?

*      *      *

Email: [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @eyesgonzales. Column archives at EyesWideOpen on FB.